Conflict is part of the human exerience – it’s baked into our DNA – and lasting solutions require resolving conflict. Here you can read the best information on conflict resolution strategies, hand curated by our experts and trainers in public solutions. People don’t always agree, and resolving those disagreements is key to what we do in public participation. Resolving conflicts takes a lot of “soft skills,” more so than just facts. Data rarely changes someone’s mind. To do that you need humility, respect, authenticity and transparency, qualities that are necessary in dealing with the public for your government, organization, or business. These are the newsworthy articles that we have found contribute to this conversation on conflict resolution. Enjoy, dear reader.
Why anyone in their right mind would oppose eliminating urban blight is beyond comprehension. Who could possibly protest building a park in their neighborhood? What would possess anyone to push back on making their lives better? All questions from clients that we run into on a regular basis. Here’s why...
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Henry Ford once said, “If I’d asked my customers what they wanted, they’d have said ‘Don’t change anything.” He’s right. Most people want things better but hate the idea of change – particularly having to change anything in themselves. Those who do what we do for a living are in ...
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Cable and online media have created a culture where everyone talks – or yells, and nobody bothers to listen. It’s as if the last person standing – talking … wins. Empirical evidence and research has taught us that one of the most effective first steps in dealing with adversarial groups ...
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In our coaching classes, we frequently talk about dealing with highly agitated, angry people and their aggressive behavior in public meetings and other settings. One of the strategies we employ helps facilitators and clients make sure that they do everything possible to preserve their relationships with those people. Anger escalates ...
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The past couple of years have generally sucked for most people. For a majority of us, it’s been a lousy period in our lives and for some of us, it’s been truly horrible and particularly difficult. But you know what, by way of the fact that I’m writing this and ...
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We’ve said this before but it bears repeating: many of the pieces that we include in this newsletter are written from and for the perspective of profit making businesses. Companies usually need to worry about their credibility, profitability and competitive advantage. Government? Not so much. But given the continuing decline ...
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I’m starting to think that much of what we need to know about resolving conflict with people we could have learned from our kids if we’d paid closer attention. Kids rarely take no for an answer. The usual kid response to being told no is most often, ‘‘why?!’’ That usually ...
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People and conflict go together like peas and carrots (thanks, Forrest); it’s inevitable, but this current culture of incredibly high conflict is newer territory. If we ever hope to learn and grow beyond it, we need to understand the sources and create new ways to fix it. Humiliation, personal rejection ...
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The world is finally talking about unconscious bias. About time. It’s an idea that’s hard for a lot of folks to get their heads around, but why is it and what is it that predisposes seemingly intelligent people to fear or hate others that simply don’t … look … like ...
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Albert Einstein said, “The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.” Pretty smart idea – I’m surprised that guy didn’t make more of himself. Changing opinions and positions is so hard for most people because opinions become part of our identity – they’re who we are. So getting people ...
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