Antony Quinn and I were shooting the breeze over coffee yesterday putting up the booking page for our Difficult Conversations workshop. He dug up some other workshops with a similar theme and a very different and, I’m tempted to say, more conventional approach. They may well be really good for lots of people.
But it’s not our bag.
So for the sake of clarity, our workshop does not feature any certified approach, nor do we claim any degree of HR professionalism. There is no manual, workbook or tea towel. (Though, actually, I quite fancy doing a tea towel… shades of Hitchhikers’ Guide…). We’re unlikely to give you magic answers on how to nip conflict in the bud – it might be that you need to have conflict and deal with it in a fresh way.
I think what we’re offering is something more like an adventure. The idea is for you to discover things you did’t expect about your capacity for dealing with difficulty – which is less likely to happen if we giving you “truths” about conflict that may or may fit your own unique experience. In my previous experiences of this, work people generate way more brilliant ideas to deal with sticky situations than I can generate on their behalf.
At the same time, I am not a cavalier. I’ve developed the approach we’re using over a long period of time. I really do care that people who come along get something from it and I’m pretty confident it will be more engaging, collaborative and fun, than more standard approaches… and in it’s own way, just as safe.
If you’re intrigued and want to know more, get in touch and I can try to explain further!
