Re: How to deal with the conflict in your daily work

Eugene Wallingford wrote:
> 
> 
> 
>  > I'm quite late to the discussion, but I'd like to recommend Patrick
>  > Lencioni's "Five Dysfunctions of a Team", which does not ask the
>  > question of whether emotion should surface in the workplace, but
>  > rather provides ideas on how to help teams become comfortable with
>  > conflict.
> 
> I read this book after seeing a recommendation on the XP list,
> perhaps also by J. B. (Joe) Rainsberger. I recommend it
> highly. Lencioni described a situation that mirrors the one
> I face as an academic department head. Now I am working on
> the courage to implement the approach Lencioni describes.
> 
> ---- Eugene

Forgive me for being blunt, but that book is utter garbage. It ranks 
right down there in the Business Book Hall Of Shame with "The One Minute 
Manager" and "Leadership Secrets of Attila The Hun."

A much better take on conflict management in my humble opinion is Marsha 
Petrie Sue's "Toxic People: Decontaminate Difficult People at Work 
Without Using Weapons or Duct Tape". Another excellent reference is Roy 
Lubit's "Coping with Toxic Managers, Subordinates ... and Other 
Difficult People".

It really doesn't take courage to implement an authoritarian management 
style. What takes courage is to implement dialogue, accountability 
without blame, "we" thinking rather than "they" thinking, and an 
absolute zero tolerance for gossip, rumor and innuendo.