Conflict can range from disagreements with spouses and co-workers to international issues between countries. USU professor Chad Ford said conflict isn’t always negative.
"It can actually be a really positive thing,” Ford said on the KPCW “Local News Hour” May 28. “But because we often lack the skills and we approach conflict with a lot of fear, it often feels like it is the worst thing that could possibly be happening to us."
"I try to focus on what is the conflict that is closest to you, because that's going to be the one that's going to be the easiest for you to be able to get your arms around,” Ford added.
Ford spent 20 years working to resolve conflict in the Middle East. He said there are no quick fixes between political leaders and that amends are made on what he calls the grassroots peace-building level.
“It often starts close in. Who are my neighbors? Who are the people that are closest to me? If I don't feel like I can move the needle nationally, how do I move it locally,” he said. “And I think that these are skills that people often don't think about when we start thinking about these larger scale conflicts. I'm so focused on the big conflict that I forget that there is a series of small conflicts between people that are often fueling the larger one.”
The Mountain Mediation Center invited Ford to speak in Park City. He’s titled his talk, “The Courage to Listen: Turning Conflict into Collaboration.”
“We're going to spend some time thinking about our approaches to conflict, how we see conflict, how it affects our ability to navigate conflict effectively,” Ford said. “
"We're going to practice some skills about how we reflect, how we take a pause, how we ask good questions, how we listen to understand and how we start to incorporate what we're learning in our listening to be able to help us find a solution that not only works for them but works for us as well,” he added.
Chad Ford will speak Sunday, June 1, at the Park City Eccles Theater at 6 p.m.
