Living with Uncertainty When it Comes to Workplace Conflict
Posted May 10th, 2011
Often, when we have a conflict with someone at work, our first reaction is one of anger, because we believe clearly that we are in the right. We see the situation in black and white terms. As we see it, we clearly have right on our side. How could the other person not see it also? Our overriding concern is to get the other person to see our point of view, because surely he or she would then see that we are right.
But sometimes, if we push ourselves to keep a more open mind, and talk to the other person, we begin to understand why he or she acted as they did.
At this point, we begin to lose the sense of clarity and certainty that we had. We see that things are actually more complex than we assumed them to be. The conflict wasn’t really revolving around good and evil.
It can be disconcerting. The loss of clarity and certainty almost always is. It gives a sense of comfort and security if we believe we truly have the right answer, or that we are truly in the right.
It’s alright to feel this way, but we must not let it control our thinking. Because the more deeply we consider something, the more we analyze it and plumb its depths, the more we see that simple and clear answers are not there. What we find more often is ambiguity and complexity. Certainty and clarity are more often not the result of deep thinking, but shallow thinking.
More often than not, being certain about something usually means that we have failed to look at all of the nuances involved in a situation, that we are oversimplifying things.
What business leaders, and leaders anywhere, really need is to look at things more inclusively, taking in the forest and not just the trees. Leaders and all managers need to take into account that reality is full of nuance and paradox, that when we look closely, what appears to be black and white really is varying shades of gray.
This is not an argument for moral relativism, or relativism of any kind. Value systems are still operative here. But it is an acknowledgment that within value systems there is room for different viewpoints and interpretations and shades of meanings and subtlety.
When you’re not sure if you should hire people full time for your San Francisco-area business, consider bringing on workers for long-term temporary positions. This will allow you to stay flexible and then — if you find that you want to hire them onto your own payroll — you’ll be able to ramp up your staffing quickly. Contact us today!
