Reading this article, I learned a lot about communication and what advantages an individual or the organization as a whole can enjoy when communication is conducted in a rightful way. Commitment conversation according to Kofman, are structured around promises and offers. The speaker and/or the listener during the commitment conversation must take some commitment to ensure that the promise or the offer is achieved.
The information from this article was very relevant for my future leadership career. Kofman talks about the importance of promises. In our everyday conversations, we always make promises. I have made promises on many occasions. I promised my mother that I must score good grades. Though I was not that good in class, I managed to achieve pretty good grades. I have learned that it is the promises that we make that push us to the walls to accomplish things that vastly exceed our personal powers.
In the future, before I agree to an offer, I will ensure that I have appropriate information about the offer before making a promise. After understanding the offer, I will decide either to decline or accept and make my decision known to the speaker/person making the request. Additionally, in case I make a promise and later realize that I am not in a position to fulfill, I will communicate with the speaker immediately and make a request for another option.
Recommitment Conversations: What to Do With Broken Commitments (Fred Kofman)
Accepting an offer and making a promise is not a guarantee that we will honor the commitment. Various factors can affect our commitment which can eventually lead to the breakdown of the commitments. However, I have learned that the breakdown of a commitment should not be the end of a relationship between two partners.
The main reason most of the commitment conversations break is because there is the lack of trust between the two parties coming to an agreement. However, even with some backgrounds of trust, still, there can be commitment conversation breakdown. In the future in case I find myself in a commitment conversation breakdown, the first step I will follow to ensure a recommitment is to file an actionable complaint. I will not repeat the same mistake most people do by blaming the third party for the commitment breakdown. In case I am the one who was involved directly in the commitment conversation, I will not involve a third party in filing my actionable complaint.
Before filing an actionable complaint, however, I must come to a consensus with myself and understand the reason why I am doing so. After checking the intentions of my complaints, I will set the context for the recommitment. I will either come up with new terms or request for the termination of the commitment. The next step will depend heavily on the decisions I make at the second step. In case I accept for a recommitment, then the previous commitment terms must be revisited and a check made to understand the source of the breakdown. I will always be ready to abide by the promise I make to ensure that no conflict arise and that I fulfill the promise.
Conflict Resolution: Dealing with Disagreements (Fred Kofman)
High performance at work requires that no or minimal conflicts are witnessed. However, conflicts are inevitable in an organization. There must be conflicts. Therefore, there is the need to put in place the best conflict resolution strategies to deal with such unforeseen circumstances.
Scarcity according to Kofman is the main cause of conflict within an organization. In the future in case, I want to resolve conflict within a setup, as a leader I will ensure that I avail the required resources to everyone equally. Additionally, operational conflict can never be avoided in an organization. However, I have noted from the article that it is, however, the easiest conflict to solve. Through material consensus where both conflicting parties come to an agreement is the only way to resolve a conflict. No conflict resolution method should favor one party. Both conflicting parties must be given an opportunity to give their story before making a binding conclusion. Therefore, in the future in case I face any form of conflict, first, in case I am an affected party, I will be ready to either win or lose. In case I am the one providing a resolution, I will take my time to understand the cause of the conflict and give all the affected parties an equal opportunity to explain themselves before drawing a conclusion.
