The document discusses workplace conflict, defining it as disruptions in a social space aimed at achieving common goals. It outlines various conflict types, negative conflict management styles, and emphasizes a positive approach through collaboration and creativity. The importance of relationships, curiosity, and risk-taking in transforming conflict is highlighted, advocating for imaginative solutions to overcome challenges.

1. CONFLICT IN THE
WORKPLACE AND
MORAL IMAGINATION
Presented by Jenayalynn C Riojas, Mediator
Integrative Conflict Resolution, LLC
Please see references at the end of this presentation

2. WHAT IS A WORK PLACE?
A social space where a group of
chosen individuals come together
to work towards a common goal.

3. WHAT IS WORKPLACE
CONFLICT?
A disruption in the harmony of that
social space due to either a
perceived or certain contradiction
in goals
Fragile

4. QUOTE
“. . . PEACE IS TO
VIOLENCE WHAT HEALTH IS
TO DISEASE, IT CAN EXIST
WITHIN A PERSON OR
GROUP.” (MATYOK, 2011)

5. TYPES OF CONFLICT
Conflict of Interest
 Scarcity of Resources
 Attention of leadership
Conflict of Position
 Differing Value Systems
 Poor Performance
 Personality Clashes
Power Struggle
 Clamber for leadership or other desired positions
Misunderstanding/Miscommunication
 Poor communication, (i.e. Emails!)
 Personality clashes, (i.e., differing intake/output styles)

6. Do you lack imagination?

7. NEGATIVE WAYS TO HANDLE
CONFLICT
Avoidance
Compromise
Competing
Accommodation

8. POSITIVE APPROACH TO
CONFLICT
Collaboration:
Working together to find a
mutually beneficial solution.

9. WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO TRANSFORM
CONFLICT?
WHAT ARE THE CONDITIONS FOR
COLLABORATION?

10. Recognize:
The Centrality of Relationships
“nothing in the universe exists as an
isolated or independent entity. Everything
takes the form of relationships, be it
subatomic particles sharing energy or
ecosystems sharing food. In the web of life,
nothing living lives alone”(Wheatley,
2002:89)

11. Practice:
The Paradoxical Curiosity
Concern for the quality of
interaction, respect for complexity,
and refusal of over simplification.
Attentiveness and continuous
inquiry about things and their
meanings. Rising above simple
dualistic polarity.

12. Provide:
Space for the creative act
Think about space in practical terms for
workplace conflict resolution. You might
consider:
Privacy
Change of venue
Comfort
Physical & mental

13. Be willing to:
Take Risk
Stepping into the unknown
without any guarantee of
success

14. SO WHAT IS THE POINT?
The point is that with conflict resolution,
anything is possible. It is not necessary to
be restricted to a detailed method all of the
time.
Dig up that imagination that you buried deep
inside when we “grew up”.
Ironically, without our creativity &
imagination, we are constantly looking for
some one to tell us what to do. . .like
children.

15. REFERENCES
 Fisas, V. (2002). La Paz Es Possible. Barcelona, Spain:
Intermon Oxfam.
 Galtung, J. (2004). Transcend and Transform. Boulder, CO:
Paradign Publishers.
 Lederach, J. P. (2010). The Moral Imagination. New York:
Oxford University Press, Inc.
 Matyok, T., Senehi, J., & Byrne, S. (2011). Critical Issues in
Peace and Conflict Studies: Theory Practice and Pedagogy .
Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Education.
 Ury, W. (1999, 2000). The Third Side New York, NY: Penguin
Group.
 Wheately, M. (1994). Leadership and the New Science . San
Francisco, CA: Barrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.