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

1. Resolving Conflicts without Compromise
also known as
“I want to have my cake and eat it!”
Pascal Van Cauwenberghe & Portia Tung

2. About us
Her Blog: www.selfishprogramming.org His Blog: blog.nayima.be
NAYIMAWe make play work
Consultant.
Storyteller.
Games Maker. Consultant.
Project Manager.
Games Maker.

3. About this session
1. What do we mean by “Conflict” ?
2. Name a conflict you’d like to resolve
3. A conflict we prepared earlier
4. Patterns of Conflict
5. Ideas for resolving your conflict
6. Further reading
7. Session feedback

4. 1/7
WHAT DO WE MEAN BY CONFLICT?

5. “I want to live in the city...” “... AND in the country”

6. “I want to eat what I want...” “... AND be fit and healthy”

7. Manager: “We need to go faster
to deliver more features”
Developers: “We need to go slower
to increase quality.”

8. What do we need to resolve conflicts?
1. Willingness to find a solution
– Refuse to compromise
– Common goal
2. Articulate the conflict
3. Explore solutions
– Surface assumptions
– Challenge assumptions
– A dash of creativity

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

10. The Logical Thinking Process

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

12. The Conflict Resolution Diagram
Objective
Prerequisite 1Requirement 1
Prerequisite 2Requirement 2

13. 3 Types of Conflict

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

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

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

17. 2/7 NAME A CONFLICT YOU’D LIKE
TO RESOLVE

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

19. 3/7 HERE’S ONE WE PREPARED
EARLIER

20. Define
products
Sales Operations Billing Invoicing
Story #1
• Consultants audited business unit => FAIL
• We have to build a system to support the
whole value stream
• Conflicts between sales and operations
• And between finance/audit and the rest
– More than a month of “shuttle diplomacy”

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

22. Step 1: Articulate the conflict
Objective
Prerequisite 1Requirement 1
Prerequisite 2Requirement 2

23. Step 1: Articulate the conflict
Sales:
Customised
Products
Operations:
Standardised
Products

24. Step 2: Find the common objective
Objective
Prerequisite 1Requirement 1
Prerequisite 2Requirement 2

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

26. Step 2: Find the common objective
Sell more
Be more efficient
Customised
Products
Standardised
Products
Surviving
Business

27. Tip: Strive for clarity first,
then for correctness
Precise and crisp definitions to
ensure everyone has the same
understanding

28. Step 2: Find the common objective
Increase sales
Increase margin
Reduce costs
Deliver on SLA
Customised
Products
Standardised
Products
Profitability in a
shrinking market

29. Step 3: Review clarity and logic
Increase sales
Increase margin
Reduce costs
Deliver on SLA
Customised
Products
Standardised
Products
Profitability in a
shrinking market

30. Step 3: Find the assumptions
Objective
Prerequisite 1Requirement 1
Prerequisite 2Requirement 2
1
2
3
5
4

31. Tip: Brainstorm assumptions
Go for quantity
Include “obvious” assumptions

32. Tip: Use “Extreme Assumptions”
aka “Throw a tantrum”
X is the ONLY way to have Y
X is the BEST way to have Y
X guarantees Y

33. Step 3a: Find the assumptions
1
Increase sales
Increase margin
Reduce costs
Deliver on SLA
Customised
Products
Standardised
Products
Profitability in a
shrinking market

34. 3a. Our assumptions
• We can’t have both customised and
standardised products because
– Product == Product
– Standardised != Customised
– As soon as sales starts to customise we end up
with an infinite number of products (again)
– Sales doesn’t understand delivery
– Operations doesn’t understand business

35. Step 3: Find the assumptions
2
Increase sales
Increase margin
Reduce costs
Deliver on SLA
Customised
Products
Standardised
Products
Profitability in a
shrinking market

36. 3b. Our assumptions
• To increase sales and margin we need to
customise products because
– We can only compete by having an offer that’s
different from our competitors
– Customers are becoming more demanding
– We must react quickly to customer demands
– We can never compete on price

37. Step 3: Find the assumptions
3
Increase sales
Increase margin
Reduce costs
Deliver on SLA
Customised
Products
Standardised
Products
Profitability in a
shrinking market

38. 3c. Our assumptions
• To reduce costs and deliver on SLA we need to
standardise products because
– Having low variation is the only way to have
predictable production schedules
– Standardised products are the only way to flexibly
allocate people according to demand
– Product variation always costs more
(changeover, setups, switches, training, bottleneck
s)
– Lean only works with low variation production

39. Step 3: Find the assumptions
4
Increase sales
Increase margin
Reduce costs
Deliver on SLA
Customised
Products
Standardised
Products
Profitability in a
shrinking market

40. 3d. Our assumptions
• To be profitable in a shrinking market we need
to increase sales and margin because
– We can’t expand the market
– The only way to increase profitability is to sell
more or increase the margin on each sale

41. Step 3: Find the assumptions
5
Increase sales
Increase margin
Reduce costs
Deliver on SLA
Customised
Products
Standardised
Products
Profitability in a
shrinking market

42. 3e. Our assumptions
• To be profitable in a shrinking market we need
to reduce costs and deliver on SLA because
– We are penalised for not hitting SLAs
– Our competitors have lower costs
– This is a price sensitive market, so the only way to
increase profitability is to reduce costs
– This is a quality-sensitive market, so the only way
to increase or keep market share is to increase
quality
– Quality is hitting the SLA

43. Step 4: Challenge the assumptions
Objective
Prerequisite 1Requirement 1
Prerequisite 2Requirement 2
1
2
3
5
4

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

45. 4a. Challenge our assumptions
• We can’t have both customised and
standardised products because
– Product == Product
– Standardised != customised
– As soon as sales starts to customise we end up
with an infinite number of products (again)
– Sales doesn’t understand delivery
– Operations doesn’t understand business

46. 4b. Challenge our assumptions
• To increase sales and margin we need to
customise products because
– We can only compete by having an offer that’s
different from our competitors
– We must react quickly to market demands
– We can never compete on price

47. 4c. Challenge our assumptions
• To reduce costs and deliver on SLA we need to
standardise products because
– Having low variation is the only way to have
predictable production schedules
– Standardised products are the only way to flexibly
allocate people according to demand
– Product variation always costs more
(changeover, setups, switches, training, bottleneck
s)
– Lean only works with low variation production

48. 4d. Challenge our assumptions
• To be profitable in a shrinking market we need
to increase sales and margin because
– We can’t expand the market
– The only way to increase profitability is to sell
more or increase the margin on each sale

49. 4e. Challenge our assumptions
• To be profitable in a shrinking market we need
to reduce costs and deliver on SLA because
– We are penalised for not hitting SLAs
– Our competitors have lower costs
– This is a price sensitive market, so the only way to
increase profitability is to reduce costs
– This is a quality-sensitive market, so the only way
to increase or keep market share is to increase
quality
– Quality is hitting the SLA

50. The assumption we challenged
Product ==
Product
Increase sales
Increase margin
Reduce costs
Deliver on SLA
Customised
Products
Standardised
Products
Profitability in a
shrinking market

51. What if....
Sales and Operations were talking
about different products?
That would explain the confusion

52. The resolved conflict
Customise
Sales
Product
Standardise
Operational
Product
Sales Product !=
Operational
Product
Increase sales
Increase margin
Reduce costs
Deliver on SLA
Profitability in a
shrinking market

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

54. The Solution
Finance & Audit
“Products”
Operations
“Products”
Sales & Marketing
“Products”

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

56. 4/7 PATTERNS OF CONFLICT

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

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

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

60. 5/7 DID YOU GET ANY IDEAS TO LOOK
AT YOUR CONFLICTS DIFFERENTLY?

61. 6/7 FURTHER READING

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

63. Summary

64. About this session
1. What do we mean by “Conflict” ?
2. Name a conflict you’d like to resolve
3. A conflict we prepared earlier
4. Patterns of Conflict
5. Ideas for resolving your conflict
6. Further reading
7. Session feedback

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

66. What do we need to resolve conflicts?
1. Willingness to find a solution
– Refuse to compromise
– Common goal
2. Articulate the conflict
3. Explore solutions
– Surface assumptions
– Challenge assumptions
– A dash of creativity

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

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

69. The Conflict Resolution Diagram
1. Articulate the conflict
2. Find the common objective
3. Review clarity and logic
4. Find the assumptions
5. Challenge the assumptions
6. Explore potential solutions
Objective
Prerequisite1Requirement1
Prerequisite2Requirement2
1
2
3
5
4

70. We can
have our cake
AND eat it!

71. 7/7 SESSION FEEDBACK

72. Session Retro
What Went Well (WWW) What Went Wrong (WWW)
Puzzles Lessons Learned
Thank You!
for your Gift of Feedback

73. Thank you!
Introductions
Her Blog: www.selfishprogramming.org His Blog: blog.nayima.be
NAYIMAWe make play work
Consultant.
Storyteller.
Games Maker. Consultant.
Project Manager.
Games Maker.