Monday, December 7, 2009

Third Belief: All Conflict Needs to Be Resolved

World Peace. It is the number one answer beauty contestants give when asked what they want in the world.

In corporations you hear people saying they want peace in the office. For most people that means, no conflict. So we all play to get rid of conflict or to resolve it so all people are happy.

The third belief that is a fallacy in conflict is that you need to have all conflict resolved.

Not all conflict is resolvable nor should it be. Having differences is healthy. In order to be creative you often need to be pushed so hard that what you did before no longer is acceptable to do.

I believe our economy is actually helping businesses reinvent and become better simply because what worked in the past no longer does work.

Have you ever wondered why your "divorced" friends look the best they ever have? Why suddenly do they lose the weight, join a gym, and buy new clothes? As they shed their old life, they shed the old way of doing things and start a new path.

So conflict doesn't need to be resolved. It does need to be handled. It does need to be addressed. And, yes, at times it needs someone to just say, "this is how it will be."

May you go forth and see conflict as a source of learning, growth, and creation rather than as a stumbling block.

Anne Warfield
More on the perception of conflict by Anne Warfield