HBR Guide to Dealing with Conflict by Amy Gallo.
Amy holds a master’s in public policy from Brown University. She is a contributing editor at Harvard Business Review and was a management consultant at Katzenbach Partners.
There are multiple lessons in this book that benefits everyone regardless of your life’s path. From understanding common sources of conflict, options to address disagreement, recognizing when others seek or avoid conflict, known when to walk away, to learning how to repair relationships.
Such a valuable resource to recognize and understand the three sections outlined: preparing for conflict before it begins, managing a conflict, and resolving conflict. this book will simply resonate with everyone today. It is well worth your time in my opinion.
Perhaps even some will see the benefits of conflict. Yes, Amy addresses how conflict drives more creativity, sparking new ideas and strengthening bonds. This can be viewed as the source of true innovation which drive better work outcomes. Furthermore Amy suggests job satisfaction is an outcome from addressing conflict. But please recall conflict types: relationship, task, process, and status.
Remember to set the table
Setting the table is certainly a key to conflict outcomes. This can be easily managed by meeting agendas, organizational risk, or even prioritizing…revenue versus customer satisfaction. Once the types are identified, the fictional aspect will be viewed differently. consider how legal and finance teams will view and interpret task conflict.
You can always avoid conflict by doing nothing or skirting the issue. Perhaps in the bigger picture you could exit out of the situation entirely. However this is not advised. Amy’s suggestion is address it directly and confront the issue. These may trigger memories of conflicts you have recently confronted or even ones that left an impression upon you and perhaps your team or organization. Again, many will benefit from Daniel Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ 25th Anniversary edition
In conclusion, I found many times recalling how conflicts have played out. Amy’s insights can refine how to address and find closure on future conflict, or perhaps emphasize Section One of the book: preparing for conflict before it happens. A worthy read for everyone.