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From Conflict to Creativity:
How Resolving Workplace Disagreements Can Inspire Innovation and Productivity
Sy Landau, Barbara Landau, Daryl Landau
About the Book
From Publishers Weekly
"Conflict in organizations is natural and inevitable," the Landaus state at the outset of this clear and concise guide for not only managing such conflict successfully but harnessing its potential to develop creative solutions to organizational challenges. In discussing common strategies adopted for dealing with unproductive conflict (avoidance, competition, accommodation and compromise), the authors cite examples from their wide experience as mediation, negotiation and dispute resolution consultants. This wife/husband/ son team argues that a collaborative process appealing to the interests of all sides has the greatest potential for promoting free discussion of ideas while encouraging the committed participation of all, and for turning conflict into an opportunity for joint problem solving. They assert that once people's energies are redirected from sniping at each other to working together, the conflict inherent in a diversity of opinions can become an invaluable asset. The Landaus have found that an effective organization is one that generates conflict (of the good variety) in order to brainstorm and debate ideas fully and candidly before adoption and implementation. Their recommendation to foster "creative contention" and to be "hard on the problem but soft on the people" depends crucially, however, on fearless leaders with a gift for facilitating in a supportive workplace, an admirable combination that may be all too rare in today's harsh business landscape. (Nov.)Forecast: With the potential for destructive conflict escalating in workplaces around the country and managers desperate to stem declining morale, the concrete, experience-based insights of this book should garner excellent word-of-mouth.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
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CONFLICT IN ORGANIZATIONS
It should not be surprising that our discomfort with conflict has carried over into our organizations. Organizations generally hate conflict. Until recently conflict was viewed as abnormal and treated as a shameful corporate secret. In fact, as recently as ten years ago when we offered training programs in organizations, we were often asked not to use the "c-word" in our title. Clients preferred names like "Reaching Agreements That Last" or "Dealing with Differences," as if admitting the need for conflict resolution skills would disclose some serious corporate flaw.
Of course conflict was there. People had opposing interests and different perspectives at work just as they had at home,
except that it was unacceptable in most organizations to acknowledge these differences. One reason for suppressing conflict was that managers did not and still do not welcome contrary opinions from their subordinates. Another reason was "company etiquette"; it was more diplomatic to sweep differences under the mat than to risk offending colleagues with whom you had to work every day. Certainly it was bad taste to lose your temper, and emotional responses were usually career inhibiting.
Over the past ten to fifteen years, the situation has improved in that more organizations accept that conflict is natural and not something to be ashamed of. Frontline and managerial employees are more and more often identifying conflict resolution skills as necessary tools for dealing with coworkers, managers, and customers. Perhaps this greater openness reflects the fact that the amount of conflict in organizations is unavoidable and is increasing, for reasons we will discuss shortly.
Conflict is a product of diversity and interdependence (see Figure 1.1). Organizational conflict arises because people who have different personal and professional interests must work together to achieve the organization's goals. Because these people have different interests and may actually be in opposition to each other, they often become concerned that others may block them from meeting their needs.
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