Bruce Hoppe finds an interesting set of discussions that suggest "conflict is good" in Conflict: something we can all agree on
During a rare candid moment, someone once told me his approach to business was (1) make lots of money, and (2) don't get bogged down in consensus-building.
Interesting. Theory of Constraints tells us to find and embrace constraints (as I've said), rather than trying to make them go away (or worse, ignore them). I wonder if there is something related here?
On the other hand, in TOC there is also the idea that chronic conflict results in guaranteed poor results because the conflict represent valid needs in the system, needs that are not being fully met due to the conflicting behaviors. There is a whole set of rules for diagnosing and removing conflict (evaporating clouds).
Maybe "productive friction" is the way to go, but watch out for when it becomes unproductive.