Employee conflict is a problem that costs the global economy billions annually. As part of a six-year study on organizational effectiveness, the authors surveyed more than 750 people at 500 companies worldwide. According to their findings, the majority of today’s employees must regularly deal with what they consider unreasonable counterparts when trying to do their jobs. When faced with conflicting opinions, one in four study participants reported that people within their organizations predominantly relied on manipulation or coercion to get their way. In addition to increasing turnover, toxic work relationships reduce employee productivity and engagement by increasing employee dissatisfaction, stress, anxiety, and depression. The good news is that people often misread each other. The other good news is that when companies proactively work to resolve workplace conflict through joint problem-solving, they are around four times more likely to report that personal differences fuel learning and innovation rather than conflict. This article aims to help organizations turn employee conflicts into a positive force, which requires effectively navigating a challenging workplace terrain by creating a culture in which colleagues strive to see others with the same degree of empathy as they see themselves. According to the authors’ research, when collaboration goes beyond individual actors and pervades a company’s culture, and a joint problem-solving approach to influence is routinely employed, people learn from disagreement, make better decisions, and develop innovative solutions.