Maximizing Performance Through Applied Common Sense*

When it comes to resolving conflict, most of us are ill-equipped and unskilled to deal with it effectively.  Most of us do either “fight” or “flight.”  “Flight” is where you run away from the conflict hoping that it will take care of itself.  “Fight” is an opportunity for a contest where there is an adversarial outcome that goes on and on.  The first thing to think about when it comes to resolving conflict is the “third option.”  The “third option” is to resolve.  Resolving the conflict means we have to have the skills to do it and we want to come up with an outcome that we can live with, something that is less than perfect but still workable.  So think about resolving conflict rather than flight or fight.