The Pfeiffer Book of Successful Conflict Management Tools

Chapter 1.6. Constructive Conflict in Discussions: Learning to Manage Disagreements Effectively

Julia T. Wood

Many cases of ineffective decision making on a national level can be cited: the lack of preparation for the attack of Pearl Harbor; the stalemate in the Korean War; the Bay of Pigs invasion; the repeated and unsuccessful escalations in the Vietnam War; the decision to cover up the Watergate break-in. The faulty decisions reached in these instances were a result of an inadequate process of discussion that did not allow members to voice disagreements and to engage in significant conflict of ideas. If conflict is stifled in groups of national policy makers, it is even more likely to be so in lower-level decision-making groups.

To understand ...