No matter how you try, you cannot outpace conflict. No matter what you do, you will encounter conflict. It is very akin to a game of whac-a-mole. You smash one conflict down, and another pops up. Never ending, one mole after another until the game is over. As is any thing we engage in life. Conflict is constant, ever flowing, always there. Conflict is the very essence of progress. You cannot avoid it. You can hide, pretend it is not there, but the conflict exists.
In many organizations there is an ebb and flow between conflict and growth. When you try to grow an organization, conflict arises. The two are so closely tied that they are unavoidable. As one goes up, so goes the other. The problem is that most people naturally want to and will avoid conflict. So instead of spending their time focusing on the balance between this growth and conflict they spend all their time focusing on removing the conflict and as a consequence miss the growth in favor of removing all conflict.
Does not work. I learned that very early on in relationships with people. If you want to improve a relationship there is going to be conflict. The more directly you tackle the conflict the faster and better your relationships will improve.
Guy Reams
