Reflect on a personal or business situation in which the cost of
conflict was significantly greater than you would've preferred. Analyze the
situation in relation to Stewart Levine's 10 principles of new thinking (p.
46). How would this have changed the situation? Could it have reduced the cost
of conflict? What lessons did you learn from this exercise?
The cost of conflict includes direct costs,
productivity costs (including quality and safety), continuity costs and
emotional costs. For example, direct costs can include using neutral mediators
for disagreements with attorneys and judicial system (courts etc). To add fuel
to the fire, unfortunately there are many money hungry attorneys and legal
firms who play with and use the existing system for greed and their own advantage.
An example of productivity cost is the amount of money (cost in dollars or labor
hours) an organization loses because of a scenario situation which has impacted
production. An employee could be sick and not show up for work. This could
require medical attention too which further increases the cost. An employee
could be working at a slower rate because of an emotional issue too. Emotional
intelligence (EI), i.e., emotional well being is attitude, awareness, understanding
and control of emotions as defined researched from Daniel Goleman. Relationships
can also be impacted damaged as a result of conflict and the emotional baggage we
carry with us causes pain. Sometimes can never let go and it becomes embedded
in us. Workers compensation, disability and medical leaves of absence can also
impact costs. Continuity costs the way a scenario situation impacts the operating
rhythm and team dynamics. For example, the Hersey-Blanchard Situational
Leadership model identifies several team stages, e.g., collaboration and
high-performance. Areas that could be impacted include communication, morale, cohesiveness
and trust. Team members will look for another job opportunity. One bad apple on
a team can be the downfall. Many organizations have employee assistance
programs too to get help assistance for employees.
An example in which the cost of conflict was
significantly greater than I would have preferred was one that resulted in a
damaged relationship along with emotional scars. A few years ago, I attended a
safety fair which included displays of safety projects, processes, exhibits,
displays and also outside vendors suppliers. In addition, there were
refreshments and giveaways including t-shirts and hats. I was reviewing the
safety projects in one of the tents. These were displayed on tri-fold poster boards.
As I was proceeding through the line and displays, I was shocked when I saw part
of one of my projects being used by another person. I took a closer look and
found that some of my work project was included on the display. I knew the
person and questioned him about his project and the data collection. His
response was that he had created a separate project, however, used part of my project
as the foundation. And he was the official project lead too. Unfortunately, my
name was not included on the display. Wow! What an experience. So after a brief
discussion, I kept walking and then proceeded to talk with several people (including
my manager) about this scenario. The feedback to me was to work it out with the
other person.
My emotional state was impacted significantly as I
could not believe this had happened. I slept on it that night and the net day
went into work early to get with the other person. He admitted he should have
been more open and candid about what he was doing including recognition,
collaboration and creating partnerships. However, I believe there was a hidden
agenda of him trying to take all the credit for the project along with making himself
look good in front of leadership. As far as trust, respect and understanding,
this situation still stays in my mind from this experience. And yes, I reviewed
this with my manager etc for follow-up and documentation too. The good thing is
that I was in control of my emotional intelligence and this did not impact my
overall performance and working together with others on projects. The end
result is that I have many great experiences. However, for long term
collaborations and learning, this conflict scenario example can impact a
relationship, team and organization.
References
Levine,
Stuart (2009). Getting to resolution:
Turning conflict into collaboration (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA:
Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
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