program selection system

Have you ever seen a pertinent conflict that defied every attempt to be solved? You may think that you have solved the conflict but it reappears after some time.

For some of these tough conflicts, it is necessary for people to change their behaviour. That is exactly the niche where invisible barriers hinder improvement – the niche that we want to attack with this tutorial.

A small technique from the Theory of Constraints (TOC) - the Conflict Resolution Diagram (also called “Evaporating Cloud”) - can give you better insights into the conflict that allow you to craft solutions that work.

We bring more than a dozen conflicts - from which you can choose one to solve in the session during the exercise (see attachment Evaporating Clouds - Prerequisites only.pdf). You can also bring your own conflict(s) - and you will most probably have a recipe for solving the conflict after the tutorial.

From the statement of the opposing conflict parties we will derive what each conflict party is trying to achieve. And from that we will identify the common goal that the conflict parties try to achieve.

The key to creating breakthrough solutions is just that: the conflict parties typically are part of the same system (family, company, project team, etc.), hence they have some common goal. However, they have different points of view and want to act differently. Behind the reasoning of each conflict party are hidden assumptions which - when uncovered - give us some freedom to identify weak spots in the reasoning, which again allows us to identify breakthrough solutions for the conflict.

To give you an example, consider the following: When we took TOC-classes with Bill Dettmer a couple of years ago (in Port Angeles, Washington), the Homeland Security Act was about to require Canadian citizens to have unforgeable documents when entering America. The tourist industry in Washington feared that fewer Canadian citizens would come to Washington. In a matter of minutes, we came up with some hints why it might not be as helpful to require unforgeable documents; and we came up with an idea how to overcome the obstacle of 97 USD for getting unforgeable documents (see the attachment Evaporating Cloud - Homeland Security.pdf)

By applying this technique - the Conflict Resolution Diagram - as a team, you create a high level of motivation and support for the solution in the team. We have seen
• dysfunctional team members join in into a repeated, lively discussion,
• frustrated team members turn into ambassadors of the proposed solution, and
• managers wholeheartedly support the proposed solution because they clearly understand how it developed.

Key Benefits for Participants:
• Create a CRD in a methodical way in a matter of minutes - analyze conflicts (with the people involved in the conflict) using the CRD technique
• Come to a common understanding of a problem in a group - uncover a lot of hidden assumptions uncovered
• Involve people in finding breakthrough ideas for solving a conflict - new ways that allow for a win-win situation
• Review and scrutinize a CRD - give constructive feedback on someone else’s CRD
• Have a big team of supporters for the proposed solution to be implemented
• With a finished CRD, have the basis for discussing the conflict with interested or affected parties
• Have access to a tool that helps you with creating a CRD
• Know what the other Thinking Tools there are in the Theory of Constraints are and what they are used for
• Know where to look for more detailed information on the Theory of Constraints and the Thinking Tools