After its losses in the nine-in-one elections, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lost a legislative by-election. Party members have been trying to push for a better DPP. In particular, the DPP’s Taipei City Councilor Wang Shih-chien (王世堅) and Legislator Kao Chia-yu (高嘉瑜) have gone against the grain, pointing out the party’s internal problems.
Their criticism has caused discontent within the party, and many grassroots members have attacked them. Some DPP members even want them to be expelled from the party.
Such antagonism toward Kao and Wang is likely to lead the DPP to a dead end. When the DPP was established, it aimed to be a party that included different opinions and voices. If the DPP becomes its own echo chamber, it is likely to lose support from independent voters and the younger generation. Worse, the party’s core value, democracy, would be undermined.
To mitigate conflict among party members, party leaders should revise the DPP’s channels of communication to ensure that any cognitive conflict would be beneficial to the group dynamic.
For the well-being of a group, it is always beneficial to have some members with opinions that go against the mainstream. Their alternative thinking enables others to examine issues from a different perspective.
However, all arguments must be made in accordance with the group’s rules of communication. An argument should be focused and concrete.
Moreover, to maintain the group’s solidarity, not all arguments should be made public through the media before being discussed among group members.
Of course, if it is believed that it is difficult to offer differing viewpoints, with members having to resort to external channels such as the media, the party leadership must review the existing structure and establish why it fails to provide a space for negotiation.
A system of review and reflection is also important to enable decisionmakers to examine issues through negotiations that include different opinions, so a solution can eventually be found. They should not be influenced by their own preferences, beliefs or feelings.
Constructive cognitive conflicts can improve the quality of decisionmaking. Yet how do decisionmakers encourage all group members to say what they truly want to say?
In reference to existing literature on management studies, a system of self-examination can be implemented and practiced through a dynamic decisionmaking model called “devil’s advocacy.”
In a group’s decisionmaking process, a member is assigned to play the role of the devil’s advocate, in which they find fault with a proposal selected by the decisionmakers, asking questions and delivering criticism against it.
In doing so, different opinions can be presented, and hidden problems can be uncovered. The proposal can therefore be examined thoroughly, and the best decision can be found.
From this viewpoint, Kao and Wang, as well as other party members, are creating cognitive conflicts in the DPP. A proper amount of conflict can only be good for the party.
To tolerate diverse voices, the leadership must employ a conflict management strategy and re-examine the group’s channels of communication. It should also highlight the importance of party members’ ability to change their attitudes, to be responsive and to interact.
Emotional conflict can be avoided, and an organizational culture based on constructive interaction between group members can be established.
Charles Yu is a professor and head of National Chung Hsing University’s Graduate Institute of Sports Health and Management.
Translated by Liu Yi-hung
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