All societies, communities, organizations, and interpersonal relationships experience conflict at one time of another in the process of day-to-day interactions. Conflict is not necessarily bad, abnormal, or dysfunctional; it is a fact of live. Conflict and disputes exist when people or groups are engaged in competition to meet goals that the perceive to be, or actually are, incompatible. (1)Moore, Christopher W. 2003. The Mediation Process: Practical Strategies for Resolving Conflict. 3rd ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass., p.xi
manage conflict and resolve disputes…
We are surrounded by conflict. It is in the fabric of our lives (no, not cotton). Anytime there is a disagreement of anything, there is conflict. This can come from outside sources, like friends, clients, coworkers, perfect strangers, etc or it can even come from within. We can be at conflict with ourselves. We might struggle with the right thing versus the easy thing. We might wonder if we should have the Snickers bar or the carrot sticks (Snickers, Snickers beats carrots, hands down).
While we would like to like to live some Utopian existence with no conflict, that is just not feasible. That is like trying to drive without friction. If the tires don’t have resistance on the road, they slide like on ice. Individually, some conflicts can be resolved but conflict, overall, can only be managed, not ended.
ResolveItBetter is dedicated to educating people on the various ways of solving conflict and potentially reducing it in our lives including conflict management, mediation, negotiation, and facilitation.
In the TED talk below, “William Ury, author of “Getting to Yes,” offers an elegant, simple (but not easy) way to create agreement in even the most difficult situations — from family conflict to, perhaps, the Middle East. (Filmed at TEDxMidWest.)” http://www.ted.com/talks/william_ury