The catastrophic events in Barcelona last week (which brings back reminders of Manchester, London and Kabul earlier this year) present us with more horrifying examples of man’s inhumanity to man – how the world continues the struggle of coping with difference and human beings not having the capacity to live side by side in peace and harmony.
Each of us is unique. As nations, races, groups, religions, skin colours and communities – we are also different. Difference of itself does not cause conflict. When my perception of the actions or inactions demonstrated by you towards me, have a negative impact on me – then I am in conflict. Following that, it is how you and I behave will dictate the outcome of our conflict.
I thought you might appreciate in a short thought provoking clip on this from Heineken.
So, we may be very different to each other, but when the going gets tough, if you and I can learn to behave in a constructive manner towards each other, our dissimilar religion or beliefs or skin colour or status, will not be our conflict.
To learn more about managing conflict in the workplace and how to behave well using constructive responses, have a look at our upcoming workshop.