Let’s face it: Conflict has a way of hijacking our brains. Your boss sends you an email marked URGENT, and suddenly, your heart’s racing. Or your partner makes a snide comment at dinner, and your blood pressure skyrockets. So, what should you do? STOP!

Here's an idea that might make you uncomfortable: Some environments are built for conflict. Imagine a company where leaders lack emotional intelligence or common sense. They recruit without considering personality dynamics, mix oil with water, and then act surprised when tensions explode.

Conflict, uncomfortable as it may be, is the crucible of identity, growth, and transformation. And what’s fascinating is that it starts so early—almost the moment we begin to define who we are.

You’ve probably heard the phrase “stuck between a rock and a hard place.” It’s how most conflicts feel: two opposing forces, each convinced they’re right, and no apparent way out. But what if I told you there’s always another option? Not a compromise, not a middle ground, but a higher level solution. Jung called this the transcendent function. In simpler terms, it’s the idea that when two opposites clash, the real answer isn’t found by choosing one over the other, but by rising above the duality to discover something new.

Have you ever gazed up at the night sky and noticed how the moon seems to shine as brightly as the sun? It’s an illusion, of course. The moon has no light of its own—it merely reflects the sun’s brilliance. It’s smaller, dependent, and fundamentally unequal in nature.

The same phenomenon often plays out in human conflicts. At first glance, it seems like you’re looking at two equal parties—two people standing on level ground. But dig a little deeper, and you’ll realize that the dynamic is anything but balanced.

“Win-win solutions sound great, but here’s the catch: they require a pay-pay. In this episode, we explore why people love the idea of compromise but often resist making the first move. Learn how to shift the energy in any conflict and lead the way to real solutions—without falling for fake pay-ins like ‘I’ll stop yelling.’ Spoiler: basic decency doesn’t count as a concession.”

There comes a time when the behavior of parties in a conflict disturbingly resemble that of Cronus, known for having ruled with an iron fist and displaying severely disloyal character traits.

Empathy is the big thing, the magic cure for all the misery in the corporate world. Is it really? Let us have a closer look.

Often we are at a loss when trying to identify the root cause of a conflict. That is because we are looking in the wrong place, as if wearing the wrong eyeglasses. It is actually quite frequent, especially in today's environment, that conflict is imported from the collective scene into the micro environment of family or workplace. In this episode we look at the current situation in the world, before we explore solutions next week.