The Good Fight

Conflict receives bad corporate press: it is believed to impact productivity, affect relationships between colleagues and demobilize staff members. A vision that should be balanced, the author advocates. According to her, business organizations must nowadays juggle between so many diverging fields of interest—these of the customers, of the shareholders, of the local communities, of the staff, etc.—that it becomes inevitable, or even healthy, that antagonisms emerge. On the contrary, the avoidance of conflict, or its passionate outburst when it has brewed up for too long, would be far more costly for companies. We must thus remain calm when facing such differences in opinion, and let them be voiced. They represent as many opportunities to reach better-informed decisions, to put back into place problematical behaviors—in other words, to progress. A perspective fueled by the author’s consulting experience, which she shares with no naivety: conflicts remain humanly challenging moments, with their lot of frustration, anger or regrets. Yet she formulates many pieces of advice to reduce these negative aspects and adopt a constructive mindset when facing conflict. She helps the reader find the courage and appropriate tone to no longer procrastinate in front of a difficult conversation. She also provides techniques to overcome blockage and heal the wounds after a dispute.