yes, conflicts

1. CAMELS, UNCLES AND
CONFLICTS
principles in resolving conflicts
in the workplace

2. PROBLEM
He wanted the first son to have one half of his 17 camels, the
second son to have one third of his 17 camels, and the third
son was to have one ninth of the 17.
Once upon a time there was a rich old Arab Chief whose
wealth was measured in the number of camels he owned.
This chief had 17 camels and on his deathbed he
called his three sons together and told them that he wanted
to share his camels out to his sons when he died.

3. PROBLEM
17/2= 8 remainder 1
17/3= 5 remainder 2
17/9= 1 remainder 8

4. PROPOSED SOLUTIONS
“I’m the eldest. I get more, you get less.”
“We call our uncle, and ask help.”
“We all settle for less, and give away
the remainder.”

5. UNCLE
“Take my only camel, you’d
have 18. Now you can divide
it for yourselves. Just give
me back what’s left over. ”

6. RESOLUTION
18/2=
18/3=
18/9=
17 plus

7. TAKEAWAYS
Greed and a feeling of superiority will always
worsen the conflict.
Settling for less gives you much less and may create
further conflict.
Delaying the resolution may worsen the conflict.

8. TAKEAWAYS
Help from a neutral third party may at times be
necessary.
Working together to solve conflicts may give us
more than what we already have.
A strong resolve to achieve a shared goal keeps
us in the right perspective.

9. Peace is not the absence of
conflict but the presence of
creative alternatives for
responding to conflict,
alternatives to passive or
aggressive responses,
alternatives to violence.
DOROTHY THOMPSON:

10. We are not at peace with
others because we are
not at peace with
ourselves, and we are not
at peace with ourselves
because we are not at
peace with God.