Levelling the Playing Field

     As business life becomes more competitive so more demands to increase performance are being placed on business managers. The working environment, though, is also changing. School leavers over the last decade or so have and are joining the workforce with different expectations and values than those who were brought up and educated in the sixties and seventies.  The so called 'generation y' expect more reward for simply turning up. They have been encouraged to speak their minds and expect to be heard.  
     Those managers brought up in a more conservative era are often confused by these changes. They can feel threatened by dialogue which they perceive as argument. Additionally, modern managers  are expected to be more empathetic.  They are required to create a safe, non-threatening environment yet have no training or support to do so.
     The result is often conflict and tension that arises out of a difference in values and beliefs. People may have different values regarding punctuality and reliability.  They may give tasks different priorities. People can feel resentful about doing tasks they feel do not reflect their status; their sense of identity.
   The difficulty in recognising conflicting values and beliefs or sense of identity is that, more often than not, the problem is only apparent in a person's behaviour or results.
     Our values and beliefs are one of a complex but understandable hierarchy of factors.  Those factors are stacked at various levels within each of us.They are logical because we can rationally understand how each level interacts with the other. Hence logical levels. Logical levels are mainly used in coaching to enable individuals or organisations to align their environment and behaviour to their particular values and beliefs. If necessary, values and beliefs can be changed in order to align with an individual's or organisation's sense of who or what they are - their sense of self.
     In managing conflict the logical levels allow you to identify the level at which a person's issue is positioned. Knowing that level, you can intervene at the right level in order to bring about a positive outcome brought about by a change in behaviour - which, after all, is what conflict management is about.  The levels stack up like this:

                Purpose                        Something else?
                Identity                          Who?
               Values and Beliefs         Why?
               Capabilities                    How?
               Behaviour                      What?
               Environment                 Where/When?

     Now, Einstein said you cannot resolve problems at the level the problem exists. In managing conflict, therefore, we must resolve issues at a higher level than the level that produced the issue. That happens because each level depends upon the level above it. If we, as individual, are entirely aligned, or congruent, then our sense of who we are is defined by what we perceive to be our mission or purpose in life. Our values and beliefs are set by our sense of who we are; and so on down the levels.
     When people are in conflict the issue comes about by a person behaving in a certain manner.  They do, or do not, take certain actions. In business people may not pay a bill; a contractor may refuse to make good poor quality workmanship. An employee may refuse a task they consider beneath them or miss a deadline they don't consider important. It is thus in a person's behaviour that the dispute shows itself. And it is at the behavioural level that many managers try and resolve the issues.
     So, if a problem is with someone's behaviour, first check to see if they are capable of changing. Do they value and believe in the required outcome as much as everyone else? Is the required behaviour or outcome in line with their sense of identity?
    The questions in italics next to each of the levels above are a guide to the type of question that can be asked at each level. Be careful with Why? 'Why' can often sound judgemental or aggressive and often needs a softer tone.
     By being aware of people's thinking and perceptions at each of the levels, you, as a manager and leader, can question and challenge at the appropriate level in order to target the real issues; and you can do it with surgical accuracy.