Italy’s Gianluca Zambrotta, left, fights for the ball with Paraguay’s Antolin Alcaraz during the World Cup group F soccer match between Italy and Paraguay in Cape Town, South Africa, Monday, June 14, 2010. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)

Thoughts on RESPONSE TO ADVANCING ORGANIZATION BY CONFLICT RESOLUTION

The original can be found here:

Response to Advancing Organization by Conflict Resolution

Thank you, Pierre, for your questions and thoughts on Avisha’s post. You are always clear and to the point. A great gift.

Communication is part of Lepsinger’s  (2010) Cooperation Builder 1 (p. 173). I have realized these last few years that we never communicate enough. I have a weekly meeting with my school’s leadership team and then an individual meeting with each one of the members every week as well. Besides, my doors are always open to the team, who can drop in as many times as they want without setting an appointment. If they see the door open, they can come in. The rest of the staff members usually go through my secretary to set up an appointment. I try to keep an open-door policy as much as possible. There are still times where we assume others can read our minds and understand what we want (Lepsinger, 2010, p. 174). I would say that in the last two years we have also used WhatsApp quite often at school. It is becoming our primary form of communication. We have a staff group, the leadership team group, teacher group, and many others. We also have parents groups, and each class has a group. It is actually for us much more efficient than email since most low-income parents do not have computers but will have a cell phone.

Regarding competition, I would like to mention a few cultural habits that hinder cooperation and transparency. It seems that there is a natural tendency to compete here in Paraguay. I have seen the difference between people playing soccer here and in the US. There is a drastic difference. Any friendly game of soccer here is fearlessly played. A reason I have stopped playing since I still want to come to work the next day with both my legs in one piece. I switched to running the last three years. Now I only play with my 8-year-old son. This competitive spirit is brought into work as well. The following examples are seen in the culture around us and not necessarily at our school:

  • There is a habit that newcomers need to “ganar el derecho de piso” (gain the right to the floor). It means they need first to pay their dos as they start a new job.
  • There is also the habit of “pasar la factura” (give him/her the bill). It means that if you make a mistake with someone, that person will pay it back at some point later. My brother has worked with natives in northern Paraguay, and he said that they have an incredible capacity to remember things that people have done to them, good or bad. This ability seems to have stayed present in the Paraguayan culture.
  • My last example comes from this week. I had a birthday, and we celebrated it with a get-together. Paraguayans love to celebrate, and so do I. But some people seem to compete to see who gives the best present. Not something I encourage. Others give the present to gain favor with the “boss” and get the upper hand.

 

Reference:

Lepsinger, R. (2010). Closing the execution gap: How great leaders and their companies get results. Jossey Bass.