If you’re in a dispute that’s heating up and you’re finding yourself hot under the collar, make it your mission to stop the conversation.
For now. Let yourself—and the conflict—cool down. When a conflict is escalating and you’re experiencing an emotional hijacking, the conversation is more likely to spiral destructively. There’s no rule that you [...]

In this time when the U.S. celebrates Independence Day, it seems especially important to celebrate our interdependence now too:

“What we see,” said English statesman Sir John Lubbock, “depends mainly on what we look for.”
In workplace conflict, the traditional problem-solving approach is to focus on what isn’t working and figure out how to fix it. Yet such negative “spotlighting” can actually have a limiting effect on the potential for creative conflict resolution. And [...]

There’s just something about a summer Friday that begs for fun and humor. Though it’s got pretty much nothing do with with dialogue, relationships, conflict resolution or negotiation, here’s something I’ve been showing to others all week:

With gratitude to David Airey for the find and for the original—and much replicated—smile.

Copyright © 2007 by Tammy Lenski. [...]

The Conflict Management Articles Vault is a monthly feature that dips into the archives and shares still-relevant articles from one year ago:

The Secret to a Happy Marriage: The Shame Maneuver: Boy, did this one generate a lot of emails!
Good Read: The Art of Possibility: One of my favorite books of all time.
The Man Who Stood [...]

A workshop participant recently asked me, “When I can’t get the other person to talk, and the conflict can’t be resolved, how do I let go of it?”
I’ve had the privilege of bearing witness others’ decisions to let go of an unresolved conflict and move on with their lives. And it really is a conscious [...]

Thanks to your votes in the semi-finals, my private office is a finalist in Lifehacker’s Coolest Workspace Contest! Wow, thanks for the support, my friends.
Now the final vote is underway and I’m hoping you’ll vote for my office space one more time. You can vote in less than a minute by visiting the Lifehacker Contest [...]