Performance improves when the enemy of an enemy is a friend
https://phys.org/news/2019-06-enemy-friend.html
Companies often try to ease tension between employees, and rightfully so. It is very difficult to want to work in a place where there is a lot of acrimony or stressful relationships. The article above, titled “Performance improves when the enemy of an enemy is a friend” provides some commentary on how balanced networks play a role in performance, specifically for high stress environments. When researchers analyzed relationships among day traders, they found that the employees with the most balanced triangles in their co-worker networks made the best trades.
In the workplace, relationship networks tend to drift towards a balanced structure. In lecture we learned that balanced triangles have exactly one or exactly three positive edges between the nodes. The article argues that having one or three positive edges between the nodes is more productive than having two positive edges between three nodes. Researchers believe that while three positive nodes are ideal, even one positive node is productive, as it allows for improvements and positive changes to be made. Researchers believe that resolving some conflict frees up mental energy, which in turn improves decision making and overall performance.