It occurred within my very first year working in the Bundestag for the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group. There were some serious differences of opinion between me and my team lead, my boss. Apparently people at the highest level became aware of it. Within a few weeks I was simply informed – in a respectful, competent and intelligent way – that I would be moved into another team.
It had surprised me. At no time in the weeks leading up to the organizational change had anyone, not one person, spoken to me. Neither was I asked to describe the situation from my point of view, nor to suggest a possible resolution, nor was there any kind of meeting with my boss in order to talk things out.
In my years of consulting German companies I have come across many internal conflict situations which my clients need to resolve quickly, but prudently. I observe over and over again how they go about it in an almost stealthy way. Quiet, careful, in the background, unobserved. The German approach certainly works. Their society is extraordinarily peaceful, safe, predictable. The Germans know how to resolve conflicts effectively.
A few months back I discussed this with a senior-level American who works very closely with Germany and who has Germans in her organization, including direct reports. We discussed the differences in approaches to conflict resolution.
„John, it‘s true that Germans, when resolving a conflict, will try to do it for all time, to create a kind of best practice out of it. I understand that.“ But it takes too long, Karen went on to say. „And besides, documenting a best practice doesn‘t help anyway.“ I asked why. „Because every conflict is different. People, details, circumstances.“
I agreed with Karen. We went on to speculate about the nature of case law in the Anglo-American legal tradition. Neither of us have any training in the law, but any educated American knows that a legal system based on case law, indeed, sees every case as unique. The system draws not only on the law, but also on precendence (how previous courts resolved the conflict), as well as on the actual details of the case.
„Developing a best practice is not worth the effort. Future conflicts, even if the same in nature, will differ in the details. And true justice has to address those details.“
Comments