Is it Always Right to be Right?

We’ve all been taught that “right makes might,” but common sense tells us that we can’t all be right all of the time. And in the world of business, the need to succeed, to always be in the “right,” can paralyze a company when taken to an extreme.

A new book, Is it Always Right to be Right? A Tale of Transforming Workplace Conflict into Creativity and Collaboration (AMACOM, 2001) by Warren H. Schmidt and BJ Gallagher Hateley, identifies potential areas of conflict within organizations and offers specific action plans designed to foster teamwork and communication.

The authors start from the premise that within any organization, conflicts will naturally occur. In fact, some studies have shown that top managers spend about 25% of their time dealing with conflicts, and middle managers spend even more time in conflict.

Following are some of the authors’ suggestions for increasing communication and teamwork in the workplace:

Choose the right words when dealing with conflict:

• Positive Choices:
  “We both seem to want...”
  “Let me see if I understand what you are saying...[then repeat or rephrase what you think you just heard].”
  “Let’s be clear on the outcomes we would like to achieve...”
• Negative Choices:
  “The trouble with you is...”
  “Where did you get that (stupid/crazy/silly) idea anyway?”
  “You always...”
  “You never...”
  “How can you say that?”

Behaviors that move toward creative problem solving:

A. Listening and Learning:

• Listen actively
• Ask questions for clarification
• Probe for primary and secondary motivations and concerns, areas of uncertainty, and openings for influence and change.
• Summarize the other party’s perception of the facts, recommendations for action, goals, stated and implied values.

B. Telling and Persuading:

• State your own perception of the facts and the basis for them, your recommendations and justification for action, your goals and why they are important.
• Speculate on the cause of the differences and invite a response.
• Invite the other party to reconsider his or her position and how this would be of advantage to him or her

C. Exploring, Creating, Negotiating, and Compromising:

• State where both sets of perception of the facts are the same or different.
• Speculate on the cause of the differences, and invite a response.
• State where both sets of goals are the same or different.
• Speculate on why the differences might exist.
• State your own recommendations for action—and the justification for them.
• State how proposed actions are related to agreed-upon goals and values.
• Invite comment on your analysis.

For more information about this and other AMACOM business titles, click here.

About the Authors:
Warren H. Schmidt, BJ Gallagher Hately, and illustrator Sam Weiss previously collaborated on A Peacock in the Land of Penguins and Pigeonholed in the Land of Penguins. Dr. Schmidt is President of Chrysalis, Inc., a management training and consulting organization, and Professor Emeritus at the University of Southern California. Ms. Hately is President of Peacock Products, a training and consulting organization. Mr. Weiss was a world-renowned illustrator and animated film director.