photo by Cristian
V.
I love transparent and sustainable processes. During my talk at this year’s International Supply Management Conference we explored applying such systems to “Enhance Global Supply Chain Team Collaboration.” One conference attendee was clearly aggravated by cultural differences, communication style differences, and, digging deeper, fundamental differences in supply chain partners’ priorities. We talked about using a communication style survey and team building process to improve cultural tuning and communication issues, but we also discussed a great roadmap for resolving strategy conflicts. The book Getting to Resolution, by Stewart Levine, outlines a beautifully logical and simple (but not necessarily easy) system for turning conflict into collaboration.
“Get it out on the table.” This was the advice audience members gave each other over and over during the discussion, and this book provides a neutral platform for people and organizations to do just that. We all know that conflict often causes stress and negative feelings, but this book also clearly spells out the financial impacts of conflict. This is important because all too often we think we don’t have time to master a new approach to dealing with conflict, so we continue on with ineffective behaviors. Those ineffective behaviors are costing us a fortune, and it helps to have the facts about that when we make the case for deliberately changing the way we find solutions to conflict.
I particularly like the use of the word “ResponseAble” in this book because it sums up the adoption of new processes that foster taking personal responsibility for dealing with conflicts. Check out Getting to Resolution to find an extremely well-written and practical step-by-step guide to help you stop wasting time, money and energy. Or check out his blog at Resolution Works.