Resolving issues before Formal Conflict Resolution

1. Resolving issues beforeFormal Conflict Resolution “Conflict is inevitable, but combat is optional.” - Max Lucado

2. “Do not think of knocking out another person's brains because he differs in opinion from you. It would be as rational to knock yourself on the head because you differ from yourself ten years ago.” ― Horace Mann Must build safe roads…must destroy natural resources… …must protect Wisconsin’s natural resources… …must build flat, straight highways… DNR DNR DOT DOT Different missions = Conflict?

3. “The thing is, you cannot ask people to coexist by having one side bow their heads and rely on a solution that is only good for the other side. What you can do is stop blaming each other and engage in dialogue with one person at a time... Instead, I talk to my patients, to my neighbors and colleagues----and I find out they feel as I do: we are more similar than we are different, and we are all fed up...” ― IzzeldinAbuelaish

4. DNR/DOT Cooperative Agreement • Agencies have the sharedresponsibility to serve the public interest • DNR/DOT liaison process in lieu of permits • Points of contact • Planning • Design • Construction • Prevent or minimize adverse impacts to the natural environment while building safe, efficient facilities “It’s easy to dodge our responsibilities, but we can’t dodge the consequences of dodging our responsibilities.”- Josiah Stamp

5. “Its complicated, on one level. On another, its the same old stupid story - we aren't enlightened. We disagree, fall in love, and hate each other, the whole spectrum of human experience. We have differences of opinion, and sometimes, we can't resolve those differences peacefully. If a disagreement goes for long enough, and is important enough, people start to take sides. Once people start to take sides, conflict is inevitable.” ― Zachary Rawlins, The Academy

6. Interest-Based Relational Approach • Make sure that good relationships are the first priority • Keep people and problems separate • Pay attention to the interests that are being presented • Listen first; talk second • Set out the "Facts" • Explore options together

7. “Whenever you're in conflict with someone, there is one factor that can make the difference between damaging your relationship and deepening it. That factor is attitude.” - William James (AmericanPhilosopher and Psychologist, leader of the philosophical movement of Pragmatism, 1842-1910)

8. Prevention • Have an open discussion of sensitive areas & potential damage • Explain the level of resource importance / project needs • Understand your role & responsibilities • Listen to one another • Keep an open mind • Check environmental commitments

9. “In our evolution language has been the greatest single contribution to our understanding and misunderstanding” ― Rasheed Ogunlaru

10. When Disagreement Arises • DNR, SWECE (REC) and Project staff review together and agree on the problem • Jointly determine the extent and severity of the problem • Identify the quality and significance of the resource • Discuss with own agency experts to get a deeper understanding • Brainstorm possible solutions • Communicate frequently and calmly • Willingness to cooperate and compromise

11. “Peace is not the absence of conflict but the presence of creative alternatives for responding to conflict -- alternatives to passive or aggressive responses” ― Dorothy Thompson

12. Discovering an issue in construction When DNR or DOT finds an issue with the protection of resources on a project there needs to be communication and coordination. • DNR and SWECE coordinate • SWECE coordinates with the project staff and determines whether to involve the REC • The issues of concern & why, need to be clearly communicated to the project staff

13. “Conflicts may be the sources of defeat, lost life and a limitation of our potentiality but they may also lead to greater depth of living and the birth of more far-reaching unities, which flourish in the tensions that engender them”   - Karl Jaspers

14. Cooperation • Starting a dialogue in an antagonistic way is a sure way to not resolve an issue, speak with respect • Be calm, be patient, be open to new ideas • Acknowledge where the problems are, only then can they be addressed “Resolution, like responsibility, is a product of ownership, and kids can't resolve a conflict until they figure out how they contributed to it.” ― Richard Eyre

15. Cooperation •  Listen to all involved, there may be viable resolutions that had not occurred to someone • When there is not agreement understand when to elevate the situation to the official process People who work together will win, whether it be against complex football defenses, or the problems of modern society. - Vince Lombardi

16. Formal Conflict Resolution Process “Both agencies encourage efforts to resolve interagency conflicts before the formal conflict resolution process begins, or to prevent such conflicts from occurring in the first place. If a conflict cannot be resolved by field-level agency personnel, either agency may initiate the conflict resolution process.” Step 1 - DNR and DOT Directors

17. …and they cooperated happily ever after! Creativity comes from a conflict of ideas. - Donatella Versace None of us is as smart as all of us.- Japanese proverb Don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. - John Wooden “Few artists thrive in solitude and nothing is more stimulating than the conflict of minds with similar interests.” - Arthur C. Clarke We're all working together; that's the secret.- Sam Walton