3 Ideas in 2 Minutes on Resolving Conflicts
Conflict Resolution Model, Belief Bias & Conflicting Choices
I. Conflict Resolution Model
The Conflict Resolution Model is a mental model designed to — guess what — do exactly what its name suggests it does. Maybe you found this sentence slightly passive-aggressive. And you sense an awkward tension between writer and reader. According to the model, there are six different ways you’d react to such a conflict. They fall into two categories: emotional and rational.
Emotional Reactions
Flight: We evade or avoid the situation entirely. The conflict remains unresolved. Both parties lose.
Fight: We handle a conflict with the intention to win over others. There can only be one winner, though.
Give up: We retreat and give up. The conflict ends because we lose voluntarily.
Rational Reactions
Evade Responsibility: We delegate the matter to someone else. They might solve the conflict for us. Or make everything worse. Potentially, both parties end up losing.
Compromise: We find a solution both we and our counterpart can live with. It may be the best solution for everyone, given the situation. Or a spectacular mistake.
Consensus: Together with our counterpart we find a third way to resolve our conflict. In the best case-scenario, we end up with both parties being satisfied.
What’s your typical reaction to conflicts? What reaction do you anticipate from your counterparts?
Source: The Decision Book
II. Belief Bias
Arguably, the most difficult conflicts are those we must fight within ourselves. When it comes to our opinions and decisions, we’d like to think that we evaluate any proposition based on evidence. In reality, we often accept even the most insane arguments for the sole reason that we agree with the conclusions they present.
Called Belief Bias, this happens when we start with the conclusion and accept the argument because it supports our preconceived notion. We just tell ourselves that we evaluated the argument on its merits alone.
So if I held the belief that Breaking Bad was the worst TV show ever written, I could be inclined to accept any argument that supports this view. Even if said argument lambasted the show for its lack of character development.
III. Conflicting Choices
For occasions when it seems almost impossible to make up our minds, Nassim Nicholas Taleb has an aphoristic solution:
When conflicted between two choices, take neither.
—Nassim Taleb, The Bed of Procrustes
🐘
Have a great week,
Chris
themindcollection.com
