It's a scary thing. We hide from it a lot.

It raises the blood pressure, the cortisol levels, the heart rate.

None of those are particularly helpful when you're trying to enjoy your day, or get on with your work.

We think, "Ocht, it doesn't matter. It's not worth arguing over." But every time there is disagreement, if left unresolved it festers - breeding distrust and disloyalty - eroding teamwork in its wake.

So how do we engage in healthy conflict?

We could change our communication style, become wiser, or learn to be more empathetic.

But those things take practice, and they're not accessible to everyone in the heat of the moment.

What we need to do is simple. We need to destigmatise it!

We need to notice when it happens and call it out, reminding each other that it's necessary.

Necessary to stay good friends, good family members, good teammates.

We've all got different conflict styles, and some of us are more compromising than others, but we all need it.

Be brave. Here's to conflict. Here's to progress.