conflict
Conflict defined is when interdependent parties perceive incompatible goals, scarce resources and interference in achieving their goals and express this outwardly. It seems conflict is more the norm than the exception in human societies at large and in our daily lives as individuals. And, of course, the degree and nature of conflict itself has many shades. At the international level of geo-politics, think about events such as: the Cold War, Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Auschwitz, and more the recent horror of September 11th. However, I don't mean to imply all conflict is negative. Some are positive. The above are just examples of conflicts unresolved or resolved poorly, resulting in negative consequences. Conflict is pervasive and it's imperative that we learn how to deal with them effectively. In my own professional and personal life, I face many instances of conflict everyday. Here, as per the requirement of my journal assignment, I will describe a significant conflict that I was party to and then critically analyze it.It was last semester, when I was attending a college in Pennsylvania, that two of my friends and I ended up sharing a two bedroom apartment. I say "ended-up" here because that was not my original intent. What I had w
Sometimes I became so annoyed with Faisal smoking marijuana in the apartment that I would just stop talking to him telling myself what a moron he was and that and you probably can't get any sense into that "smoked" brain of his anyways. Our common goal, of course, was to be able to live comfortably and create a good "vibe" in our new home. They often turned to personal attacks. Example-- where the couch should be placed?Affective: I felt that I was "more equal" than my apartment mates as I was older and the one who had found the apartment. I even pondered asking him to leave the apartment as I felt I was the one who had managed to find this apartment. Yet, since we all had such different view of what constitutes healthy living, I knew we would have to deal with certain issues effectively or live miserably for the semester. John's style was that of "avoidance". Many "utterly serious" questions confronted us? How should we arrange the couch in the living room? Who should take which bedrooms? What posters should we put in the dining room? But these were just touching the surface. I think this caused them to resent my "bossiness". anted to do was move in with just one friend (Bedi) in this two-bedroom apartment. Firstly, I think the models like the P-MOPS, following the Vigilent Interaction Theory principles do help us generate more and better solutions. Inequity: Over the course of the semester, there were always times when one person ended up feeling "why do I always have to do all the dishes all the time?" I also perceived Faisal as a social loafer who didn't contribute. " Faisal for the most part didn't care which way things went. Bedi felt that I was making too much of it and thought that we should just "go with the flow.
Common topics in this essay:
Hiroshima Auschwitz,
Faisal Bedi,
Interaction Theory,
,
Procedural Bedi,
personal attacks,
conflict management,
principled negotiations,
formal discussion,
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