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v' 4 The process Conflict is no stranger in our personal or "business lives or in the life of our communities. It often has a way of catching us unaware. A series of seemingly harmless comments. A rush of annoying behaviors. A string of offensive actions. Sudd.erily everything explodes. Anger. Frustration. Resentment. Helplessness. Rage. "I'm just fit to be tied. First she says the tour guide won't answer her questions. Then she starts on the accommodations. Now she's got the whole group riled about the food, the itinerary, you name it. And we've got another whole week of this trip." "E-MY night its the carne thing. Loud, obnoxious, indecent music. If he doesn't turn that thing down, I'll throttle /Toil. the first chance I get!" And then the outcome, Alienation. bad feelings. Hostility. Sometimes even violence. but conflict doesn't have to end this way. Indeed, there are other ways to handle differences, disagree - m.erits, and intense clashes that preserve rather than destroy rela.tionsliips and strengthen rath- er than divide communities. "ti"re don't have to be enemies. Let's talk." "There must be a solution we can all agree to..." Information helps. Knowledge. Facts. Data. Real stuff to grapple with. instead of raw emo- tions. That's wl-ty there's so much information in earlier chapters about fanning, the environ- ment, and laws and regulations. Even so, ques- tions, disagreements, and conflicts will occur as farmers and neighbors go about their daily lives. When problems arise, there is a range of ways to respond. All involve problein solving and the search for win -win outcomes. 'The simplest is direct communication between two neighbors. 'T'he most complex involves planning and par- ticipating in a large -scale community problem - solving process. The way to proceed generally depends on the situation at hand. Whichever approach you use, remember that productive interactions and increased trust result from: 26 1 sbar.in.g information 1 building common knowledge i strengthening relationships "Sounds pretty vague to me. Help me under- stand the benefit of a problem- solving pro- cess." Think back to the first two chapters, where we briefly talked about building understanding and reconciling differences in a search for mutu- ally beneficial outcomes. The potential pay -offs from doing this include: 0 savings of time.., money, aggravation 1 stronger interpersonal relationships and com- munity ties ! agreement about ways to resolve problems 1 self - sufficiency in dealing with problems 1 more acceptance of, and satisfaction with, outcomes 1 greater knowledge about controversial issues and engagement. 1n civic life