Some people are known mononymously – Madonna, Pele, Zendaya, Sting.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger lived from 4 BC to AD 65 and is usually known mononymously as Seneca.
He was a Stoic philosopher of Ancient Rome, a statesman, dramatist, and in one work, satirist, from the post-Augustan age of Latin literature (thanks Wikipedia).
This quote is from Seneca: A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.
The same is true for organisations. We think friction in organisations is bad, but it isn’t. It just needs managing.
Without friction:
- we couldn’t negotiate (a fundamental skill for everyone in my opinion)
- we wouldn’t be able to explore different perspective and understand risks
- we would be stuck in groupthink
- we would be less creative
- we couldn’t work through issues and emerge with better relationships
Seneca’s wisdom extends to organisations. We need positive friction to negotiate, manage conflict and search for alignment.
Go get that gem polished!