Distributed ISD Team Leadership and the Paradox of Cohesion and Conflict

Distributed ISD projects are often typified by deepseated differences between team members from diverse organizational and professional backgrounds. Consequently, literature suggests that cohesion is crucial for aligning the efforts of a distributed ISD team; however, a competing body of literature also asserts that conflict is essential for capitalizing on diverse knowledge flows. Team leaders can therefore face a conundrum around how to balance the paradoxical need for both cohesion and conflict. In this paper, we develop a theoretical framework to analyze case study findings from the ‘CDSS project’, a distributed ISD project undertaken in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU). We find evidence that distributed ISD leaders must adopt a ‘paradox mindset’, one which embraces both cohesion and conflict. Based on these findings, we also put forward the concept of ‘leadership intelligence’ which describes the simultaneous enactment of a diverse set of leadership styles for balancing constructive cohesion

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