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Resolving Conflicts without Compromisealso known as“I want to have my cake and eat it!”<br />Pascal Van Cauwenberghe & Portia Tung<br />

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About us<br />Consultant.<br />Storyteller.<br />Games Maker.<br />Consultant. <br />Project Manager. <br />Games Maker.<br />His Blog: blog.nayima.be<br />Her Blog: www.selfishprogramming.org<br />NAYIMA<br />We make play work<br />

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About this session<br />What do we mean by “Conflict” ?<br />Name a conflict you’d like to resolve<br />A conflict we prepared earlier<br />Patterns of Conflict<br />Ideas for resolving your conflict<br />Further reading<br />Session feedback<br />

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1/7What do we mean by conflict?<br />

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“I want to live in the city...”<br />“... AND in the country”<br />

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“I want to eat what I want...”<br />“... AND be fit and healthy”<br />

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Manager: “We need to go faster <br />to deliver more features”<br />Developers: “We need to go slower <br />to increase quality.”<br />

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What do we need to resolve conflicts?<br />Willingness to find a solution<br />Refuse to compromise <br />Common goal<br />Articulate the conflict<br />Explore solutions<br />Surface assumptions<br />Challenge assumptions<br />A dash of creativity<br />

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The Shallow Thinking Process<br />A problem<br />Happy Days<br />Root Cause Analysis<br />THE Solution<br />This is what we <br />needed all along!<br />Why don’t we have <br />what we need?<br />Magic Happens Here<br />

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The Logical Thinking Process<br />

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The Logical Thinking Process<br />Intermediate Objectives Map<br />Prerequisite/<br />Transition Tree<br />How do we get there?<br />In small steps.<br />What is our goal?<br />What are we missing?<br />Future Reality Tree<br />Current Reality Tree<br />Would that work?<br />What could possibly go wrong?<br />Why don’t we have <br />what we need?<br />Magic Happens Here<br />That’s what this session is about<br />Conflict Resolution Diagram<br />What could be done to resolve the <br />underlying fundamental conflict?<br />

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The Conflict Resolution Diagram<br />Prerequisite 1<br />Requirement 1<br />Objective<br />Requirement 2<br />Prerequisite 2<br />

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3 Types of Conflict<br />

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Type 1:“I want X and the opposite of X”That’s not possible, is it?<br />“I want to live in the city...”<br />“... AND I want to live in the country”<br />

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Type 2:“I want X and Y”But I have to choose, right?<br />“I want to eat what I want...”<br />“... AND be fit and healthy”<br />

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Type 3:<br />“I want X. They want Y. We can’t both be right”<br />Only one of us can win, at best.<br />Developers: “We need to go slower <br />to increase quality.”<br />Manager: “We need to go faster <br />to deliver more features”<br />

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2/7 NAME a conflict you’d like to reSolve<br />

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Three types of Conflict<br />I want X and the opposite of X<br />That’s not possible, is it?<br />I want X and Y but I can’t have both<br />I have to choose, don’t I?<br />I want X. They want Y.<br />Only one of us can win, at best.<br />

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3/7 Here’s one we prepared earlier<br />

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Story #1<br />Consultants audited business unit => FAIL<br />We have to build a system to support the whole value stream<br />Conflicts between sales and operations<br />And between finance/audit and the rest<br />More than a month of “shuttle diplomacy”<br />

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One of the conflicts is about product definition<br />Lots of confusion about what products mean<br />Ask 5 people, you get 6 different answers<br />2 previous attempts failed<br />We have a hard deadline because of new EU regulations<br />Story #1<br />

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Step 1: Articulate the conflict<br />Prerequisite 1<br />Requirement 1<br />Objective<br />Requirement 2<br />Prerequisite 2<br />

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Step 1: Articulate the conflict<br />Sales:<br />Customised <br />Products<br />Operations:<br />Standardised<br />Products<br />

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Step 2: Find the common objective<br />Prerequisite 1<br />Requirement 1<br />Objective<br />Requirement 2<br />Prerequisite 2<br />

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Tip: Don’t continue until you agree on a common, concrete and motivating goal<br />If there’s no common goal, there’s no incentive to solve the conflict<br />

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Step 2: Find the common objective<br />Customised <br />Products<br />Sell more<br />Surviving<br />Business<br />Standardised<br />Products<br />Be more efficient<br />

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Tip: Strive for clarity first,then for correctness<br />Precise and crisp definitions to ensure everyone has the same understanding<br />

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Step 2: Find the common objective<br />Increase sales<br />Increase margin<br />Customised <br />Products<br />Profitability in a<br />shrinking market<br />Reduce costs<br />Deliver on SLA<br />Standardised<br />Products<br />

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Step 3: Review clarity and logic<br />Increase sales<br />Increase margin<br />Customised <br />Products<br />Profitability in a<br />shrinking market<br />Reduce costs<br />Deliver on SLA<br />Standardised<br />Products<br />

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Step 3: Find the assumptions<br />2<br />4<br />Prerequisite 1<br />Requirement 1<br />Objective<br />1<br />5<br />Requirement 2<br />Prerequisite 2<br />3<br />

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Tip: Brainstorm assumptions<br />Go for quantity<br />Include “obvious” assumptions<br />

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Tip: Use “Extreme Assumptions”aka “Throw a tantrum”<br />X is the ONLY way to have Y<br />X is the BEST way to have Y<br />X guarantees Y<br />

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Step 3a: Find the assumptions<br />Increase sales<br />Increase margin<br />Customised <br />Products<br />1<br />Profitability in a<br />shrinking market<br />Reduce costs<br />Deliver on SLA<br />Standardised<br />Products<br />

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3a. Our assumptions<br />We can’t have both customised and standardised products because<br />Product == Product<br />Standardised != Customised<br />As soon as sales starts to customise we end up with an infinite number of products (again)<br />Sales doesn’t understand delivery<br />Operations doesn’t understand business<br />

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Step 3: Find the assumptions<br />2<br />Increase sales<br />Increase margin<br />Customised <br />Products<br />Profitability in a<br />shrinking market<br />Reduce costs<br />Deliver on SLA<br />Standardised<br />Products<br />

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3b. Our assumptions<br />To increase sales and margin we need to customise products because<br />We can only compete by having an offer that’s different from our competitors<br />Customers are becoming more demanding<br />We must react quickly to customer demands<br />We can never compete on price<br />

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Step 3: Find the assumptions<br />Increase sales<br />Increase margin<br />Customised <br />Products<br />Profitability in a<br />shrinking market<br />Reduce costs<br />Deliver on SLA<br />Standardised<br />Products<br />3<br />

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3c. Our assumptions<br />To reduce costs and deliver on SLA we need to standardise products because<br />Having low variation is the only way to have predictable production schedules<br />Standardised products are the only way to flexibly allocate people according to demand<br />Product variation always costs more (changeover, setups, switches, training, bottlenecks)<br />Lean only works with low variation production<br />

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Step 3: Find the assumptions<br />4<br />Increase sales<br />Increase margin<br />Customised <br />Products<br />Profitability in a<br />shrinking market<br />Reduce costs<br />Deliver on SLA<br />Standardised<br />Products<br />

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3d. Our assumptions<br />To be profitable in a shrinking market we need to increase sales and margin because<br />We can’t expand the market<br />The only way to increase profitability is to sell more or increase the margin on each sale<br />

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Step 3: Find the assumptions<br />Increase sales<br />Increase margin<br />Customised <br />Products<br />Profitability in a<br />shrinking market<br />5<br />Reduce costs<br />Deliver on SLA<br />Standardised<br />Products<br />

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3e. Our assumptions<br />To be profitable in a shrinking market we need to reduce costs and deliver on SLA because<br />We are penalised for not hitting SLAs<br />Our competitors have lower costs<br />This is a price sensitive market, so the only way to increase profitability is to reduce costs<br />This is a quality-sensitive market, so the only way to increase or keep market share is to increase quality<br />Quality is hitting the SLA<br />

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Step 4: Challenge the assumptions<br />2<br />4<br />Prerequisite 1<br />Requirement 1<br />Objective<br />1<br />5<br />Requirement 2<br />Prerequisite 2<br />3<br />

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Step 4: Challenge the assumptions<br />2<br />4<br />Increase sales<br />Increase margin<br />Customised <br />Products<br />1<br />Profitability in a<br />shrinking market<br />5<br />Reduce costs<br />Deliver on SLA<br />Standardised<br />Products<br />3<br />

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4a. Challenge our assumptions<br />We can’t have both customised and standardised products because<br />Product == Product<br />Standardised != customised<br />As soon as sales starts to customise we end up with an infinite number of products (again)<br />Sales doesn’t understand delivery<br />Operations doesn’t understand business<br />

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4b. Challenge our assumptions<br />To increase sales and margin we need to customise products because<br />We can only compete by having an offer that’s different from our competitors<br />We must react quickly to market demands<br />We can never compete on price<br />

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4c. Challenge our assumptions<br />To reduce costs and deliver on SLA we need to standardise products because<br />Having low variation is the only way to have predictable production schedules<br />Standardised products are the only way to flexibly allocate people according to demand<br />Product variation always costs more (changeover, setups, switches, training, bottlenecks)<br />Lean only works with low variation production<br />

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4d. Challenge our assumptions<br />To be profitable in a shrinking market we need to increase sales and margin because<br />We can’t expand the market<br />The only way to increase profitability is to sell more or increase the margin on each sale<br />

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4e. Challenge our assumptions<br />To be profitable in a shrinking market we need to reduce costs and deliver on SLA because<br />We are penalised for not hitting SLAs<br />Our competitors have lower costs<br />This is a price sensitive market, so the only way to increase profitability is to reduce costs<br />This is a quality-sensitive market, so the only way to increase or keep market share is to increase quality<br />Quality is hitting the SLA<br />

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The assumption we challenged<br />Increase sales<br />Increase margin<br />Customised <br />Products<br />Profitability in a<br />shrinking market<br />Product == Product<br />Reduce costs<br />Deliver on SLA<br />Standardised<br />Products<br />

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What if....<br />Sales and Operations were talking about different products?<br />That would explain the confusion<br />

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The resolved conflict<br />Customise <br />Sales<br />Product<br />Increase sales<br />Increase margin<br />Profitability in a<br />shrinking market<br />Sales Product != Operational Product<br />Standardise<br />Operational <br />Product<br />Reduce costs<br />Deliver on SLA<br />

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There was another conflict<br />Operations:<br />Coarse <br />Products<br />Low input and<br />tracking<br />overhead<br />Lower costs<br />Reduce cycle<br />time<br />How would you solve this conflict?<br />Finance & audit:<br />Detailed<br />Products<br />Detailed auditing<br />Cost analysis<br />

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The Solution<br />Finance & Audit<br />“Products”<br />Operations<br />“Products”<br />Sales & Marketing<br />“Products”<br />

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The Result<br />Built and deployed the system<br />Took two years, including refactoring of product catalog<br />Business unit has been profitable since<br />Market share grows<br />Among top 5 in the world meeting industry SLAs<br />Continuously improving<br />

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4/7 patterns of conflicT<br />

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Three types of Conflict<br />I need X and the opposite of X<br />That’s not possible, is it?<br />I need X and Y but I can’t have both<br />I have to choose, don’t I?<br />I want X. They want Y. We can’t both be right<br />Only one of us can win, at best.<br />

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Using the Conflict Resolution Diagram<br />You can’t solve your own conflict<br />Ask for help<br />The biggest obstacle is willingness to find a solution without compromise<br />Need to believe that a solution exists<br />Use examples to show that solving the problem is possible<br />First look for clarity, then for correctness<br />A clear problem statement often leads to “evaporation” of the problem<br />The CRD is a collaborative tool<br /> Don’t use it to “prove” the other party is wrong<br />Sometimes you have to provide “shuttle diplomacy”<br />

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Typical conflict patterns<br />The false conflict<br />We’re talking about different things<br />Assuming we have no options<br />We always have options<br />Today against tomorrow<br />We can repay debt in small steps<br />Not enough resources<br />There are ways to do more with the same resources<br />Conflating means and ends<br />There’s another way to achieve the goal<br />

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5/7 Did you get any ideas to look at your conflicts differently?<br />

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6/7 further reading<br />

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Recommended Resources<br />Summary from www.agilecoach.net<br />“The Logical Thinking Process” – H.W. Dettmer<br />“It’s not Luck” – E. Goldratt<br />“Thinking in Systems” – D. Meadows<br />

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Summary<br />

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About this session<br />What do we mean by “Conflict” ?<br />Name a conflict you’d like to resolve<br />A conflict we prepared earlier<br />Patterns of Conflict<br />Ideas for resolving your conflict<br />Further reading<br />Session feedback<br />

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Three types of Conflict<br />I need X and the opposite of X<br />That’s not possible, is it?<br />I need X and Y but I can’t have both<br />I have to choose, don’t I?<br />I want X. They want Y. We can’t both be right<br />Only one of us can win, at best.<br />

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What do we need to resolve conflicts?<br />Willingness to find a solution<br />Refuse to compromise <br />Common goal<br />Articulate the conflict<br />Explore solutions<br />Surface assumptions<br />Challenge assumptions<br />A dash of creativity<br />

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The Shallow Thinking Process<br />A problem<br />Happy Days<br />Root Cause Analysis<br />THE Solution<br />This is what we <br />needed all along!<br />Why don’t we have <br />what we need?<br />Magic Happens Here<br />

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The Logical Thinking Process<br />Intermediate Objectives Map<br />Prerequisite/<br />Transition Tree<br />How do we get there?<br />In small steps.<br />What is our goal?<br />What are we missing?<br />Future Reality Tree<br />Current Reality Tree<br />Would that work?<br />What could possibly go wrong?<br />Why don’t we have <br />what we need?<br />Magic Happens Here<br />Conflict Resolution Diagram<br />What could be done to resolve the <br />underlying fundamental conflict?<br />

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The Conflict Resolution Diagram<br />Articulate the conflict<br />Find the common objective<br />Review clarity and logic<br />Find the assumptions<br />Challenge the assumptions<br />Explore potential solutions<br />

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We can have our cake AND eat it!<br />

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7/7 Session feedback<br />

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Session Retro<br />Thank You!<br />for your Gift of Feedback<br />

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Thank you!<br />Introductions<br />Consultant.<br />Storyteller.<br />Games Maker.<br />Consultant. <br />Project Manager. <br />Games Maker.<br />His Blog: blog.nayima.be<br />Her Blog: www.selfishprogramming.org<br />NAYIMA<br />We make play work<br />