We are surrounded by conflict, all day, every day. From the time our feet hit the floor in the morning to the time we go to bed. We tend to equate conflict with raging forest fires like those that consume the countryside. But those forest fires don’t magically appear. They start with some kind of spark.
The same is true of conflict at work. There is a spark somewhere, but we tend to ignore it. Then there is smoke, which we sidestep. When we see the flames, we think, Geez, someone should put out that fire. Before we know it, fires are raging throughout the organization.
If we jump into the conflict when it starts, we can extinguish the sparks before they spread. Like the forest ranger who is watching for fires, we need to be peering out into the forest of our organizations, attentive to signs of fire, and prepared to jump in and extinguish the sparks before they spread like wildfire. Sometimes, we may benefit from the insights of Smokey the Bear, “Only you can prevent forest fires.”