Conflict resolution diagram tutorial

Resolving Conflicts without Compromisealso known as

“I want to have my cake and eat it!”

Pascal Van Cauwenberghe & Portia Tung

About us

Her Blog: www.selfishprogramming.org His Blog: blog.nayima.be

NAYIMA

We make play work

Consultant.Storyteller.Games Maker. Consultant.

Project Manager. Games Maker.

http://www.selfishprogramming.org/

http://www.blog.nayima.be/

About this session

1. What do we mean by “Conflict” ?2. Name a conflict you’d like to resolve3. A conflict we prepared earlier4. Patterns of Conflict5. Ideas for resolving your conflict6. Further reading7. Session feedback

1/7WHAT DO WE MEAN BY CONFLICT?

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

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

Manager: “We need to go faster to deliver more features”

Developers: “We need to go slower to increase quality.”

What do we need to resolve conflicts?

1. Willingness to find a solution– Refuse to compromise – Common goal

2. Articulate the conflict3. Explore solutions– Surface assumptions– Challenge assumptions– A dash of creativity

The Shallow Thinking Process

Root Cause Analysis

Why don’t we have what we need?

A problem

Magic Happens

Here

THE SolutionThis is what we needed all along!

Happy Days

The Logical Thinking Process


Intermediate Objectives

Map

Current Reality Tree

Conflict Resolution

Diagram

Future Reality Tree

Prerequisite/Transition

TreeWhat is our goal?What are we missing?


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

The Conflict Resolution Diagram

Objective

Prerequisite 1Requirement 1


3 Types of Conflict

“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?

“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?

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.

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

Three types of Conflict

1. I want X and the opposite of XThat’s not possible, is it?

2. I want X and Y but I can’t have bothI have to choose, don’t I?

3. I want X. They want Y.Only one of us can win, at best.

3/7 HERE’S ONE WE PREPARED EARLIER

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”

• 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

Step 1: Articulate the conflict

Objective



Step 1: Articulate the conflict

Sales:Customised Products

Operations:StandardisedProducts

Step 2: Find the common objective

Objective



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


Sell more

Be more efficient

Customised Products

StandardisedProducts

SurvivingBusiness

Tip: Strive for clarity first,then for correctness

Precise and crisp definitions to ensure everyone has the same

understanding


Increase salesIncrease margin

Reduce costsDeliver on SLA

Customised Products


Profitability in ashrinking market

Step 3: Review clarity and logic



Customised Products



Step 3: Find the assumptions

Objective



1

2

3

5

4

Tip: Brainstorm assumptions

Go for quantityInclude “obvious” assumptions

Tip: Use “Extreme Assumptions”aka “Throw a tantrum”

X is the ONLY way to have YX is the BEST way to have Y

X guarantees Y

Step 3a: Find the assumptions

1



Customised Products



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

Step 3: Find the assumptions2



Customised Products



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


3



Customised Products



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, bottlenecks)– Lean only works with low variation production


4 Increase salesIncrease margin


Customised Products



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


5



Customised Products



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

Step 4: Challenge the assumptions

Objective



1

2

3

5

4

Step 4: Challenge the assumptions

1

2

3

5

4 Increase salesIncrease margin


Customised Products



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

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

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, bottlenecks)– Lean only works with low variation production

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

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

The assumption we challenged

Product == Product



Customised Products



What if....

Sales and Operations were talking about different products?

That would explain the confusion

The resolved conflict

Customise Sales

Product

StandardiseOperational

Product

Sales Product != Operational Product




There was another conflict

Operations:Coarse Products

Finance & audit:DetailedProducts

Low input andtrackingoverhead

Detailed auditingCost analysis

Lower costsReduce cycletime

How would you solve this conflict?

The Solution

Finance & Audit“Products”

Operations“Products”

Sales & Marketing“Products”

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

4/7 PATTERNS OF CONFLICT


1. I need X and the opposite of XThat’s not possible, is it?

2. I need X and Y but I can’t have bothI have to choose, don’t I?

3. I want X. They want Y. We can’t both be rightOnly one of us can win, at best.

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”

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

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

6/7 FURTHER READING

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

http://agilecoach.net/

Summary

About this session

1. What do we mean by “Conflict” ?2. Name a conflict you’d like to resolve3. A conflict we prepared earlier4. Patterns of Conflict5. Ideas for resolving your conflict6. Further reading7. Session feedback


1. I need X and the opposite of XThat’s not possible, is it?

2. I need X and Y but I can’t have bothI have to choose, don’t I?

3. I want X. They want Y. We can’t both be rightOnly one of us can win, at best.

What do we need to resolve conflicts?

1. Willingness to find a solution– Refuse to compromise – Common goal

2. Articulate the conflict3. Explore solutions– Surface assumptions– Challenge assumptions– A dash of creativity

The Shallow Thinking Process

Root Cause Analysis


A problem

Magic Happens

Here

THE SolutionThis is what we needed all along!

Happy Days


Intermediate Objectives

Map

Current Reality Tree

Conflict Resolution

Diagram

Future Reality Tree

Prerequisite/Transition

TreeWhat is our goal?What are we missing?


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

The Conflict Resolution Diagram

1. Articulate the conflict2. Find the common objective3. Review clarity and logic4. Find the assumptions5. Challenge the assumptions6. Explore potential solutions

Objective



1

2

3

5

4

We can have our cake AND eat it!

7/7 SESSION FEEDBACK

Session Retro

What Went Well (WWW) What Went Wrong (WWW)

Puzzles Lessons Learned

Thank You!for your Gift of Feedback

Thank you!

Introductions

Her Blog: www.selfishprogramming.org His Blog: blog.nayima.be

NAYIMA

We make play work

Consultant.Storyteller.Games Maker. Consultant.

Project Manager. Games Maker.

http://www.selfishprogramming.org/

http://www.blog.nayima.be/