Brian,
Agree with you assessment that conflict within teams can be good and
productive. Following are some of the concepts and techniques that I have
used to get people to quickly reach consensus and to develop an action
plan for resolving a particular issue.
The foundation for conflict and agreement can be found in the
interrelationship between facts, desires and ideals. A fact is an
objective observation of an event. For example, the fact is that a small
percentage of LO members respond to a posting. A problem is the
difference between a desired outcome and the actual situation or fact. If
someone that posts a message to the list desires or expects a response and
does not get one, they have a problem. Variation represents the difference
between what the ideal situation would be in a perfect world versus the
actual. An ideal represents a standard of perfection that one can strive
for but never achieve; a fact that makes continuous improvement possible.
An ideal for the LO list could be that everyone receives the information,
support, and feedback that they desire.
In taking on issues such as abortion, I have found that it is fairly easy
to get people to agree on the facts (abortions are being performed) and
ideals (no unwanted pregnancies). Conflict arises from desired outcomes.
On one extreme, you have people that want to make abortions easy,
convenient and affordable. On the other extreme, you have people that
believe abortions should not be performed under any circumstances.
Everybody else is in the middle of the two extremes. Current laws
represent the middle ground. In resolving an issue such as abortion, if
people agree on the ideal, then the next step is to get agreement on the
indicators (facts) that will be used to measure progress towards the
ideal.
Another example of the application of these principles is represented by
the signers of the American Declaration of Independence. The signers
agreed on the ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. They
also agreed on the fact that English rule was unacceptable. They
disagreed on issues such as states rights and slavery: issues, by the way,
that led to the Civil War. Amendments to the Constitution and new laws
represent processes that are in place that are used to help us get closer
to our ideals. What we lack as a nation is a consensus on the facts
(indicators) that will be used to measure progress toward our ideals.
Once this connection is made, people may start to realize that one person
or one political party cannot fix problems such as under-employment,
education and crime. It will take all of us to work on causes that we
each have the power and responsibility to change.
In summary, a good starting point for resolving conflict and reaching
common ground is to recognize the interrelationship between facts, desires
and ideals. Generally, people can agree on facts and ideals. Once you
have this agreement, develop indicators for measuring progress and take
action to achieve the ideal.
Tim
--Tim Clark ("Tim") tjclark@aol.com
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>