Imagine a meeting room where two team members disagree, not in a tense way, but in a space where they challenge ideas, raise questions, push back respectfully, and explore options together. At SGG, this kind of healthy debate is not something to avoid; it’s a source of creativity. When handled properly, what seems like conflict can actually lead to new ideas.
Why Debate Matters
Innovation doesn’t happen when everyone simply agrees. It takes place when someone asks, “What if we did it differently?” or “Why not question this assumption?” Research shows that teams open to disagreement, combined with trust and a clear purpose, perform better in innovation and problem-solving.
In the context of SGG, which includes FMCG, aviation, education, energy, and retail, diverse business units face complex challenges. Bringing together different viewpoints, experiences, and skills makes debate a valuable tool. Instead of viewing conflict as a failure, we can see it as the starting point for better ideas.
What Healthy Debate Looks Like at SGG
Here are some examples of how healthy debate can manifest at SGG:
A product-team brainstorming session in the FMCG unit where logistics, packaging, marketing, and sales representatives each express different constraints. The facilitator invites dissent, encouraging questions like, “What if this channel fails?”
An aviation operations review at Star Air where the engineering team respectfully challenges a proposed route expansion plan, citing data-based concerns. Instead of dismissing their input, leadership responds, “Good catch—let’s look at this risk together.”
Collaboration between the retail and tech teams via Softech, where the tech team proposes a new feature for the store app. The store operations team questions its usability in rural areas, leading the tech team to refine the design based on this feedback.
These examples show that at SGG, debate is neither chaos nor avoidance; it’s a driving force for iteration, improvement, and innovation.
The Conditions That Make Debate Productive
For debate to be constructive instead of harmful, certain conditions need to be in place. Here’s what research and practice suggest—and how SGG can meet these conditions:
Psychological safety and trust: Team members must feel comfortable raising dissent, asking questions, and admitting uncertainties. Without this safety, debate turns into shouting or avoidance.
Clear shared purpose: Disagreement is productive when everyone understands the team’s mission, and that dissent serves that mission—not personal agendas.
Rules for engagement: Healthy debate thrives with established norms, such as “challenge the idea, not the person” and “listen to understand.”
Diverse perspectives: Teams with varied functional, cultural, or experiential backgrounds create richer debates and foster more creative outcomes.
Feedback loops and reflection: After the debate, teams should reflect on what they learned and what assumptions came up. This can transform conflict into creativity.
At SGG, when learning and development and leadership incorporate these conditions in meetings, workshops, and projects, the outcome is innovation that is both meaningful and impactful.
Why This Matters Now at SGG
Faster business environment: With multiple business areas and quick expansions, the margin for error is smaller. Debate helps identify risks sooner and test ideas more rapidly.
Cross-unit initiatives: When retail, tech, operations, and supply-chain teams work together, conflicting assumptions will naturally come up. Healthy debate prevents these conflicts from derailing the process and actually strengthens it.
Innovation mindset: SGG’s learning and development vision focuses on continuous learning, speed, and agility. Debate promotes a mindset of asking questions, iterating, and improving rather than sticking with what has worked in the past.
Talent development: For junior and emerging leaders, being encouraged to ask questions and challenge ideas builds confidence, creativity, and ownership.
Learning and Development’s Role: How We Can Enable Healthy Debate
For SGG’s Learning and Development team, here’s how we can nurture a culture of creative debate:
Training on “how to debate”: Workshops that focus on active listening, giving and receiving challenges, and discussing data-based ideas.
Facilitator toolkits: Provide project leads and team leaders with frameworks for organizing debate sessions—set ground rules, invite dissenting voices, summarize insights, and follow up.
Encourage dissenting voices early: Include “we expect alternate views” as a norm in project charters. In post-mortems, ask, “What was the push-back we overlooked?”
Celebrate good debate: Share stories internally where a constructive disagreement led to better results. This creates visibility and helps shift the culture.
Measure team health indicators: Use pulse surveys or team feedback to assess whether team members feel free to speak up, whether ideas are challenged, and if debate improves decisions.
Link debate to innovation outcomes: Highlight the connection between teams that embrace debate and successful launches or efficiencies. This helps build buy-in across the organization.
Final Thought
At SGG, we don’t have to choose between harmony and performance; we can achieve both. Instead of stifling conflict, we can redirect it into creative energy. Rather than seeking consensus just for peace, we can strive for ideas that have been tested and refined.
When debate is constructive and teams feel safe to disagree and grow, innovation flows naturally. Creative outcomes emerge, teams learn faster, and the organization becomes stronger.
So the next time you’re in a meeting and someone raises a tough question, remember: it’s not a disruption. It might just be the spark for your next big idea.
