Randy Joy & Co.

It was all about a big, cardboard box.  The two young children were playing with it when the question arose, whose was it.  Forgotten was play and the fight began.  ”It’s mine.”  “No, mine“.   Luckily, their mother was in relax mode that day, and she wisely stayed an objective observer.  “You do realize you’re fighting over a cardboard box, right?” she asked.

The box was not the issue at this point, it was about winning the fight, which is why the fighting continued.  So the mother intelligently distracted her children, “Dinner time.”   She helped each child disconnect from the stakes and get on with life, off to the dinner table.

Don’t think we all grow up.  Even in the business world, within your company, you might have to play the part of the intelligent interloper betwixt fighting parties, and you must stay the objective outsider.

The next time you see your employees fighting over a petty thing remember to point out how meaningless the stakes are in the fight.  Yet, true learning will come when they too are relaxed and calm and can see the pettiness in the realm of the big picture.  At the moment, in the heat of the argument, try to distract and refocus your team.

Remember it’s not about who is right, but about doing what’s right with wisdom.

Tags: Big Picture, Building a Team, Fighting in Workplace, Mediating Work Fights, objective outsider, Refocus Employees