Comparing a positive conflict climate vs. a negative conflict climate
The precursor to culture is the organizational climate
Organizational climate change can bring about cultural change
To bring about culture change, you can shift climates, which is a more malleable
Dr. Lowe refers to Kurt Lewin’s equation which states that human behavior is a function of the person in its interaction with the environment
Together with Antony Hacking, Dr. Lowe created a peacebuilding project in Washington Heights working with middle school students
10 weeks of lessons in conflict resolution skill building
Then kids would be broken up into teams to create a peace project of their own choosing
Each 10 week cycle ended with a peace festival in each school
A few thousand kids went through the program
Some examples
A group of young boys who would come an hour early to school to write poetry about peace
A peace center was created with student mediators who were prepared to handle conflicts
Individuals blossom in terms of self-esteem and confidence, having gained new skills
Changing culture, rather than just climate, can take years
As human beings we all crave authentic connection; we have created settings and environments which really aren’t allowing people to bring out fully who they are in an authentic way and to have real connection
Connecting with others not only on a cognitive level, but also a human and emotional level
Susan believes that this is also an issue of disengagement and mentions the work of Brene Brown.
After his work in Washington Heights, Dr. Lowe went on to get a doctorate
A grant from Columbia’s School for International and Public Affairs resulted in a summer research study in Switzerland
There he came into contact with Education For Peace, a large-scale peacebuilding project in Bosnia
I was inspired by their work and had wanted to see peacebuilding on a large scale with a chance to make a real difference
The next stage of Dr. Lowe’s career was working within the UN on long term contracts
The content was two and three day workshops in negotiation skills and mediation skills training, for internal work and for work with partners, group interventions and leadership training
Also doing healing and reconciliation workshops around conflict areas
Integration of open space and appreciative inquiry
ROI institute did a longitudinal study that showed impact following the skills training
Dr. Lowe felt that training was essential but that there needed to be more in order to truly change the organization
Susan asks: is training window dressing that allows an organization not to actually implement organizational change and create a collaborative organization?
Dr. Lowe describes a retreat he created
He had one day to work on fostering collaboration
This group was feeling deflated
If you don’t create a good climate you may not be able to progress
We had an introductory activity
We then had an appreciative enquiry interview process rolling into larger groups and integrating findings
You could see the lights coming back on, a positive climate was created and people were connecting on an authentic level.
The lesson is around climate setting
We shifted the climate in that community
The community requested a more collaborative leadership model
A team coaching was then held with the senior leadership of the group
Appreciative Inquiry is about tapping into systems when they are at their best; rather than focus on problems and trying to fix things that are broken, it is about tapping into whats working, getting into a positive space and creating a positive energy
Measuring results
Susan says that it is always difficult to collect data on whether longer term change resulted
Dr. Lowe agrees that one of the challenges is that clients don’t want to pay for evaluation
Dr. Lowe has now shifted into more proactive work focused on teach coaching
Teams often with conflict because they weren’t set up well to begin with.
Dr. Lowe employs the Co-Active Coaching Model and Designing the Alliance method taught at the Coaching Institute
How do you build resilience and wellness into teams so that they do experience conflict they can address it and have the ability to do that
People tend not to invest in training and skills until they are already in trouble
Dr. Lowe refers to John Burton’s theory of “provention”
Coaching teams in organizations is still a new topic for people
Dr. Lowe is trying to develop thought leadership in terms of coaching teams in a more systemic way, whether nonprofit or business
Susan quotes John Carter from the Gestalt Institute of Organizational and Systems Development: if you know your intent you know your intervention
Dr Lowe refers to Bruce Tuckman’s model of team development as ‘forming, storming, norming, performing’
Team coaching can help teams navigate the storming phase
Susan asks what we would do with ourselves if we, as a world, evolved away from destructive conflict
Peace is only boring because we have only ever lived in a conflict oriented dynamic
There is an appetite for building dynamic healthy teams and it can be lucrative
You build creativity, sustainability, and wellness and the longer term payoff is bigger
Biography
Dr. Krister Lowe is an organizational psychologist. He is the creator of the Team Coaching Zone website and podcast
Dr. Lowe is a specialist in conflict resolution and performance management in a myriad of sectors
His early career was in conflict resolution and peacebuilding and has evolved into team coaching and group coaching
1998 Dr. Lowe entered Columbia University Teachers College for an MA in Organizational Change, in Social-Organizational Psychology
Dr. Lowe took a basic practicum in conflict resolution
First experiential learning and social emotional learning experience as an adult
In addition to finishing his MA in Organizational Change, Dr. Lowe also became a certified mediator in NY State
Received a Certificate in Conflict Resolution from the International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution
Dr. Lowe’s doctoral dissertation was titled “Conflict Climates and Organizations: A Decision Making Model for Participation in Conflict Resolution Training”