Conflicts happen, and the workplace can be a cacophony for competing interests. Consider that organizational culture is an ensemble of shared values, beliefs, assumptions, perceptions, and norms. Organizations are not solos. They are an accompaniment of individuals, departments, and divisions, and each is competing for scarce resources. Measure in a little power imbalance and organizational political posturing. Then, scale in the fact that today’s managers are faced with diversity and cultural issues ranging from race and gender to individual ethnicity, principles, and philosophies, about which employees are more vocal. All this discord can strike a sharp note of dissonance. However, effective resolutions can change this discord to harmony.

Consider that music is not a single note. Rather, it is the silence between the notes that makes beautiful music, and conflict is that silence. Unfortunately, conflict has a bad reputation, and it is often labeled as disagreement, fighting, or arguing that leads to stress, retaliation, and resentment. Some managers spend a disproportionate amount of their workdays dealing with conflicts. They have not learned what causes conflicts or how to productively manage them. As a result, they often avoid or force outcomes causing discord, fractured relationships, loss of productivity, and even lawsuits. Learning to fine tune inevitable conflicts will help managers orchestrate a more harmonious workplace.

From Discord to Harmony: Making the Workplace Hum is largely evidence-based, and many of the chapters contain cutting-edge research by experts in their respective fields.