What is Tension and Why is it Needed?
What do you think of when you hear the word “tension?” Maybe you’re like me as I think of uncomfortable, “elephant-in-the-room” type environments and situations. I think of awkward silences when everyone knows what everyone is thinking but nobody has the courage, or freedom, to speak. I think of arguments and disagreements that end in stalemate— nothing decided, nothing agreed on, and no path forward. Everything I just described is tension, but specifically it is “unhealthy tension.”
There is a flip-side; there is a “healthy tension.” What are examples of healthy tension? Here’s a quick list: plucking or strumming guitar strings requires the tension in the string. Elevators cannot exist without the cord tension to pull the lift up. Stretching and working out in the gym requires, and builds, your own muscle tension. In other words, human movement is impossible without tension.
Take these two examples of tension: a game of tug of war and a pulley system. Both examples use tension to move “objects.” In a game of tug of war, the teams of people are on either side of a rope with the goal of forcing the other team to cross the middle line. Pulling the opposing team across that middle line signals victory for your team. Both teams strive with all their might to win. In a pulley system, people stand on the same side and pull the rope together. The opposing force is gravity and the win is lifting an object. What’s the difference? The difference is where the people are located on the rope. Are they on opposing ends of the rope? Or are they pulling together? This is healthy vs unhealthy tension in a nutshell.
Lets flip the script on tension— instead of a negative situation to avoid, lets understand tension as a necessary element to movement and prouctivity. We need tension, but we need healthy tension— we need to harness tension, but how? We must begin by understanding the two types of tension that exist in organizations. We can’t embrace tension as a tool if we don’t understand it! Then we need to learn, and apply, some leadership habits that will help us cultivate those healthy levels of tension.
The Two Elements of Tension:
No matter the size of your team, there are two types of tension within your organization: Relationship Tension and Task Tension. These two levels of tension exist in every team and every sphere of influence. Where two or more people’s actions and decisions affect the outcomes of the group, these two levels of tension exist. Relationship tension is the relative health of the relationships between the people on your team. How well do they get along? How well do they communicate? What do they believe about each other?Task Tension is the level of task awareness of the people on your team. In other words: do the individuals on your team understand the team’s goals and how they, as an individual, fit within the design to achieve those goals?
Unhealthy Tension:
Relationship Tension is what many people first think when they hear the word “tension.” This is not without reason! Relationship tension is difficult to navigate and many of our relationships, both professional and personal, are riddled with relationally tense moments. Recall the tug of war/pulley comparison; As a leader, think of relationship tension as the number of people you have on one side of the rope— are your people together? Or standing opposite of each other? Is your team set for a versus game of tug of war or organized into a pulley-team?
Relationship tension is defined by the levels of trust, communication, and protection team members have for one another. Trust is foundational to success for any time. A lack of trust leads to unhealthy relationship tension and it can manifest in team meetings where suggestions are taken personally or opposed based not on the merit of the suggestion, but by the relationship between the room and the suggestor. Unhealthy relationship tension is apparent when team members refuse to communicate with each other, choosing silence over collaboration. A lack of protection leads to people looking primarily to defend themsleves, rather than each other. This can quickly devolve into work-silos where people feel they must keep looking over their shoulder to make sure they aren’t being taken advantage of.
Task Tension may be a more nuanced element of tension, but just as important to understand in order to harness tension. As a leader, think of task tension as whether or not your people are pulling the rope together as a unit? If only one person pulls the rope, the pulley system may still be effective, however, the more people are pulling together, in unison, the more productive, and efficient, the pulley system will be!
Task Tension is defined by the team’s levels of understanding of service, accountability, and vision for the future. Team members must have a mindset of service which, in this instand, simply means they understand that they must do their part to move the team forward. The lack of the service-mind in your people manifests, again, in work silos where individuals refuse to step outside of their lane and help one another. Unhealthy task tension is also apparent when appropriate levels of accountability are lacking within their teams. This can lead to sub-par quality on submitted projects. When team members haven’t caught the vision they don’t have a future to work toward and can’t possibly understand where they fit into the scheme to create a new and better reality! This results in a lack of inspiration in team members leading to missed deadlines.
Healthy Tension:
Levels of tension exist on a sliding scale or spectrum, and because people aren’t stagnant, neither are levels of tension. This is why harnessing tension is a leadership issue first and foremost. Leaders set the tone for culture and experience within the team and therefore are responsible for the existing levels of tension. Not all levels of unhealthy tension are extreme. Some may be slight. The goal isn’t necessarily perfection, but for leaders to be aware that any way we can eliminate unhealthy tension will lead to a boost in production for the team.
What is the vision for healthy tension? What should we be looking for within our organizations? There are numerous ways that signal healthy tension, but here are three KPIs to look at in terms of gauging the levels of healthy tension in your organization.
Open Peer-to-Peer Communication: are your people on the same side of the rope? One way to determine that is peer to peer communication. Do your people communicate well with one another without supervision? This open peer to peer communication displays trust between team members and shows that there is no hidden or lingering resentment between people and is a sign of healthy relationships.
Task-Focused Problem Solving: are your people focused on attacking challenges together? If you have open peer to peer communication, the next question to ask is— what are we communicating about? The ability for teams to focus on the challenges of the team is a sign of healthy task tension. This is the check/balance for low relationship tension as its great to have team members that get along well, but in order to harness tension, the “task” must be in focus!
Vision Oriented Leaders: are the leaders in the organization aligned in their vision? If you, and the leaders around you, are engaged with the same over-arching goals, it is highly likely that steps the previously-mentioned steps 1 and 2 are already checked off your list. Why? Because harnessing tension is a leadership challenge, first and foremost. Where you put your people along the rope is your responsibility. Are you building an environment for tug of war? Or are you building a pulley team? If your leaders are pursuing the same vision and are talking about the vision within their teams, this is a great sign of healthy tension.
Why Harness Tension?
The objective of both a tug of war game and a pulley system is the same - move an object. The difference? Resistence. In tug of war, the resistence is caused by division, and lack of unity. Both sides of the rope are striving to move the “object” on the opposing side. Resistence is unproductive and inefficient. “Harnessing tension” means your habits are intionally geared toward removing intra-organizational resistence by decreasing relationship tension and increasing task tension to healthy levels. Doing so will create a multitude of benefits for your team members, as well as increase your team’s productivity.
Tension exists in every sphere of influence. It is unavoidable. It is also necessary to get things done! The call of leadership is: It is your responsibility to place people along the rope. Are you create a game of tug of war? Or are you building a pulley team? The sooner you understand what tension is, and the importance of creating healthy levels of tension within our organization, the sooner you can harness tension and achieve incredible results!
Image from: <a href="https://www.vecteezy.com/free-photos/rope">Rope Stock photos by Vecteezy</a>
