Who Is Darrell Puls (and why should it matter)?

Dr. Darrell Puls has worked with organizational conflict for most of his professional life, beginning as a professional negotiator for one of the largest unions in the country, where he quickly rose to be recognized as one of the best. He has negotiated contracts, mediated disputes, and arbitrated cases for more than 37 years.

In 1990 Darrell was one of the first in the country trained to intervene in large-scale organizational conflicts that included hundreds of people, and continues to study organizational conflict theory and develop effective intervention practices. In the late 1990's, Darrell was co-founder and lead mediation trainer of a successful community conflict resolution agency and has helped create other centers as well. By 1998 Darrell was spending most of his time as an organizational conflict management specialist. Darrell left that work in 2002 to complete his doctorate and go into organizational conflict management on his own. He is a published author and regular contributor to Mediate.com, where his articles are linked to conflict management sites around the world.

"Conflict is neither bad nor good - it just 'is.' What matters is how we as people respond to conflict situations. The unhappy truth is that most of us respond poorly when finding ourselves in conflict when it can be a powerful (and positive) change force when channeled correctly. Often, it becomes destructive to relationships, businesses, and nations.

"It does not have to be that way.

"The trajectory of conflict can be changed when we come to understand that there almost always is something deeper going on that has been lost in the fray, and that we are usually our own worst enemies. By finding that deeper need, and meeting it, agreements can be reached that are more satisfying to everyone, as well as more durable.  By identifying the ways in which each contributes to making the fight worse we can find new, more positive ways of responding.

"You may have already discovered that telling them to stop does not work - it simply forces the conflict underground, leading to passive-aggressive behaviors that include character assassination and sabotage. Progressive discipline does not work either. What works is an experienced specialist coming in and working intensely from inside to resolve the conflict.

"And that is what I do."