Everyone has great ideas.  However, not all of us have the "same" great ideas at the "same" time.  This often leads to disagreement and sometimes conflict.  We said earlier that we learn through conflict.  Just yesterday, we said that we had to master our impatience to succeed.

Collaboration is that fifth mode of conflict resolution.  Collaboration seeks to make the pie bigger before dividing it.  As Stephen Covey says "It is the search for the third alternative."  Every conflict is an annoyance.  Every conflict contains the seeds of either constructive or destructive behavior.

As leaders and managers, it is up to us to find the way through the conflict, to find the collaborative solution, and to preserve our ongoing relationships.

Verse 68* of the Tao leads with great advice for the leader in this area.

"The best warrior
     leads without haste
     fights without anger
     overcomes without confrontation
He puts himself below
     and brings out the highest in his men

This is the virtue of not confronting
     of working with the abilities you have"

*Tao Te Ching, The Definitive Edition, Lao Tzu with Translation and Commentary by Jonathan Star, Jeremy P Tarcher/Penguin, 2001, page 81