Chapter 15 Chapter 14 The Art of Coordination: Misunderstandings and Conflicts Must Be Resolved

Any organization or group will inevitably have misunderstandings and contradictions in its long-term internal and external relations.Whether a modern leader can fully learn to use coordination skills, eliminate misunderstandings and contradictions, gain understanding and support externally, and make the department a strong and united fighting unit internally has become an important criterion for measuring the success of its leadership one. Conflict is one of the important reasons that cause and lead to uneasiness, tension, discord, turmoil, chaos and even division and disintegration.As an excellent leader, one should know that the traditional view has its rationality, but it is obviously unrealistic to completely resolve the conflict, and it is also an incomplete understanding.

The book "Military Leadership" edited by the United States Military Academy at West Point explores the positive role of conflict in depth, noting that conflict between groups can provide incentives for change.When the work is going well and there is no conflict between the groups, the group may not conduct self-analysis and evaluation to improve its quality. As a result, the group may become a stagnant pool, unable to tap its potential and promote growth and development through change. On the contrary, the existence of conflicts among them will stimulate the organization's interest and curiosity in the work, which actually increases the diversity of viewpoints to complement each other, and at the same time increases the sense of urgency.

There are two important figures in the history of the development of General Motors. Because of their different views and practices on conflicts and contradictions, they have brought different major influences on the development of General Motors. The first is William?Durant, who largely takes a one-man approach to making big decisions, likes those who agree with him, and will probably never forgive anyone who contradicts him in public.As a result, his operating committee, which consisted of plant managers, met no opposition to any of its decisions, but this "unanimity" lasted only four years.Four years later, GM was in crisis, and Durant had to leave the company willingly.

Another person who had a big impact on GM was Alfred?Sloan, by far the most prestigious leader at GM, was hailed as an "organizational genius."He used to be Durant's assistant and later became Durant's successor.He's seen the mistakes Durant made, and he's almost fixed them.He believes that no one is always right.Before making a decision, others must be consulted. He will clarify his views on various specific issues as they arise, but he also encourages debate and expressing different views.This made him a great success. A lesson to be learned from this is how to view conflict and contradictions within the enterprise.For today's leaders, a company without conflicts is a lifeless organization. As a leader, you must dare to face conflicts and contradictions, and hearing about conflicts should become a fashion for leaders.

Akio Morita, known as the "Japanese Edison", further explained how leaders should face up to this conflict from his own personal experience.He believes that when most companies talk about "cooperation" or "consensus", it usually means burying personal opinions.At Sony Corporation, we encourage everyone to express their opinions openly.The more differing opinions, the better.Because the final conclusion must be brilliant.When Akio Morita was vice president, there was a conflict with the then chairman Michi Tajima.Because Morita insisted on his opinion and refused to make concessions, Tajima was very angry, and finally he said angrily: "Shengtian, you and I have the opposite opinion, and I don't want to stay in any company that acts according to your opinion, which makes us sometimes still Fight over these things." Morita's answer was very blunt, "Sir, if you and I have exactly the same opinion, we should not stay in the same company and receive two salaries, and one of you and I should resign. Just because of you and me With different perspectives, the risk of companies making mistakes is reduced.”

For leaders, since conflicts and contradictions are inevitable and ubiquitous, they should not be avoided, obliterated or turned a blind eye, let alone be deceived by temporary "consistency", or even artificially create the phenomenon of "consistency".In short, any one person's cognitive ability is limited, and one person's opinion cannot always be correct.Conflicts and contradictions may be the best solution to make up for this deficiency. As long as the coordination is reasonable and the communication is timely, conflicts will pave the way for your success. As a leader, when you want to persuade others, you must first accurately grasp the psychology of the person being persuaded, because the situation of the person being persuaded is contradictory. If he does not obey or agree with you, he will conflict with you; But if he obeys you and agrees with you, he will have conflicts with himself.In the process of being persuaded, people's psychological contradictions have the following manifestations:

1. Suspicion Even when people have a trusting relationship with each other, it is inevitable that they will have doubts when they feel that they are being persuaded by each other.In particular, some people themselves have the problem of being suspicious, and this situation will be even more serious.Trust means keeping promises, keeping secrets, and respecting each other's personality. However, in specific situations, people's beliefs may be shaken, and suspicion will arise spontaneously. Robert Carnegie-Mellon University?Dr. Kelly conducted a survey on the work of 400 managers in the United States in 1989, and found that two-thirds of the companies led by these managers felt that the managers could not provide them with a clear understanding of the company's concept, tasks and A clear explanation of the objectives".If employees cannot understand the meaning of their work through certain information, their work will not have higher performance.What's more serious is that if the leader does not provide information and explain why, people will explain themselves, and the result will be that the leader cannot control public opinion, which will ruin the leader's career.

2. Defensive psychology That is, the mentality of alertness, which refers to a mental state of not exposing, vigilantly paying attention to every word and deed of others, and trying to shirk responsibility for words and actions. The behavioral skills of talking effectively can heal defensiveness.If you can create a simultaneous conversation, encourage the other party to express his views more, and promote his self-disclosure, you can prescribe the right medicine and find a breakthrough.In addition, express yourself openly and give more positive feedback to show that you and the other party have more similarities than differences. This can shorten the psychological distance, which is conducive to promoting the understanding of the other party and forming a consistent evaluation.

3. Anxiety and stress People have the instinct to protect their own spiritual and personality integrity. Even if you do not have the motivation to control the other party, when the other party makes changes in the face of requests, they will feel uneasy because this may affect their own personality integrity, and bear a certain amount of pressure. Mental pressure; at the same time, when he faces the contradiction between accepting you and rejecting others, accepting you means a change in his attitude and behavior, and he needs to adjust his relationship with other people. At this time, he will also bear Considerable mental stress.The mental pressure on the persuaded will affect the efficiency and effectiveness of the persuasion, so they can hide or hide, if they can't hide, they will not comment.

When it comes to some persuasion that is a major issue for the persuaded, the other party's avoidance is inevitable.Therefore, the persuader is required: first, be patient.Liu Bei visited the thatched cottage three times before he persuaded Zhuge Liang to come out to help him, because for Zhuge Liang, this was a moment of major choice in life, and he had to be cautious.Second, "information injection" must be carried out strategically during the conversation. Don't finish talking at once, but leave room for the other party.Third, let the other party realize the existence and source of his unease and pressure, have a conversation about it, and resolve them one by one, and imagine and explain the reasons for his change for the other party.A more prudent approach is to entrust a third party to persuade.And when there is nothing to do, attacking the "spiritual leader" and stakeholders behind the other party is also a way, but this way should be constrained by a moral standard.

1. Coordination method of "mutual humility" In a unit or department, it is common for subordinates to have different interests and views on a certain task or a certain issue.Sometimes even the two sides will be at loggerheads, blushing, and get very tense.At this time, the leader needs to come forward to mediate and be the "peacemaker" between the two parties. Some estimates say that leaders spend about 20 percent of their time dealing with conflict, but that doesn't prove leadership incompetence or failure.Conflicts are inherent and unavoidable in interpersonal relationships, and must be properly dealt with in order to form an atmosphere of "human harmony". This requires leaders to use the skills of mediating disputes and handling conflicts to coordinate the differences in understanding and conflicts of interests among all parties.So how to deal with disputes, conflicts and disagreements?There is no ready-made formula to follow, but whether a leader can successfully deal with conflict mainly depends on three factors: first, the leader's ability to judge and understand the causes of conflict; second, the leader's ability to control the emotions and The third is the ability of the leader to choose the appropriate behavior to deal with the conflict.Specifically speaking, the method of resolving conflicts and ensuring "human harmony" can generally adopt the method of "mutual humility". The coordination method of "mutual humility" is to force the disputing parties to make a concession and reach a mutually acceptable agreement.This is the most common way to mediate disputes and resolve conflicts.The key to this solution is to find the appropriate point for coordinating both parties.Regardless of mediating political disputes or resolving conflicts in daily work and life, if the two parties are to unite and act together, they should not adopt the approach of favoring one party and suppressing the other, but should use the "mutual humility" method to solve problems. 2. "Walk Around" Coordination Under certain conditions, some unprincipled disputes should be dealt with in an ambiguous way, or in order to resolve certain conflicts, some necessary cooperation, compromise or concessions and compromises can be made. For example, encourage the two parties in the conflict to combine their interests so that the requirements of both parties are fully satisfied; or seek a compromise solution between the requirements of the conflicting parties so that both parties can be partially satisfied; or drive one party to give up One's own point of view and interests to meet the requirements of the other party; or encourage the conflicting parties to resolve their differences by hinting or regardless, etc.If both parties are engaged in factional struggles and disputes for the self-interest of their respective small groups, which is completely against the interests of the whole, then when resolving such disputes, there is no need to distinguish who is right, and in fact it is impossible to distinguish who is who. If it is not, it can be dealt with by hitting 50 big boards each. Another example is that the handling of certain troubles is not correct from the perspective of the trouble itself, but in order to help the stability of the overall situation, after explaining the truth, some compromises can be made to their demands without compromising the general principles, so as to ease the contradictions .Although this way of handling disputes seems simple and a bit indiscriminate, it is still a way to resolve conflicts. 3. The Coordinated Way to "Release Anger" When a conflict arises between the two parties, everyone should be given the opportunity to vent their anger and not allow the anger to build up.This can reduce the tension of the conflict and open the door to conflict resolution.The "Health Management Office" established by some organizations and units in Japan adopts this method. For example, if two people quarrel and a lot of big disputes arise, they can be sent to the "Health Management Office" to organize both parties to receive health management education.The first room, as soon as you enter, there is a floor-to-ceiling mirror opposite, and two people stand and look in the mirror.When the two parties were quarreling, they couldn't feel the change in their appearance, they blushed and their necks were thick, and they were very excited. When they looked in the mirror, their prestige immediately stopped, and they reminded themselves that they felt that they were a little out of control today.Then go to the second room, which is a row of distorting mirrors. Both parties look in the mirrors one by one. Through these mirrors, both parties are inspired to treat themselves and others correctly, and not to think of themselves as tall and others as small as the distorting mirrors.Then go forward again and enter the bouncy ball room.There is a hook on the floor and a hook on the roof, and a ball is tightly pulled by a rubber strip in the middle, hanging as high as a person. Let each person hit three times hard. Due to the elastic force, the ball bounces back and hits his own forehead. This is to inspire both parties to understand the relationship between people. It is the same as the action force and reaction force. will hurt you.Further down, is the Pride Image Room.It is a very arrogant straw man made of straw. Each person is hit three times with a stick to let both parties vent and inspire them to deny this arrogant attitude.Going further down, there are many photos hanging on both sides of the corridor. One side shows how young people should live and learn, how to treat others correctly, respect masters and elders; the other side shows the darkness of Japanese society such as young people fooling around in bars and fighting noodle.Comparing the two sides, it inspires young people to treat life correctly.In the end, the two sides exchanged views and expressed their views on each other, and the problem was resolved. This method is also used in some units in our country.According to reports, a certain factory set up an "exhaust room", and in front of the "exit room" was written the following words: "Comrade master, welcome. Do you have any concerns? Please speak out; do you have any good suggestions? Please don’t keep it.” The main leaders of the factory took turns to be on duty to receive the sign.It's a good thing to say, the employees who went in with a stomach full of anger came out unexpectedly light.In the past two years, employees have visited thousands of times, and each case has been registered and settled.People believe that the economic benefits of this factory are getting better and better, and the "venting chamber" also has a part to play. It is not easy to withstand the anger of others, especially when the anger is directed at yourself.In reality, there are such leaders who use officials to oppress others and use power to bully others.Are you angry?I'm sorry, not only did he not vent his anger on you, but instead he opened his mouth to scold you, adding fuel to the fire. As a result, the conflict was intensified, and even a vicious accident was induced, causing a big mess.Therefore, leaders must be magnanimous on this point and be able to endure "unbearable" things.If the leader himself is also a party to the conflict, he must strictly restrain himself, be "high-profile", and not just defend himself. 4. "Mutual Collaboration" Coordination Approach When emphasizing the status and role of their own work, the leaders of various departments should not belittle but also affirm the status and role of other departments.Work cooperation and support should not be just a one-way pursuit, but a two-way giving, and it should be used to replace the self-enclosed state of "the voices of chickens and dogs are heard, and old age and death do not communicate with each other", and "everyone cleans the door by himself". Don't care about others' narrow practice. Mutual support among the leaders of various departments is the prerequisite for the successful completion of organizational tasks.An organization that supports each other among various departments is a powerful organization.The mutual support between various departments is reflected in the specific work.When a certain department encounters difficulties and resistance, it is a kind of support to take the initiative to solve problems and provide help in terms of personnel, property and property; when a certain department has made achievements or has problems, it is a kind of support to give enthusiastic encouragement or sincere criticism It is also a kind of support; when a certain department has conflicts with other departments, instead of ignoring them, they come forward to mediate to help eliminate misunderstandings and resolve conflicts, which is even more a kind of support.Mutual support among various departments is an important principle for avoiding conflicts, eliminating contradictions and getting along with each other in a friendly manner. 5. Coordinated approach to "reasonable competition" Since each department is in a different position and has different functions in the organizational system, the departments not only have common interests and goals, but also have their own different interests and goals, so there must be competition.The poor status and poor functions of various departments in the organization not only reflect the corresponding rights and obligations, but also reflect the corresponding responsibilities and contributions.This is the objective basis for the competition among various departments of the organization system in the process of collaboration.Within the organization, competition is the most active factor and force, which has the function of continuously changing the organizational system.This function can not only bring about progressive changes in the organizational system, so that the role of the organization can be brought into full play, but also can cause destructive changes in the organizational system, resulting in instability of the organizational system, resulting in structural internal friction and functional internal friction.Reasonable competition requires the formation of a normal competitive relationship between departments, to maximize enthusiasm and creativity, and strive to achieve the overall goal of the organizational system. In reasonable competition, we are opposed to blocking information, dismantling each other, and creating conflicts, and we are also opposed to being satisfied with the status quo, not thinking about making progress, and muddling along.What should be opposed in particular is the kind of unscrupulous and intriguing competition and competition. When conflicts arise between departments of the organizational system, if the scope involved is small, a "negotiation solution" can be adopted.That is, conflicts are resolved through consultation between conflicting departments.During the negotiation, both parties should put the problem on the table, be open and honest, put forward their respective views, clarify their opinions, clarify the conflict factors, and jointly find a solution.If the conflict involves a large area, the "arbitration solution" can be adopted, that is, a third party mediates and conducts arbitration to resolve the conflict.This is the method used when the conflict cannot be resolved after coordination among departments.Here it is required that the arbitrator must have certain authority, preferably trusted by both parties to the conflict, or recognized by society and law, otherwise the arbitration may be invalid. However, no matter which method is used to solve the problem, the leader must maintain fairness and integrity in the process, and be as impartial as a scale. 6. "Accept Time" Coordination This means that the conditions for resolving conflicts are immature, and it is necessary to maintain the status quo and wait for an opportunity to be resolved; or after a period of accumulation, work or life itself is gradually adjusted.Adopt the method of "accepting time", let people gradually abandon old prejudices and adapt to new ideas and new facts after a period of time. This approach to conflict resolution is very sensible.Because the change of a person's beliefs, concepts and positions often requires a process of experience.If you adopt an imposing approach, it will often intensify conflicts, deepen estrangement, hurt people's feelings, and produce adverse consequences.And "accepting time" can make conflict resolution more natural and smooth. For example, when someone disagrees with the organization's resolutions, the organization allows them to "reserve their opinions" instead of abusing organizational means to force them to change their views.Of course, the premise is that the decision must be implemented in action.The so-called "allowing reservations" is the method of "accepting time". Stone, the former president of General Electric Company, worked hard to cultivate the corporate culture of "big family affection" among all employees. The company's leaders and employees should practice the unique culture of the company and love the factory like home.From the top leader of the company to the leaders at all levels, the "open door" policy is implemented. The employees of the factory are welcome to enter their offices at any time to report the situation, and the letters and visits of the employees can be handled responsibly and properly. The company's top leaders and all employees hold lively "free discussions" at least once a year.General Motors is like a harmonious and enterprising "big family". People from top to bottom are called by their first names without distinction of superiority or inferiority. They respect and trust each other, and the relationship between people is harmonious and cordial. In February 1990, when General Motors' mechanical engineer Burnett was receiving his salary, he found that $30 was missing, which was the overtime pay he deserved for one overtime work.To this end, he found his immediate boss, but the boss was powerless, so he wrote to the company's president Stone, "We always encounter headaches about compensation. This has disappointed a large number of outstanding talents." Tong immediately instructed the top management to properly handle the matter. Three days later, they backpaid Burnett, and things seemed to be over, but they made a big fuss about the small incident of backpaying the workers.The first is to apologize to Burnett; the second is to understand the problem of lower treatment for those "excellent talents" driven by this incident, adjust the wage policy, and increase the overtime pay of mechanical engineers; third, to the famous The "Wall Street Journal" disclosed the whole process of this incident, which caused quite a stir in the American business circle. Although things are small, they can reflect GM's "big family concept" and reflect the full trust between employees and the company. The construction of organizational atmosphere is a very difficult project in the world. Don't simply understand it as "the supervisor invites the employees to eat, and the employees take the initiative to build relationships with the supervisor". It requires supervisors and employees to build on the basis of natural integrity. The process, tempered by fire, a trek on a rough road, and "forged" in a high-pressure competitive environment, based on the integration of knowledge and experience inside and outside the organization, and under the joint action of external forces, a common beautiful vision, a concise and effective organizational structure, Process standard system, natural communication and learning habits, fair assessment and incentive measures, team organization has strong appeal and cohesion, leaders and members are willing to sacrifice personal interests for the team, and each member is proud of being a member of the organization .Only such a team has strong vitality and explosive power.