The 7 Principles of Conflict Resolution

CHAPTER 1

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CONFLICT

Critical to understanding and resolving conflict is the need to become comfortable with it as something that we might often encounter and that we can always overcome. We don’t have to like it to become comfortable with it. Rather, we need to reconcile ourselves with its existence. As uncomfortable as it may be, we need to find a way to acknowledge and accept that we are in a conflict situation. This doesn’t mean that we can’t set boundaries to ensure we are safe within it. Rather, that we let it exist within the context of those boundaries.

When we seek to suppress or deny conflict, the simple fact is that it escalates in the same way as putting a lid on a boiling pan. When we accept that conflict ...