Conflict is inevitable. It happens from time to time when two people live or work together. The definition of conflict I’m using here is: different, opposing or contradictory views on an issue.

We are separate people with different experiences and understandings of situations. When we bump into a conflict (as defined above), we ought to embrace it as an opportunity for learning and growth. That is the “collaboration mindset.”

We all have a partial understanding of truth – from our vantage points (remember the ‘blind men and the elephant’). Conflict provides the opportunity to put together these facets of truth—the different perspectives, angles, trade-offs, and options —so that we can better appreciate the fuller picture.

There are several ways of dealing with conflict. Some might respond with anger, judgments, blame games, condescension, withdrawal, disengagement, disappointment, rejection, and defensiveness. None of those are helpful. Or you can approach with genuine curiosity, a willingness to learn, to problem solve together, to merge ideas, to compromise. A collaboration mindset.

Differences of opinions? An opportunity to learn something new.