Every complex problem has a solution that is simple, direct, plausible, and wrong.
(Henry Mencken)
“GET OFF MY LAND!”, the woman screamed at me! Her fuse had been lit, and she was well and truly going off. I had been warned that new landowners between the Coe’s Ford and Selwyn Huts Reserves were patrolling the riverbank and evicting fishers, but I just couldn’t or didn’t want to believe it. It just seemed unfathomable that anyone would knowingly buy land between two recreation reserves and then deny public access. And to be out patrolling was surely a ridiculous exaggeration. I continued to stalk this beat, anticipating a possible encounter and viewing it as an opportunity for reasoned debate. I did not however, know quite who I was dealing with. She was the doppelganger of Darlene from the Netflix show Ozark, and things would not go as hoped.
I’ve not studied pyrotechnics,, by Stanford University Professor, Robert Sutton. In it, the author details the destructive influence of bullies in the workplace and advises on how to deal with them. Managers should weed them out and underlings should flee before they catch . However, those who are genuinely stuck can resolve conflicts by , which in essence means to argue as though you are right but listen as though you are wrong. Difficult people and troublesome encounters are not limited to the workplace, and this approach had served me well in all walks of life.
