What’s your go-to plan when faced with conflict?

Conflicts are not always bad. They can actually help us become better people! When we have disagreements, we are challenged to think differently and learn new things. The key to making conflicts good is respect! We should listen to each other, understand different points of view, and be kind. When we are respectful, we can solve problems more easily and get along better with each other. So, remember, a little disagreement can be a good thing as long as we are respectful!

Here is our wallpaper for today! 

 

Conflict Lab on Wheels?

We stumbled upon this cool podcast episode about healthy conflict! It’s all about the good and high conflict that we don’t always get to talk about. There’s this part where Amanda Ripley talks about a bus driver who’s pretty much turned his bus into a “conflict learning lab”—cool, right?

So this driver is really into understanding conflict and communication. He’s read a ton about it and uses all kinds of clever approaches to manage disputes on his bus. He starts off by greeting every passenger with a genuine smile, making the vibe on the bus super positive.

But here’s where it gets interesting! If a conflict does pop up, he has this unique method where he asks two questions and then gives a choice. He pulls the bus over and opens all the doors and asks, “What happened?”—and it’s important that he doesn’t say, “What are you doing? What is your problem?” He’s trying to really get what’s going on from a sincere place, you know?

Then he gives them a choice: they can work towards a peaceful resolution or he will involve the authorities. The whole point is to keep everyone safe. He kinda echoes back their complaint, like, “well he closed the window and I da da,” and he responds like, “I can see you’re really mad.” It’s his way of quickly empathizing with them, looping them in. And then, instead of telling them what to do, he asks, “What do you want to do next?”

He even presents the options: “I could call someone right now, which I’m going to have to do, or you could come up here and talk with me. And we get everyone safely to where they’re going.” He offers them a way out. chance to resolve things peacefully with him.

Isn’t that such a cool real-world “lab”?