Supporting disagreement. A skillful work team leader can create an atmosphere for disagreement that stimulates innovative solutions while minimizing the risk of bad feeling. Disagreement can be managed if the leader is receptive to differences within the team, delays the making of decisions, and separates idea generation from idea evaluation. This last technique reduces the likelihood that an alternative solution will be identified with one individual rather than the team. The absence of disagreement one work team may be as destructive to its proper functioning as too much disagreement. The use of decision-making aids, such as the brainstorming, the nominal group technique, devil's advocacy, and dialectical inquiry, creates productive controversy and can result in better quality decisions that are fully accepted by members of the team. Training team leaders to use these simple techniques is a good first step toward stimulating constructive controversy within teams.