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.
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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When determining how to ensure effective public participation, it should be noted that public participation is no less than the bedrock of a functioning democracy. Thomas Jefferson, the author of the U.S.
Constitution, said, “I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of ...
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Most rational people hate conflict; it’s uncomfortable, we can’t really control it, so we do everything we can to avoid it. Problem is, the U.S. is a nation in greater conflict now than ever before – at least in modern history. 81 million people on one side, 74 million on ...
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We’ve talked frequently here about listening skill building and we can’t let it become a tired topic. We live in an age where his opinions are as valid as her facts, everyone talks loud and long and few people actually listen. Resolving human conflict at any level requires finding common ...
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Queen Elizabeth is a practicing cannibal, Justin Bieber is a member of a race of reptiles, and Chemtrails make liberals the demons that they are. If you’re not aware that 5G technology causes Covid-19, the earth is flat and Bill Gates is implanting microchips in the forthcoming vaccine you might ...
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