$8$ ESSENTIAL STEPS EXERCISE

Using the $8$ Essential Steps to Effective Conflict Resolution,$$ please critique and evaluate the conduct of the disputants in the scenario below.

The Downtown Improvement Commission $($DIC$)$ is a groups established by the Mayor to bring improvements to the crowded downtown section of the city. The two most powerful members of the DIC are Mary Rolff and John Allen. The DIC has just been awarded a large grant from the Odal Foundation with the stipulation that all of the grant money be used for a single project so as to maximize quality rather than quantity.

Mary and her supporters are arguing that the grant money should be used for a daycare center to accommodate the working parents in the downtown area. John and his supporters disagree and believe that the grant money should be used for a park to beautify the downtown area and provide respite for downtown workers during the day. The debate has polarized and paralyzed the DIC to the point that it is on the verge of falling apart. In addition, the local press has reported this situation and the Mayor is not very happy. Thus, the Mayor has ordered Mary and John to resolve the matter and the two of them meet as a result of her directive. We will eavesdrop on their discussions.

John: Mary, if you weren$$t so bull$-$headed all the time, we could work this out.

Mary: Me bull$-$headed? Your$$re the bull$-$headed one who is hell$-$bent on sacrificing the needs of young children just so you can have a place to eat lunch?

John: I am not going to agree to spend this grant money on a daycare center! That$$s final!

Mary: Well, I refuse to use the money for some park! And that$$s final!

$($John goes to the window, gazes out, and, after brief reflection, continues the conversation.$)$

John: Look Mary, you are a reasonable person and one of the most capable people that I know. Let$$s be sensible$.$ I$$ll compromise with you. Let$$s build the park now and make the Mayor happy. Then, when this is all over with, I$$ll work with you to build a daycare center. That$$s reasonable. What do you think?

Mary: You are something else John. Do you think that I am some kind of fool? I$$ll tell you what. Since that is such a reasonable compromise, why don$$t we build the daycare center now and then later, when this is all over with, we$$ll work for a park?

John: I just can$$t deal with you any longer. You are just too stubborn!

$($On that point the meeting ends. That night Mary goes home and reflects on what happened and what is at stake. As a result, she decided that she will again try to work with John on the issue. What follows is that discussion, the following day.$)$

Mary: John, you and I have worked hard to make the DIC the success that it is and in doing so we have worked together on many projects. Why don$$t we try to do that again on this issue? The major goal of the DIC has been, and remains, the improvement of the downtown area, right?

John: Well, sure that is the goal of the DIC. And I believe that the best way to achieve the goal with this Odal money is to build the park.

Mary: I understand that you feel that way John. The park is indeed a good idea, just as the daycare center is a good idea too. But we can$$t do both. $($John nods in approval.$)$ So$,$ since you won$$t back off of the park and I won$$t back off of the daycare center and we can$$t do both, maybe we should look to other ideas that will meet the goal of the DIC.

John: Whoa, you mean that we should both give up on our ideas? You$$re just trying to pull a fast one over me and I won$$t let you do it$.$ Look, it$$s all very simple. The Mayor wants the park and it$$s the best way to spend the money.

Mary: So how do you know that the Mayor wants the park?

John: Well....I just know that she does.

Mary: Come on John. Let$$s stick with just what the Mayor said and that was that we should work this thing out.

John: Well, that was what she said. But I just know that she favors the park over the daycare center.

Mary: And I am sure that she doesn$$t$.$ But we are not going to resolve that issue. Instead, we must resolve how to use the money so that the goal of the DIC can be met and so the DIC will not fall apart. We may not know what the Mayor truly favors in a choice between the park and the daycare center, but we do know that if we don$$t reach agreement on how to spend the money we will never get grant money again and the DIC will be a failure. So maybe we should put the park vs daycare center issue aside and look to other issues before the DIC that we can agree on$.$

John: Well, you are right about that. And don$$t forget that the newspapers are killing us with the bad publicity.

Mary: Right, so what other options are there?

John: How about that Citizen of the Month that the DIC was talking about before we got the Odal money? I have some ideas how to implement that.

Mary: That$$s a great idea. Why don$$t we get to work on