A significant part of the human experience is learning to accept and navigate all types of relationships. As humans are social animals, each with different needs, preferences, worldviews, and objectives, the Ladder of Inference states that conflict will be inevitable. After all, different people will view the same problem and create different, and conflicting solutions. A conflict, therefore, is the manifestation of competing interests due to different needs, worldviews, and motivations of all involved stakeholders. Therefore, conflict resolution is an essential skill to have, not only in personal but also professional relationships. My philosophy of conflict resolution is based not just on a definition of conflict, but also a concrete understanding of peace. As a result, peace is the result of conflict prevention, transformation, or resolution, regardless of the state of conflict (Alfoqahaa & Jones, 2020). In other words, peace is the absence or proper management of conflict.
Conflict resolution has numerous benefits, both individual and communal. First, by engaging in conflict resolution, individuals could make significant progress towards achieving personal and professional goals. If the individual works for an organization, for instance, conflict resolution could manifest as aligning the interests between the organization and their customers or supplies. With a smooth relationship, all stakeholders can further each other’s interests (Zimmerman, 2020). Secondly, conflict resolution can help warring parties increase their commitment. When they start working together as a conflict resolution strategy, they will quickly abandon the “us vs. them” mentality and instead adopt an “us against the world” mentality. Thirdly, conflict resolution creates room for creativity and innovation. If there were no conflicts, there would be no need to always look at things from different perspective to not only gain deeper insight into a situation, but also create solution (Bruneau & Saxe, 2012). Therefore, it is only through conflict resolution that committed individuals, communities, and organizations are forced to look beyond the trivial and create solutions that will benefit all.
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Unfortunately, conflicts do not resolve themselves. Instead, a peacemaker is needed to not only initiate the conflict resolution process, but also ensure it remains productive and achieves the intended objectives. In biblical terms, the origin of conflict came from the fall of Adam and Eve from God’s grace. Since then, Genesis 3:16 teaches that conflict led Eve to attempt to usurp Adam while Adam always tried to dominate Eve. As a result, conflict created a divide between people and the world has since then remained the same. It was not until the birth of Jesus Christ that there was finally some hope. Luke 2:14 documents the moment Christ was born on earth and the angels announced that “Glory to God in the highest, an on-earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” In other words, Christ’s mission on earth was to not only bring peace between humanity and God, but also create peace between all humans. Therefore, being a peacemaker means to emulate Jesus Christ and his mission of bringing peace. Note however, that being a peacemaker does not require one to resolve the conflict between people and God, especially since different people have different beliefs on religion.
In line with my personal philosophy of conflict resolution and my understanding of what it means to be a peacemaker, negotiation has become a critical tool to achieve my purpose within my chosen vocation. However, negotiation does not happen without careful planning and execution. Therefore, the following are the strategies of negotiation that are essential to my vocation. First, it is important to understand that negotiation is not a one-time event. Instead, it is a continuous process, where the most successful ones are those where the warring parties created a good relationship from the beginning. After all, good relationships take time and effort to build and sustain. Secondly, any form of information asymmetry during negotiation will result poorly and will not be sustained in the long-term. Therefore, all stakeholders, especially the peacemaker, need to do comprehensive research on the involved parties to understand their history, past and current challenges, and their pain points. The more information the peacemaker has on the warrying parties, the greater their power to see the conflict resolution process through. Note that not all negotiations will go well. As a result, it is always to have a best alternative to the negotiated agreement. This happens if the best case cannot be achieved and the parties cannot afford to settle with the worst case (which is to continue with the conflict. Lastly, it is a good strategy to understand that a negotiation is not a zero-sum game. Instead, it is a give and take process, where all parties make concessions to facilitate the conflict resolution process.
Therefore, I believe in a five-step conflict resolution process. Step one involves doing comprehensive research to understand the root cause of the conflict. Sometimes the cause is insignificant but could potentially have devastating consequences. Therefore, step two involves looking beyond the causes and incidents to understand the short and long-term impacts of the conflicts ( American Management Association, 2015) . Step three involves requesting solutions, where each warrying party presents situations and outcomes they view as acceptable if they were to end the conflict. However, not all solutions match. As a result, step four involves finding solutions that both parties can accept ( American Management Association, 2015) . The last step involves creating a lasting agreement between the warrying parties upon the creation of a negotiated agreement.
References
Alfoqahaa, S., & Jones, E. (2020). Leading at the edge of chaos: historical perspectives on the qualities of leadership for cultural diversity and conflict resolution. International Journal of Public Leadership .
American Management Association. (2015). The Five Steps to Conflict Resolution. Accessed on , 12 .
Bruneau, E. G., & Saxe, R. (2012). The power of being heard: The benefits of ‘perspective-giving’in the context of intergroup conflict. Journal of experimental social psychology , 48 (4), 855-866.
Zimmerman, D. (2020). Managing Conflict and Negotiating Anthony Emeka Nwobodo MGT87500 California Southern University.
