An example method for facilitating conflict avoidant traffic routing in a network environment is provided and includes detecting, at a network element, an intent conflict at a peer network element in a network, and changing a forwarding decision at the network element to steer traffic around the conflicted peer network element. The intent conflict refers to an incompatibility between an asserted intent associated with the traffic and an implemented intent associated with the traffic. In specific embodiments, the detecting includes mounting rules from the peer network element into the network element, and analyzing the mounted rules to determine intent conflict. In some embodiments, a central controller in the network deploys one or more intentlets on a plurality of network elements in the network according to corresponding intent deployment parameters.