Conflict Management: The Science & Art Of De-Escalation | August 4, 2024 | Danville, PA

Often conflict is described as the event of a proverbial merde hitting the proverbial oscillator… And that is a quite accurate description, as unpredictable consequences range from having a “close call” of unpleasant contact with the fecal matter, to ending up covered with it.

This course is not a “verbal judo”, it is more than that. You will get a primer to training methodology to deal with the situations, that potentially could escalate into uncontrolled conflict, ultimately morphing into physical violence with unpredictable- and sometimes potentially lethal- outcome.

To understand the concepts of efficient management of the conflict, the first question we should ask is:

• What/who is the “merde”? And what/who is the fan?
• Which one are you in the context of the conflict?
• And what determines how big of a mess it will be?

To affect the course of action requires one to clearly understand the following:

1. Nature of conflict
2. Purpose of conflict
3. Origins of conflict
4. Pillars of violence

Words, posture, body language, positioning- all of that and much more are the ingredients that will have an effect on the direction of the conflict. These are trained skills.

And through well structured interactive lecture and scenario training, you will start on the path of learning to have more control of a conflict in your life. From casual workplace argument with a colleague, to a potentially deadly engagement with a criminal assailant.

The process isn’t unlike the physical fight, to prevail it requires high-level performance on many levels.

Society teaches us to be goal-oriented. It makes us anxious. A goal is about the future. It’s an illusion. It can not be controlled. It- that elusive goal- can only be influenced by what you do.

So are the consequences. Worrying about the outcome is like making payments on the loan you have not yet applied for.

Performance is in the “now”. It’s present. Focus on performance improvement. Better performance will lead to more positive outcomes.

Closer to that goal.

Some of the topics to be covered:

• The lead in the conflict
• Rhythm and timing of the conflict situation
• Breaking it down
• Direction and destination
• Reset buttons