Where does all the conflict come from? Nowadays people tend to believe that if you are not with me then you are against me, our communities are increasingly divided by conflict. Once we were used to “agree to disagree”, we would seek to understand and wouldn’t force our opinions on others.

Sharpening your listening skills can help you identify generalizations, deletions, and distortions that are not fact-based forms of using language, usually resulting from becoming more emotional and less rational.

Conflict can be good, there is no point in rushing to resolve or avoid it, create a platform to express challenges or grievances, this can spark a dialogue that encourages a better outcome than the original one desired.

 

Fieldwork this week: Think of your conflict as a ladder, place at the top of the ladder the fundamental conflict, take a step down and see what is below that? Keep repeating until you get to the point where you are both at the same level. How can you create a situation where both can win? Examine the conflict for the shared foundation and figure out where the blocks truly exist.

 

Quotes:

“Our opinions and ideas are not facts.”

“Often our adversaries in conflict share the same values as us but the expression of those values can be different.”

 

Have a question for me? Email me: [email protected]

 

My mission is to make work fun again by building better leaders. Find out more on my website: shawnacorden.com