Situational Psychology - 3) Contentious Situations

The psychology of easy situations tends to turn into contentious situations. Both the software market discussed in the previous article and the spiced tea business covered here advanced into contentious situations. The tea business it is much simpler in the type of contention involved and how it was resolved.

Sometimes contention comes from external competitors trying to duplicate our success. In the article on software, we avoided contention initially by moving while remaining in the easy situation. As competitors move in and the market, we were working in became crowded, we moved up the sales pyramid. This can work for a long period of time in a new, undeveloped market. In our case, it worked for over a decade.

More common, however, are contentious situations that come from internal conflict. To stay in easy situations, we must keep moving forward, but most people prefer stability. Within organizations in easy situations, some of us want to go forward while others want to stay and enjoy the current conditions. This contention is baked into human psychology. It makes internal contention more common and more destructive than external competition.

How can we deal with it?