The Big Book of HR, Revised and Updated Edition

28

Moving From Conflict to Collaboration

In 1993, when she was Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright was a member of President Clinton’s national security team. She and General Colin Powell, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, did not agree on whether the United States and NATO should intervene to stop ethnic cleansing in Bosnia. In retrospect, Albright conceded that the general was right to be cautious, right to ask questions, and right to consider alternatives.¹

A workplace conflict is a condition between or among workers whose jobs are interdependent, who are angry or frustrated, who perceive the other(s) as being at fault, and who act in ways that cause a business problem. Constant changes in today’s workplace can fuel workplace conflict. ...