A n owner and contractor who had been working together for a year on a construction project were embroiled in heated conflict over what they considered reasonable profit on a contract modification. The tensions generated by the recent negotiation were undermining the partnering spirit that the team members had worked so hard to sustain.
Every circumstance contains a possible opportunity.
We are all interconnected in such a way that one party cannot win at any level of real satisfaction unless all parties win. When team members examined the conflict from this perspective and shared their responses with fellow team members they were able to develop a deeper understanding of the conflict and their respective roles in contributing to its development. In addition, the owner's staff saw a positive possibility of this conflict. Learning more about economic issues of running a business would allow them to better serve the contractor and in turn get the best product for his dollars. Finally, they examined how they might be interconnected.