Managing conflicts: using original thinking

In the communication context, conflict is the perception of diversity and discrepancy. In other words: conflict is a situation, in which your wishes and convictions are different to the wishes and convictions of others. Conflicts, however, are not in themselves something bad or dangerous, provided they are correctly managed and provided we respond to them adequately. The rapid accumulation of negative energy, which was brought about by the global financial and economic crisis and which we are all experiencing, is also changing the theory and practice of conflict resolution. Conflict resolution namely urgently requires the establishment of a ratio between the positive and negative messages that is different to the one we have been accustomed to up to now. The best conflict mediators are not the ones who are able to evade any conflict and personal crisis, but rather those who take advantage of the conditions and conflict circumstances, which they believe cannot be avoided. And this requires an original approach which postulates that we must establish a ratio of 5:1 in favour of positive messages. The questions of how close to or how far from this ideal we are and how to develop an original approach to conflict resolution of modern conflicts will represent the learning challenge at the workshop.

Brane Gruban, ABC