Matthew Syed on Why We Should Seek More Conflict at Work

Matthew Syed is the acclaimed author of six-best selling books on high performance, including his celebrated Black Box Thinking and more recent Rebel Ideas - both of which are some of the best-thumbed books on the Newton bookshelf.   In this debut episode of Newton Talks, Matthew sits down with Brad Jennings, Newton’s “Change Guru”, to dig even deeper into cognitive diversity, the subject of Rebel Ideas. He argues that once we start to see conflict and disagreement as a contribution to the dynamism of a team, the sooner we can break free from group echo chambers and aid the benefits of cognitive diversity in solving complex problems. Possibly one of the world’s most famous mindset experts, Matthew brings insights from psychology, anthropology and data science, whilst drawing on a dazzling range of intriguing case-studies, reveals his pick of the world’s best meeting hacks, explains how to work out if your office is an echo chamber and uncovers the best-kept secrets of the world's most successful teams. PLUS, Matthews tells Brad the surprising subject of his next book... and how to win your next game of table tennis. His work with leading organisations has helped those including Premier League footballers build a mindset of continuous improvement and he is the host of new BBC audio series Sideways.   Newton Europe is an implementation-focussed consultancy with a difference, brimming with people who have a passion for cracking really tough challenges. Find out more about the way we work at newtoneurope.com, join the discussion with #NewtonTalks by following us on Linkedin.