Making Conflict Work: Harnessing the Power of Disagreement - Hardcover

Coleman, Peter T.; Ferguson, Robert

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0544148398 ISBN 13: 9780544148390

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014

Synopsis

A practical guide to navigating workplace conflicts by better understanding the power dynamics at play in every interaction

Conflicts at work are as inevitable as they are frustrating. In Making Conflict Work, Peter Coleman and Robert Ferguson’s leading experts in the field of conflict resolution address the key role of power in workplace tension. Whether you’re butting heads with your boss or addressing a direct report’s complaint, your relative position of power affects how you approach conflict.

Coleman and Ferguson explain how power dynamics function, with step-by-step guidance to determining your standing in a conflict and identifying and applying the strategies that will lead to the best resolution. Drawing on the authors’ years of research and consulting experience, the book gives readers effective strategies for negotiating disputes at all levels of an organization.

Making Conflict Work includes self-assessment exercises and action plans to guide managers, mediators, consultants, and attorneys through any conflict. This powerful approach can turn workplace tensions into catalysts for creativity, innovation, and meaningful change.

About this title

From the Back Cover

Coleman and Ferguson have done something remarkable: they ve written an evidence-based book on the complex topic of conflict and made it easy to read, easy to understand, and, best of all, easy to use. A genuine winner.
Robert B. Cialdini, author of Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

Navigating conflict effectively is an essential component of leadership. Making Conflict Work illustrates when to compromise and when to continue driving forward.
Honorable David N. Dinkins, 106th mayor of the City of New York

This book is a necessity. As someone who has navigated the traps of power and conflict across the globe, it is refreshing to find a book that calls it what it is and offers useful advice on turning traps into prospects for change. Read it.
Leymah Gbowee, 2011 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Liberian peace activist

Making Conflict Work gives us a way to think about how we deal with conflict in hierarchical organizations. Especially helpful are the chapters that link conflict intelligence how we routinely deal with conflict to actionable strategies.
Deborah M. Kolb, professor emerita, Simmons College Graduate School of Management

Through a superb balance of interviews, case studies, and evidence-based insights, the authors provide valuable lessons on how leaders can manage conflict.
Steve Cohen, executive director, the Earth Institute, Columbia University

An innovative and practical look at how to navigate everyday disagreements to reach your goals, serving up examples of best practices drawn from the authors decades of experience helping others cope with conflict, power, and change.
Lawrence Susskind, cofounder, Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School

Managers who try to suppress conflict not only make things worse, but also stifle opportunities for creative problem solving. Making Conflict Work should be essential reading for all managers.
Michael Wheeler, retired professor, Harvard Business School, and author of The Art of Negotiation

From the Inside Flap

Take control of potentially destructive workplace conflict and transform it into a driving force for creativity, innovation, and meaningful change.

Every workplace is a minefield of conflict, and each day brings new challenges. How do you launch a new product when your team can t agree on a basic concept? What do you do when a promotion turns your peers into your direct reports? How do you move ahead when you and your boss don t see eye-to-eye?

Peter T. Coleman and Robert Ferguson, leading experts in the field of conflict resolution, argue that every conflict is shaped by the same inescapable force: power. To turn any conflict to your advantage, you must first understand the true power dynamics at play. Making Conflict Work teaches you how to identify the nature of a conflict, determine your power position relative to your adversaries , and enact the best tactical approach for achieving your goals.

Coleman and Ferguson provide readers with versatile strategies for negotiating disputes at all levels of an organization. These tactics are equally effective for managers and assistants, consultants and attorneys, and anyone who has ever had a conflict with a colleague. Packed with helpful self-assessment exercises and step-by-step action plans to guide you through any problem, Making Conflict Work gives you the tools you need to become a stronger leader, a respected team member, and an agent of positive change in your organization.

Edition details

• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0544148398
• ISBN 13: 9780544148390
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 278