Conflict resolution diagram tutorial

Resolving Conflicts without Compromisealso known as“I want to have my cake and eat it!”
Pascal Van Cauwenberghe & Portia Tung

About us
Consultant.
Storyteller.
Games Maker.
Consultant.
Project Manager.
Games Maker.
His Blog: blog.nayima.be
Her Blog: www.selfishprogramming.org
NAYIMA
We make play work

About this session
What do we mean by “Conflict” ?
Name a conflict you’d like to resolve
A conflict we prepared earlier
Patterns of Conflict
Ideas for resolving your conflict
Further reading
Session feedback

1/7What do we mean by conflict?

“I want to live in the city...”
“... AND in the country”

“I want to eat what I want...”
“... AND be fit and healthy”

Manager: “We need to go faster
to deliver more features”
Developers: “We need to go slower
to increase quality.”

What do we need to resolve conflicts?
Willingness to find a solution
Refuse to compromise
Common goal
Articulate the conflict
Explore solutions
Surface assumptions
Challenge assumptions
A dash of creativity

The Shallow Thinking Process
A problem
Happy Days
Root Cause Analysis
THE Solution
This is what we
needed all along!
Why don’t we have
what we need?
Magic Happens Here

The Logical Thinking Process

Intermediate Objectives Map
Prerequisite/
Transition Tree
How do we get there?
In small steps.
What is our goal?
What are we missing?
Future Reality Tree
Current Reality Tree
Would that work?
What could possibly go wrong?
Why don’t we have
what we need?
Magic Happens Here
That’s what this session is about
Conflict Resolution Diagram
What could be done to resolve the
underlying fundamental conflict?

The Conflict Resolution Diagram
Prerequisite 1
Requirement 1
Objective
Requirement 2
Prerequisite 2

3 Types of Conflict

Type 1:“I want X and the opposite of X”That’s not possible, is it?
“I want to live in the city...”
“... AND I want to live in the country”

Type 2:“I want X and Y”But I have to choose, right?
“I want to eat what I want...”
“... AND be fit and healthy”

Type 3:
“I want X. They want Y. We can’t both be right”
Only one of us can win, at best.
Developers: “We need to go slower
to increase quality.”
Manager: “We need to go faster
to deliver more features”

2/7 NAME a conflict you’d like to reSolve

Three types of Conflict
I want X and the opposite of X
That’s not possible, is it?
I want X and Y but I can’t have both
I have to choose, don’t I?
I want X. They want Y.

3/7 Here’s one we prepared earlier

Story #1
Consultants audited business unit => FAIL
We have to build a system to support the whole value stream
Conflicts between sales and operations
And between finance/audit and the rest
More than a month of “shuttle diplomacy”

One of the conflicts is about product definition
Lots of confusion about what products mean
Ask 5 people, you get 6 different answers
2 previous attempts failed
We have a hard deadline because of new EU regulations
Story #1

Step 1: Articulate the conflict
Prerequisite 1
Requirement 1
Objective
Requirement 2
Prerequisite 2

Step 1: Articulate the conflict
Sales:
Customised
Products
Operations:
Standardised
Products

Step 2: Find the common objective
Prerequisite 1
Requirement 1
Objective
Requirement 2
Prerequisite 2

Tip: Don’t continue until you agree on a common, concrete and motivating goal
If there’s no common goal, there’s no incentive to solve the conflict

Customised
Products
Sell more
Surviving
Business
Standardised
Products
Be more efficient

Tip: Strive for clarity first,then for correctness
Precise and crisp definitions to ensure everyone has the same understanding

Increase sales
Increase margin
Customised
Products
Profitability in a
shrinking market
Reduce costs
Deliver on SLA
Standardised
Products

Step 3: Review clarity and logic
Increase sales
Increase margin
Customised
Products
Profitability in a
shrinking market
Reduce costs
Deliver on SLA
Standardised
Products

Step 3: Find the assumptions
2
4
Prerequisite 1
Requirement 1
Objective
1
5
Requirement 2
Prerequisite 2
3

Tip: Brainstorm assumptions
Go for quantity
Include “obvious” assumptions

Tip: Use “Extreme Assumptions”aka “Throw a tantrum”
X is the ONLY way to have Y
X is the BEST way to have Y
X guarantees Y

Step 3a: Find the assumptions
Increase sales
Increase margin
Customised
Products
1
Profitability in a
shrinking market
Reduce costs
Deliver on SLA
Standardised
Products

3a. Our assumptions
We can’t have both customised and standardised products because
Product == Product
Standardised != Customised
As soon as sales starts to customise we end up with an infinite number of products (again)
Sales doesn’t understand delivery
Operations doesn’t understand business

2
Increase sales
Increase margin
Customised
Products
Profitability in a
shrinking market
Reduce costs
Deliver on SLA
Standardised
Products

3b. Our assumptions
To increase sales and margin we need to customise products because
We can only compete by having an offer that’s different from our competitors
Customers are becoming more demanding
We must react quickly to customer demands
We can never compete on price

Increase sales
Increase margin
Customised
Products
Profitability in a
shrinking market
Reduce costs
Deliver on SLA
Standardised
Products
3

3c. Our assumptions
To reduce costs and deliver on SLA we need to standardise products because
Having low variation is the only way to have predictable production schedules
Standardised products are the only way to flexibly allocate people according to demand
Product variation always costs more (changeover, setups, switches, training, bottlenecks)
Lean only works with low variation production

4
Increase sales
Increase margin
Customised
Products
Profitability in a
shrinking market
Reduce costs
Deliver on SLA
Standardised
Products

3d. Our assumptions
To be profitable in a shrinking market we need to increase sales and margin because
We can’t expand the market
The only way to increase profitability is to sell more or increase the margin on each sale

Increase sales
Increase margin
Customised
Products
Profitability in a
shrinking market
5
Reduce costs
Deliver on SLA
Standardised
Products

3e. Our assumptions
To be profitable in a shrinking market we need to reduce costs and deliver on SLA because
We are penalised for not hitting SLAs
Our competitors have lower costs
This is a price sensitive market, so the only way to increase profitability is to reduce costs
This is a quality-sensitive market, so the only way to increase or keep market share is to increase quality
Quality is hitting the SLA

Step 4: Challenge the assumptions
2
4
Prerequisite 1
Requirement 1
Objective
1
5
Requirement 2
Prerequisite 2
3

Step 4: Challenge the assumptions
2
4
Increase sales
Increase margin
Customised
Products
1
Profitability in a
shrinking market
5
Reduce costs
Deliver on SLA
Standardised
Products
3

4a. Challenge our assumptions
We can’t have both customised and standardised products because
Product == Product
Standardised != customised
As soon as sales starts to customise we end up with an infinite number of products (again)
Sales doesn’t understand delivery
Operations doesn’t understand business

4b. Challenge our assumptions
To increase sales and margin we need to customise products because
We can only compete by having an offer that’s different from our competitors
We must react quickly to market demands
We can never compete on price

4c. Challenge our assumptions
To reduce costs and deliver on SLA we need to standardise products because
Having low variation is the only way to have predictable production schedules
Standardised products are the only way to flexibly allocate people according to demand
Product variation always costs more (changeover, setups, switches, training, bottlenecks)
Lean only works with low variation production

4d. Challenge our assumptions
To be profitable in a shrinking market we need to increase sales and margin because
We can’t expand the market
The only way to increase profitability is to sell more or increase the margin on each sale

4e. Challenge our assumptions
To be profitable in a shrinking market we need to reduce costs and deliver on SLA because
We are penalised for not hitting SLAs
Our competitors have lower costs
This is a price sensitive market, so the only way to increase profitability is to reduce costs
This is a quality-sensitive market, so the only way to increase or keep market share is to increase quality
Quality is hitting the SLA

The assumption we challenged
Increase sales
Increase margin
Customised
Products
Profitability in a
shrinking market
Product == Product
Reduce costs
Deliver on SLA
Standardised
Products

What if....
Sales and Operations were talking about different products?
That would explain the confusion

The resolved conflict
Customise
Sales
Product
Increase sales
Increase margin
Profitability in a
shrinking market
Sales Product != Operational Product
Standardise
Operational
Product
Reduce costs
Deliver on SLA

There was another conflict
Operations:
Coarse
Products
Low input and
tracking
overhead
Lower costs
Reduce cycle
time
How would you solve this conflict?
Finance & audit:
Detailed
Products
Detailed auditing
Cost analysis

The Solution
Finance & Audit
“Products”
Operations
“Products”
Sales & Marketing
“Products”

The Result
Built and deployed the system
Took two years, including refactoring of product catalog
Business unit has been profitable since
Market share grows
Among top 5 in the world meeting industry SLAs
Continuously improving

4/7 patterns of conflicT

I need X and the opposite of X
I need X and Y but I can’t have both
I want X. They want Y. We can’t both be right

Using the Conflict Resolution Diagram
You can’t solve your own conflict
Ask for help
The biggest obstacle is willingness to find a solution without compromise
Need to believe that a solution exists
Use examples to show that solving the problem is possible
First look for clarity, then for correctness
A clear problem statement often leads to “evaporation” of the problem
The CRD is a collaborative tool
Don’t use it to “prove” the other party is wrong
Sometimes you have to provide “shuttle diplomacy”

Typical conflict patterns
The false conflict
We’re talking about different things
Assuming we have no options
We always have options
Today against tomorrow
We can repay debt in small steps
Not enough resources
There are ways to do more with the same resources
Conflating means and ends
There’s another way to achieve the goal

5/7 Did you get any ideas to look at your conflicts differently?

6/7 further reading

Recommended Resources
Summary from www.agilecoach.net
“The Logical Thinking Process” – H.W. Dettmer
“It’s not Luck” – E. Goldratt
“Thinking in Systems” – D. Meadows

Summary

About this session
What do we mean by “Conflict” ?
Name a conflict you’d like to resolve
A conflict we prepared earlier
Patterns of Conflict
Ideas for resolving your conflict
Further reading
Session feedback

I need X and the opposite of X
I need X and Y but I can’t have both
I want X. They want Y. We can’t both be right

What do we need to resolve conflicts?
Willingness to find a solution
Refuse to compromise
Common goal
Explore solutions
Surface assumptions
Challenge assumptions
A dash of creativity

The Shallow Thinking Process
A problem
Happy Days
Root Cause Analysis
THE Solution
This is what we
needed all along!
Why don’t we have
what we need?
Magic Happens Here

Intermediate Objectives Map
Prerequisite/
Transition Tree
How do we get there?
In small steps.
What is our goal?
What are we missing?
Future Reality Tree
Current Reality Tree
Would that work?
What could possibly go wrong?
Why don’t we have
what we need?
Magic Happens Here
Conflict Resolution Diagram
What could be done to resolve the
underlying fundamental conflict?

The Conflict Resolution Diagram
Find the common objective
Review clarity and logic
Find the assumptions
Challenge the assumptions
Explore potential solutions

We can have our cake AND eat it!

7/7 Session feedback

Session Retro
Thank You!
for your Gift of Feedback

Thank you!
Introductions
Consultant.
Storyteller.
Games Maker.
Consultant.
Project Manager.
Games Maker.
His Blog: blog.nayima.be
Her Blog: www.selfishprogramming.org
NAYIMA
We make play work

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Conflict resolution diagram tutorial

by AgileCoach.net on Sep 12, 2010

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Conflict resolution diagram tutorial — Presentation Transcript