Tensions

A tension is the feeling you get when you sense a "gap" between how things are and how things should be. Tensions exist in all organisations, teams and personal relationships - so in fact everyone is familiar with tensions. A tension-driven organisation is one that insists on bringing up all tensions in order to actively work them out.

Note the phrase: "a tension is something you sense". A tension is sensed, not thought. In this way, it is possible to feel a tension without being able to back it up with a logic-based problem. Conversely, it is also possible to think that something is a problem without feeling it as a tension.

The fact that a tension exists is thus a signal that a problem also exists - but the tension does not necessarily describe a concrete problem. In the tension-driven organisation, it is the responsibility of employees to report when they sense tension anywhere in the organisation.

Addressing a tension may result in changes in the team, but some tensions can also be resolved through, for example, information sharing. In some cases, a tension can be relieved simply by voicing it. This means that tensions often can be eliminated without any formal change in the team and/or the organisation.