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Conflict Source Mapping

Caught up in a disagreement? Map where it is really coming from, first from your side and then from theirs.

Conflict

“All perspectives are wrong but some are helpful.”

Zoom-Out signpost, after George Box

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Try this:

Conflict Source Mapping

  1. Think of a conflict. A disagreement or tension you’re part of, with a colleague, a team or someone at home, big or small.
  2. Map its sources. Start with yourself: tick the factors that feel at play from your side. Then switch to “Their shoes” and tick what you think is at play for them.
    Why
    How
    What
    Who
  3. Ask yourself: which factor is really at play, and is it the same one for them? What would be a more helpful way to see it? If nothing shifts, untick everything and map it again.

Why use it

In the middle of a conflict it is easy to argue about the surface: the email, the meeting, the decision. Often the real source sits underneath, in different goals, different ways of working or different expectations. Naming the source turns a vague, personal-feeling clash into something you can actually talk about.

What it is

A quick way to use the Zoom-Out Conflict Model. It maps four sources of conflict, Why, How, What and Who, with four factors inside each. You start with yourself, then step into the other person’s shoes, and compare the two maps. Where they match, you have common ground to start from. Where they differ, you have found what is worth a conversation.

The Zoom-Out Conflict Model: four sources of conflict, Why (vision and goals, priorities, direction, motives), How (leadership style, ways of working, org structure, policies), What (outcomes, constraints, standards, qualities) and Who (personality, culture and background, roles and responsibilities, skills and knowledge). Across the middle: all perspectives are wrong but some are helpful.
The Zoom-Out Conflict Model. Click the diagram to enlarge it.

When to use it

  • Before a difficult conversation, to get clear on what the disagreement is really about.
  • When a conflict keeps coming back and you can’t put your finger on why.
  • With a team, mapping a shared tension together so everyone can see the sources side by side.

Adapted from the Zoom-Out on Conflict workshop, where Conflict Source Mapping is one of the core exercises. Want to run it with your team? Message Rob on LinkedIn.

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