Duringthe Depression, or back when we were fighting Hitler, people didn't have timeto sue a company if the coffee was too hot. There were urgent, pressingproblems. If you think you have it tough, read history books.
A goodmanager doesn't try to eliminate conflict; he tries to keep it from wastingthe energies of his people. If you're the boss and your people fight youopenly when they think that you are wrong that's healthy.
Insteadof suppressing conflicts, specific channels could be created to make thisconflict explicit, and specific methods could be set up by which the conflictis resolved.
Undernormal conditions, most people tend to see what they want to see, hear what theywant to hear, and do what they want to do; in conflicts, their positionsbecome even more rigid and fixed.
The average man’s life consists of: Twenty years of having his mother ask him where he is going, Forty years of having his wife ask the same question; and at the end, the mourners wondering too.
