Conflict at Work

“Speak your mind but ride a fast horse.” Cowboy Wisdom

Forty years ago, a neighbor’s bull was getting on my ranch. While visiting, he (the bull – not the neighbor) sowed his wild oats. I am sure he was having a great time, but we were raising only registered stock so it was a major problem. Of course, the neighbor claimed that the fence belonged to us, and it was our problem. So we held a meeting (sitting on a tailgate) to decide the matter for the last time. We came away with an agreement that both sides would pitch in to build a new, sturdier fence. We no longer had a handsome stranger dating our cattle, the neighbor no longer had to search for his bull, and both parties could brag about the new fence.

Conflict on the ranch will usually arise from surrounding landowners or people wanting input on what you do in and around your land. The only way to deal with this is eyeball to eyeball. That is, no emails, no talking to others, no hiding from the dispute. Get it out, have it out, and be done with it. Otherwise, it festers into a real problem that will cause you to lose focus of your goals. Usually, the one with the most passion wins. As with most things, this is not always bad and can result in improvements or compromises. Conflict at work is no different.

Numerous articles have been written about avoiding or reducing conflict in the workplace. I suspect people with low self-esteem and little confidence wrote these articles. I would also bet the ranch that they usually lose their arguments (see the chapter on arguing).

Embrace conflict as a healthy environment. Conflict shows a passion for the processes, systems, policies, workflow, and, ultimately, the bottom line. If you owned your own company, wouldn’t you want passionate people involved?

Conflict is at the heart of life. Pick up any fictional novel, and you’ll see that conflict is at the center of the plot. Conflict makes life rich. Never discourage conflict in an organization. What was the last movie you watched? Did it contain conflict? How would the movie have been if you removed the conflict from the script? Conflict resolution is also important, albeit not as complicated as many think .