by Productive Conflict | Facilitated Negotiation Case Study, Leadership, Organizational Conflict, Performance Issues
How do you make organizational conflict work for you? In the 1920s, Mary Parker Follett asked herself this very question. It’s a question we often ask ourselves today. Follett, a management theorist and social philosopher, proposed “integrative behavior” as the...
by Productive Conflict | Leadership, Relationships, Setting Boundaries
If you are like many of us working in fast-paced organizations, you most likely have no shortage of projects needing your attention. When the projects start piling up, you are faced with the difficult question of what to take on and what to put off. But the real...
by Productive Conflict | Diverse or Cross Functional Teams, Diversity, Leadership, Relationships
Diversity is everywhere. Yet, in our organizations we sometimes say we want diversity, while we fail to set conditions for it. There are many ways to define diversity in the workplace. For the purposes of this article I chose to draw on a simple and practical...
by Productive Conflict | Diverse or Cross Functional Teams, Leadership, Organizational Conflict, Performance Issues
Cross-functional teams in Government are nothing new. Over my years working within Government, and as a contractor for Government, I’ve heard them called many things such as “Swat Teams,” “Tiger Teams,” and “Special Project Units” just to name a few. Whatever you call...
by Productive Conflict | Anger, Facilitated Negotiation Case Study, Leadership, Organizational Conflict, Relationships
Establishing justice is important; there is no doubt about that. But to change a situation, one has to recognize the dynamics at play. “I feel afraid” This is what one of my clients, “H” said to me when I arrived to help restore the team...