Section 4: Diagnostic Tool Questions
We built this framework in hopes that you will be able to build a culture and structure that supports healthy conflict within your group. We believe that, if you put effort into it, the members of your group are capable of managing most conflicts that arise and transforming conflicts in ways that deepen your work. Before using the diagnostic tool below, we recommend you read through the earlier sections of this document, including the introduction, key definitions, assumptions and common sources of harm. Reading those sections will help you determine whether or not this framework is likely to resonate with your worldview.
This diagnostic tool offers a set of questions to ask yourselves when you feel stuck or in over your heads and then points you to sections of the framework and associated tools to focus on. Should you require outside assistance, we also make recommendations for the types of practitioners who might be helpful in certain situations.
With each question, if you answer “yes”, you can focus your reading on the subsections listed and the associated reflection exercises and tools. We hope that the act of completing this diagnostic will also help you to clarify the nature of the conflict. We have listed only the questions in the diagnostic here. The full diagnostic with suggestions for specific sections of this framework to focus on can be found in the Appendix.
Is there a specific precipitating event, series of events, interpersonal or intragroup conflict, or criticism that you can name?
︎Yes, we can name a specific conflict we need to address.
- ︎Is the conflict with another group that has significantly more power than yours?
- Do you believe the other group shares your commitment to shifting the arrangement of power?
- Do you believe that the other group is unwilling to shift the arrangement of power?
- ︎Is the conflict between specific individuals or specific groups of people within the group or from within your wider circle of accountability?
- Is the conflict between people who have experienced historical oppression and dominant group members?
- Is the conflict about specific behaviors that have been named harmful?
- Is the conflict about the way things are being done in the group?
- Is the conflict about people not meeting expectations or fulfilling responsibilities?
- Is the conflict coming from people who are finding it difficult to understand how to plug in to the group?
- Is the conflict around a topic that has come up many times but has never been resolved?
- Is the conflict about people who have made mistakes, or fallen short of the group’s expectations?
- Is the conflict about a particular strategy or tactic group members are considering using to make social change?
- Is the conflict related to money or the allocation of resources by group members?