Circle of Conflict

Circle of Conflict

Business / By /

The Circle of Conflict is a conceptual framework used in conflict resolution and communication to analyze and understand the various components and dynamics of a conflict. It was developed by Michelle LeBaron and focuses on identifying five key elements within a conflict situation: behaviors, emotions, perceptions, interests, and values. By examining these elements, individuals and conflict resolution practitioners can gain a deeper insight into the nature of the conflict and develop effective strategies for its resolution.

Understanding the Circle of Conflict

The Circle of Conflict is rooted in several fundamental principles:

  • Behaviors: This element encompasses the actions and reactions of individuals involved in the conflict. Behaviors can be both verbal and non-verbal and often serve as the visible manifestations of underlying issues.
  • Emotions: Emotions play a significant role in conflicts, influencing the way individuals perceive and respond to the situation. Emotions can range from anger and frustration to fear and sadness.
  • Perceptions: Perceptions refer to how individuals interpret and make sense of the conflict. Conflicting parties often have differing views of the situation, which can contribute to misunderstandings.
  • Interests: Interests are the underlying needs, desires, and objectives that drive individuals’ involvement in the conflict. Understanding each party’s interests can help identify potential areas of compromise.
  • Values: Values are deeply held beliefs and principles that guide individuals’ behavior and decision-making. Conflicts can arise when values clash, leading to moral or ethical dilemmas.

Real-World Applications

The Circle of Conflict has practical applications in various domains:

1. Workplace Conflict Resolution

  • Employee Disputes: Human resources professionals and managers use the model to analyze conflicts among employees and develop strategies for resolution. They consider behaviors, emotions, perceptions, interests, and values to address underlying issues.
  • Team Dynamics: Conflict resolution within teams or departments often involves addressing differences in perceptions, values, and interests. Understanding these elements can lead to more harmonious working relationships.

2. Family and Relationship Counseling

  • Family Conflict: Therapists and counselors use the Circle of Conflict to help families understand the dynamics of their conflicts. By exploring emotions, behaviors, and underlying values and interests, families can work toward reconciliation.
  • Couples Counseling: In couples counseling, the model helps couples identify the sources of their conflicts and develop effective communication and problem-solving strategies.

3. Community and International Conflict

  • Community Mediation: Conflict resolution practitioners apply the model to mediate disputes within communities. By addressing behaviors, emotions, and values, they aim to restore peace and harmony.
  • International Diplomacy: Diplomats and negotiators use the Circle of Conflict to analyze and address conflicts between nations. Understanding the values, interests, and perceptions of each party is crucial to finding common ground.

Advantages of the Circle of Conflict

Utilizing the Circle of Conflict offers several advantages:

  • Comprehensive Analysis: The model provides a comprehensive framework for analyzing conflicts by considering multiple dimensions, including behaviors, emotions, perceptions, interests, and values.
  • Targeted Interventions: By identifying specific elements within the circle, practitioners can tailor their interventions and strategies to address the root causes of conflicts effectively.
  • Improved Communication: Understanding the emotions, perceptions, and values of conflicting parties can lead to more empathetic and constructive communication, fostering resolution.
  • Conflict Prevention: The model can be used proactively to prevent conflicts by addressing underlying issues and promoting understanding.

Disadvantages of the Circle of Conflict

Despite its advantages, the Circle of Conflict has some limitations:

  • Complexity: Analyzing conflicts using the model can be complex, especially when dealing with multiple parties or deeply rooted conflicts.
  • Subjectivity: Assessing elements such as emotions and perceptions is subjective and can vary among individuals.
  • Time-Consuming: A thorough analysis of all elements within the circle can be time-consuming, which may not be feasible in every conflict situation.
  • Overlapping Elements: Elements within the circle often overlap, making it challenging to isolate and address each component individually.

Strategies for Using the Circle of Conflict

To use the Circle of Conflict effectively, consider the following strategies:

  1. Assessment: Begin by conducting a thorough assessment of the conflict situation, considering each element within the circle. Collect information on behaviors, emotions, perceptions, interests, and values.
  2. Identify Patterns: Look for patterns and connections among the different elements. For example, certain behaviors may be linked to underlying emotions or values.
  3. Prioritize Elements: Prioritize the elements that are most relevant to the specific conflict. Some conflicts may be primarily driven by emotions, while others may be rooted in differing values.
  4. Engage in Dialogue: Encourage open and empathetic dialogue among the conflicting parties. Create a safe space for individuals to express their emotions, perceptions, and values.
  5. Problem-Solving: Use the insights gained from the analysis to develop problem-solving strategies that address the root causes of the conflict.

When the Circle of Conflict Becomes a Concern

The Circle of Conflict becomes a concern when:

  • Overemphasis on Analysis: Excessive focus on analyzing the elements within the circle can delay the actual resolution process, preventing parties from moving forward.
  • Failure to Act: Analysis paralysis, where individuals get stuck in the analysis phase without taking concrete steps toward resolution, can hinder progress.
  • Complexity Overload: In highly complex conflicts, attempting to address all elements within the circle simultaneously may become overwhelming and counterproductive.
  • Neglect of External Factors: The model may not account for external factors, such as power dynamics or cultural influences, that can significantly impact conflicts.

Conclusion

The Circle of Conflict provides a valuable framework for understanding, analyzing, and resolving conflicts. By examining behaviors, emotions, perceptions, interests, and values, individuals and practitioners can gain deeper insights into the dynamics of conflicts and develop effective strategies for resolution. While it has its limitations, its advantages in providing a comprehensive analysis, targeted interventions, improved communication, and conflict prevention make it a valuable tool in various contexts, from workplaces to families and international diplomacy. Recognizing when to apply the Circle of Conflict and how to prioritize its elements is essential for harnessing its full potential and fostering peaceful and constructive conflict resolution.

Key Highlights:

  • Circle of Conflict Overview: The Circle of Conflict framework, developed by Michelle LeBaron, examines five key elements—behaviors, emotions, perceptions, interests, and values—to understand and address conflicts effectively.
  • Core Principles: It emphasizes the importance of analyzing behaviors, emotions, perceptions, interests, and values to gain insights into the nature of conflicts and develop strategies for resolution.
  • Real-World Applications: The Circle of Conflict finds applications in workplace conflict resolution (employee disputes, team dynamics), family and relationship counseling (family conflicts, couples counseling), and community and international conflict mediation (community disputes, international diplomacy).
  • Advantages: Advantages include comprehensive analysis, targeted interventions, improved communication, and conflict prevention.
  • Disadvantages: Limitations include complexity, subjectivity, time-consuming analysis, and overlapping elements.
  • Strategies for Use: Effective use involves conducting thorough assessments, identifying patterns, prioritizing elements, engaging in dialogue, and problem-solving based on insights gained.
  • Concerns with the Circle of Conflict: Concerns arise with overemphasis on analysis, failure to act, complexity overload, and neglect of external factors.
  • Conclusion: The Circle of Conflict offers a valuable framework for understanding, analyzing, and resolving conflicts by examining key elements. While it has its limitations, its advantages in providing insights and strategies for conflict resolution make it a valuable tool in various contexts. Recognizing its applications and prioritizing its elements are essential for effective conflict resolution.
Related FrameworkDescriptionWhen to Apply
Interest-Based Negotiation– Interest-Based Negotiation focuses on identifying and addressing the underlying interests and needs of parties in a conflict rather than their positions or demands. – It aims to create win-win solutions by exploring common ground, generating options for mutual gain, and prioritizing collaborative problem-solving over adversarial tactics.– When negotiating agreements or resolving conflicts where parties have conflicting interests or needs. – To promote understanding, creativity, and cooperation by focusing on underlying interests and finding solutions that satisfy the needs of all parties involved.
Emotional Intelligence (EI)– Emotional Intelligence (EI) refers to the ability to recognize, understand, and manage one’s own emotions and the emotions of others effectively. – In conflict situations, high emotional intelligence enables individuals to regulate their emotions, empathize with others, and communicate constructively to de-escalate conflicts and build positive relationships.– When managing conflicts that involve strong emotions, interpersonal dynamics, or communication challenges. – To enhance self-awareness, empathy, and interpersonal skills for navigating conflicts effectively and building productive relationships with others.
Conflict Transformation– Conflict Transformation goes beyond mere resolution to address the underlying causes and dynamics of conflicts, aiming for positive, lasting changes in relationships, attitudes, and structures. – It involves reframing conflicts as opportunities for growth, reconciliation, and social change through dialogue, empathy, and collaborative problem-solving.– When dealing with protracted, complex conflicts that require deeper understanding and systemic change. – To foster reconciliation, social justice, and sustainable peace by addressing root causes, transforming relationships, and building inclusive processes for conflict resolution and social transformation.
Nonviolent Communication (NVC)– Nonviolent Communication (NVC) is a communication approach that emphasizes empathy, authenticity, and mutual respect in expressing needs, listening to others, and resolving conflicts peacefully. – It involves observing without judgment, expressing feelings and needs, and making requests that foster understanding and connection rather than defensiveness or aggression.– When communicating in conflict situations to express oneself authentically, listen empathically, and find mutually satisfactory solutions. – To promote constructive dialogue, empathy, and connection while resolving conflicts and addressing underlying needs and concerns.
Cultural Competence– Cultural Competence refers to the ability to effectively interact with people from different cultural backgrounds, recognizing and respecting diverse perspectives, values, and communication styles. – In conflict contexts, cultural competence enables individuals to navigate cultural differences sensitively, bridge divides, and build trust across cultural boundaries to resolve conflicts and promote mutual understanding.– When engaging in conflicts that involve diverse cultural perspectives, norms, or values. – To develop awareness, sensitivity, and communication skills for effectively navigating cultural differences, building trust, and resolving conflicts in multicultural settings.
Restorative Justice– Restorative Justice is an approach to addressing harm and wrongdoing that focuses on repairing relationships, promoting accountability, and restoring the well-being of all parties involved. – It involves bringing together victims, offenders, and community members in a facilitated process to discuss the harm caused, identify needs, and collaboratively develop solutions that meet the interests of everyone affected by the conflict.– When responding to conflicts or harm in ways that prioritize healing, accountability, and community well-being. – To promote dialogue, empathy, and reconciliation through restorative processes that involve affected parties in repairing harm and building stronger, more resilient communities.
Systems Thinking– Systems Thinking is a holistic approach to understanding complex systems, relationships, and dynamics, considering how various factors interact and influence each other over time. – In conflict contexts, systems thinking helps identify underlying causes, feedback loops, and unintended consequences that perpetuate conflicts and inform strategies for systemic change and resolution.– When analyzing conflicts within complex systems or organizations to understand root causes and dynamics. – To develop interventions, policies, or strategies that address systemic factors, promote collaboration, and create positive feedback loops for conflict resolution and transformation.
Cross-Cultural Conflict Resolution– Cross-Cultural Conflict Resolution focuses on addressing conflicts that arise between individuals or groups from different cultural backgrounds. – It involves recognizing cultural differences, building cultural competence, and adapting conflict resolution approaches to bridge cultural divides and promote mutual understanding and respect.– When managing conflicts in multicultural or diverse environments where cultural differences may impact perceptions and behaviors. – To promote inclusive dialogue, mutual respect, and cultural sensitivity in resolving conflicts across cultural boundaries.
Community-Based Conflict Resolution– Community-Based Conflict Resolution involves engaging communities in addressing conflicts and disputes through collaborative processes that reflect community values, traditions, and resources. – It empowers community members to take ownership of conflicts, build consensus, and develop sustainable solutions that strengthen community cohesion and resilience.– When addressing conflicts or disputes within communities where shared norms, relationships, and resources play a significant role. – To harness community strengths, wisdom, and collective action in resolving conflicts and building social capital and resilience.
Mediation and Facilitation– Mediation and Facilitation are processes for assisting parties in resolving conflicts through neutral third-party intervention. – Mediation involves a mediator facilitating communication and negotiation between parties to reach a mutually acceptable agreement. Facilitation involves guiding group discussions or meetings to promote collaboration, problem-solving, and decision-making among participants.– When parties in conflict seek assistance from a neutral third party to facilitate communication, negotiation, or problem-solving. – To promote constructive dialogue, explore options, and reach agreements that address the needs and interests of all parties involved.

Connected Thinking Frameworks

Convergent vs. Divergent Thinking

convergent-vs-divergent-thinking
Convergent thinking occurs when the solution to a problem can be found by applying established rules and logical reasoning. Whereas divergent thinking is an unstructured problem-solving method where participants are encouraged to develop many innovative ideas or solutions to a given problem. Where convergent thinking might work for larger, mature organizations where divergent thinking is more suited for startups and innovative companies.

Critical Thinking

critical-thinking
Critical thinking involves analyzing observations, facts, evidence, and arguments to form a judgment about what someone reads, hears, says, or writes.

Biases

biases
The concept of cognitive biases was introduced and popularized by the work of Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman in 1972. Biases are seen as systematic errors and flaws that make humans deviate from the standards of rationality, thus making us inept at making good decisions under uncertainty.

Second-Order Thinking

second-order-thinking
Second-order thinking is a means of assessing the implications of our decisions by considering future consequences. Second-order thinking is a mental model that considers all future possibilities. It encourages individuals to think outside of the box so that they can prepare for every and eventuality. It also discourages the tendency for individuals to default to the most obvious choice.

Lateral Thinking

lateral-thinking
Lateral thinking is a business strategy that involves approaching a problem from a different direction. The strategy attempts to remove traditionally formulaic and routine approaches to problem-solving by advocating creative thinking, therefore finding unconventional ways to solve a known problem. This sort of non-linear approach to problem-solving, can at times, create a big impact.

Bounded Rationality

bounded-rationality
Bounded rationality is a concept attributed to Herbert Simon, an economist and political scientist interested in decision-making and how we make decisions in the real world. In fact, he believed that rather than optimizing (which was the mainstream view in the past decades) humans follow what he called satisficing.

Dunning-Kruger Effect

dunning-kruger-effect
The Dunning-Kruger effect describes a cognitive bias where people with low ability in a task overestimate their ability to perform that task well. Consumers or businesses that do not possess the requisite knowledge make bad decisions. What’s more, knowledge gaps prevent the person or business from seeing their mistakes.

Occam’s Razor

occams-razor
Occam’s Razor states that one should not increase (beyond reason) the number of entities required to explain anything. All things being equal, the simplest solution is often the best one. The principle is attributed to 14th-century English theologian William of Ockham.

Lindy Effect

lindy-effect
The Lindy Effect is a theory about the ageing of non-perishable things, like technology or ideas. Popularized by author Nicholas Nassim Taleb, the Lindy Effect states that non-perishable things like technology age – linearly – in reverse. Therefore, the older an idea or a technology, the same will be its life expectancy.

Antifragility

antifragility
Antifragility was first coined as a term by author, and options trader Nassim Nicholas Taleb. Antifragility is a characteristic of systems that thrive as a result of stressors, volatility, and randomness. Therefore, Antifragile is the opposite of fragile. Where a fragile thing breaks up to volatility; a robust thing resists volatility. An antifragile thing gets stronger from volatility (provided the level of stressors and randomness doesn’t pass a certain threshold).

Systems Thinking

systems-thinking
Systems thinking is a holistic means of investigating the factors and interactions that could contribute to a potential outcome. It is about thinking non-linearly, and understanding the second-order consequences of actions and input into the system.

Vertical Thinking

vertical-thinking
Vertical thinking, on the other hand, is a problem-solving approach that favors a selective, analytical, structured, and sequential mindset. The focus of vertical thinking is to arrive at a reasoned, defined solution.

Maslow’s Hammer

einstellung-effect
Maslow’s Hammer, otherwise known as the law of the instrument or the Einstellung effect, is a cognitive bias causing an over-reliance on a familiar tool. This can be expressed as the tendency to overuse a known tool (perhaps a hammer) to solve issues that might require a different tool. This problem is persistent in the business world where perhaps known tools or frameworks might be used in the wrong context (like business plans used as planning tools instead of only investors’ pitches).

Peter Principle

peter-principle
The Peter Principle was first described by Canadian sociologist Lawrence J. Peter in his 1969 book The Peter Principle. The Peter Principle states that people are continually promoted within an organization until they reach their level of incompetence.

Straw Man Fallacy

straw-man-fallacy
The straw man fallacy describes an argument that misrepresents an opponent’s stance to make rebuttal more convenient. The straw man fallacy is a type of informal logical fallacy, defined as a flaw in the structure of an argument that renders it invalid.

Streisand Effect

streisand-effect
The Streisand Effect is a paradoxical phenomenon where the act of suppressing information to reduce visibility causes it to become more visible. In 2003, Streisand attempted to suppress aerial photographs of her Californian home by suing photographer Kenneth Adelman for an invasion of privacy. Adelman, who Streisand assumed was paparazzi, was instead taking photographs to document and study coastal erosion. In her quest for more privacy, Streisand’s efforts had the opposite effect.

Heuristic

heuristic
As highlighted by German psychologist Gerd Gigerenzer in the paper “Heuristic Decision Making,” the term heuristic is of Greek origin, meaning “serving to find out or discover.” More precisely, a heuristic is a fast and accurate way to make decisions in the real world, which is driven by uncertainty.

Recognition Heuristic

recognition-heuristic
The recognition heuristic is a psychological model of judgment and decision making. It is part of a suite of simple and economical heuristics proposed by psychologists Daniel Goldstein and Gerd Gigerenzer. The recognition heuristic argues that inferences are made about an object based on whether it is recognized or not.

Representativeness Heuristic

representativeness-heuristic
The representativeness heuristic was first described by psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky. The representativeness heuristic judges the probability of an event according to the degree to which that event resembles a broader class. When queried, most will choose the first option because the description of John matches the stereotype we may hold for an archaeologist.

Take-The-Best Heuristic

take-the-best-heuristic
The take-the-best heuristic is a decision-making shortcut that helps an individual choose between several alternatives. The take-the-best (TTB) heuristic decides between two or more alternatives based on a single good attribute, otherwise known as a cue. In the process, less desirable attributes are ignored.

Bundling Bias

bundling-bias
The bundling bias is a cognitive bias in e-commerce where a consumer tends not to use all of the products bought as a group, or bundle. Bundling occurs when individual products or services are sold together as a bundle. Common examples are tickets and experiences. The bundling bias dictates that consumers are less likely to use each item in the bundle. This means that the value of the bundle and indeed the value of each item in the bundle is decreased.

Barnum Effect

barnum-effect
The Barnum Effect is a cognitive bias where individuals believe that generic information – which applies to most people – is specifically tailored for themselves.

First-Principles Thinking

first-principles-thinking
First-principles thinking – sometimes called reasoning from first principles – is used to reverse-engineer complex problems and encourage creativity. It involves breaking down problems into basic elements and reassembling them from the ground up. Elon Musk is among the strongest proponents of this way of thinking.

Ladder Of Inference

ladder-of-inference
The ladder of inference is a conscious or subconscious thinking process where an individual moves from a fact to a decision or action. The ladder of inference was created by academic Chris Argyris to illustrate how people form and then use mental models to make decisions.

Goodhart’s Law

goodharts-law
Goodhart’s Law is named after British monetary policy theorist and economist Charles Goodhart. Speaking at a conference in Sydney in 1975, Goodhart said that “any observed statistical regularity will tend to collapse once pressure is placed upon it for control purposes.” Goodhart’s Law states that when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.

Six Thinking Hats Model

six-thinking-hats-model
The Six Thinking Hats model was created by psychologist Edward de Bono in 1986, who noted that personality type was a key driver of how people approached problem-solving. For example, optimists view situations differently from pessimists. Analytical individuals may generate ideas that a more emotional person would not, and vice versa.

Mandela Effect

mandela-effect
The Mandela effect is a phenomenon where a large group of people remembers an event differently from how it occurred. The Mandela effect was first described in relation to Fiona Broome, who believed that former South African President Nelson Mandela died in prison during the 1980s. While Mandela was released from prison in 1990 and died 23 years later, Broome remembered news coverage of his death in prison and even a speech from his widow. Of course, neither event occurred in reality. But Broome was later to discover that she was not the only one with the same recollection of events.

Crowding-Out Effect

crowding-out-effect
The crowding-out effect occurs when public sector spending reduces spending in the private sector.

Bandwagon Effect

bandwagon-effect
The bandwagon effect tells us that the more a belief or idea has been adopted by more people within a group, the more the individual adoption of that idea might increase within the same group. This is the psychological effect that leads to herd mentality. What in marketing can be associated with social proof.

Moore’s Law

moores-law
Moore’s law states that the number of transistors on a microchip doubles approximately every two years. This observation was made by Intel co-founder Gordon Moore in 1965 and it become a guiding principle for the semiconductor industry and has had far-reaching implications for technology as a whole.

Disruptive Innovation

disruptive-innovation
Disruptive innovation as a term was first described by Clayton M. Christensen, an American academic and business consultant whom The Economist called “the most influential management thinker of his time.” Disruptive innovation describes the process by which a product or service takes hold at the bottom of a market and eventually displaces established competitors, products, firms, or alliances.

Value Migration

value-migration
Value migration was first described by author Adrian Slywotzky in his 1996 book Value Migration – How to Think Several Moves Ahead of the Competition. Value migration is the transferal of value-creating forces from outdated business models to something better able to satisfy consumer demands.

Bye-Now Effect

bye-now-effect
The bye-now effect describes the tendency for consumers to think of the word “buy” when they read the word “bye”. In a study that tracked diners at a name-your-own-price restaurant, each diner was asked to read one of two phrases before ordering their meal. The first phrase, “so long”, resulted in diners paying an average of $32 per meal. But when diners recited the phrase “bye bye” before ordering, the average price per meal rose to $45.

Groupthink

groupthink
Groupthink occurs when well-intentioned individuals make non-optimal or irrational decisions based on a belief that dissent is impossible or on a motivation to conform. Groupthink occurs when members of a group reach a consensus without critical reasoning or evaluation of the alternatives and their consequences.

Stereotyping

stereotyping
A stereotype is a fixed and over-generalized belief about a particular group or class of people. These beliefs are based on the false assumption that certain characteristics are common to every individual residing in that group. Many stereotypes have a long and sometimes controversial history and are a direct consequence of various political, social, or economic events. Stereotyping is the process of making assumptions about a person or group of people based on various attributes, including gender, race, religion, or physical traits.

Murphy’s Law

murphys-law
Murphy’s Law states that if anything can go wrong, it will go wrong. Murphy’s Law was named after aerospace engineer Edward A. Murphy. During his time working at Edwards Air Force Base in 1949, Murphy cursed a technician who had improperly wired an electrical component and said, “If there is any way to do it wrong, he’ll find it.”

Law of Unintended Consequences

law-of-unintended-consequences
The law of unintended consequences was first mentioned by British philosopher John Locke when writing to parliament about the unintended effects of interest rate rises. However, it was popularized in 1936 by American sociologist Robert K. Merton who looked at unexpected, unanticipated, and unintended consequences and their impact on society.

Fundamental Attribution Error

fundamental-attribution-error
Fundamental attribution error is a bias people display when judging the behavior of others. The tendency is to over-emphasize personal characteristics and under-emphasize environmental and situational factors.

Outcome Bias

outcome-bias
Outcome bias describes a tendency to evaluate a decision based on its outcome and not on the process by which the decision was reached. In other words, the quality of a decision is only determined once the outcome is known. Outcome bias occurs when a decision is based on the outcome of previous events without regard for how those events developed.

Hindsight Bias

hindsight-bias
Hindsight bias is the tendency for people to perceive past events as more predictable than they actually were. The result of a presidential election, for example, seems more obvious when the winner is announced. The same can also be said for the avid sports fan who predicted the correct outcome of a match regardless of whether their team won or lost. Hindsight bias, therefore, is the tendency for an individual to convince themselves that they accurately predicted an event before it happened.

Read Next: Biases, Bounded Rationality, Mandela Effect, Dunning-Kruger Effect, Lindy Effect, Crowding Out Effect, Bandwagon Effect.

Main Guides:

More Resources

Scroll to Top

Discover more from FourWeekMBA

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading

FourWeekMBA