ISODC Blog February 5. 2025

The Story:              

While in the Rift Valley in Kenya, Dr. Taaita Toweet asked me to negotiate a conflict in a community with the Kikuyu and Kalenjin tribes. The conflict had gotten so intense that the town’s people were afraid that blood would spill. We met in the town hall with both groups jammed up on either side of the large meeting room, staring at each other menacingly. I was there with the heads of both tribes in the village and Dr. Toweet. I have experienced similar situations involving direct conflict, so interacting with glares was not frightening.  My first thought was to begin this intervention with something both groups could believe in. I had been to that part of Kenya several times and knew the family was essential to Kenyans.

I asked the tribal leaders if both groups would plan together. They thought it was possible. I suggested to the leaders that we plan to make this village safe “for their children to have a better life than they did!” The tribal leaders felt strongly that both groups would spend energy on their children’s future.

The two tribal leaders presented the story that if the conflict continued, fighting would break out, and their families would be hurt. Both groups agreed. Then I proposed we make the village better and safer for their children instead of arguing. The men and women of both tribes readily agreed to work on this positive future. Their school was small and did not comfortably fit all the village children. Everyone was concerned about this problem in the village. After some visioning from both tribes, the group realized they all had the same wish for the school. We moved into developing plans for building a larger school and more teachers, which Dr. Toweet said he could provide as a government official. 

Forgetting their differences, the two tribes joined forces to build a better educational experience for their children. These two tribes dislike each other and historically fought viciously over insignificant reasons. Compromise would not have worked. Neither group would have kept the compromise for long. There had to be a common goal to move away from violence and toward a peaceful resolution. Dr. Toweet wrote to me that the new school brought peace for years. The two tribes cooperated even though we did not directly discuss the cause of the conflict.

Why did I avoid compromise?

In a compromise, all parties must leave something of value to agree. This may work temporarily, but in the long run, people miss what they give up and eventually break the agreement. I felt a compromise would not work, and the disagreements would soon escalate to physical fighting!

In this instance, I chose a Superordinate goal to produce a unity of thought

A Superordinate Goal:

1. something big enough and compelling enough to aid individuals and groups in overlooking personal differences. 
   
   
2. to achieve something significantly beyond either group’s current reach. 
   
   
3.  something that no single member could privately hold.   
   
   
4. is close to a Common Value.

• Secret Sauce: any person or group cannot attain the goal alone! Think “mission to the moon,” 

  A subordinate goal is a target everyone wants to work together to obtain. In this case, the groups were willing to be in the same room but would not talk directly with each other. This was enough cooperation for me, as a facilitator, to engage the tribes in developing a shared vision.

  If you, as a leader, take the time and have patience, the following process can lead to a superordinate goal.

  The process can be:

1. What do you not want in this situation—each group decides and shares.
   

• What do you want your ideal future to look like? Each group shares.
• The leader facilitates brainstorming ideas that lead to a bright future for everyone in the room and beyond. This Idea becomes what all groups want to happen. 
• Cannot stop with one idea but create various ideas to reach this innovative dream.
• Groups can combine ideas if necessary.

• The Ultimate aim is

• Is a goal that everyone agrees with is the Future for all
• It is something that makes the future better for every member, both in and out of the room
• The group will work on establishing ways to accomplish it within a designated time frame

OK, this is a dramatic conflict that does not happen in an office, but I have found that it could almost reach that point if the conflict goes unaddressed. In one situation where I was an employee, there was competition and conflict, and the head of this team called in a facilitator for a day. The facilitator used compromise as his primary tool to intervene in this aggressively competitive group. That compromise lasted a week. The atmosphere at work increased in tension and became toxic for both sides. Every day, I waited for someone to sabotage my next presentation or idea or report me for some minor thing to the boss. I became so frustrated and dissatisfied that I resigned from that organization within a month and went happily to another. No, the compromise did not work in that office because the conflict had gotten out of hand.

While you may not encounter extreme situations like machetes in the boardroom, office, meetings, or home, every leader copes with conflict. A leader’s job is to get the teams working in the same direction with commitment and enthusiasm. 

If the conflict becomes toxic, REMEMBER SUPERORDINATE GOAL!

Joanne

Joanne C. Preston, PhD

President of ISODC and Editor-in-Chief of the Organization Development Journal