Recently I was asked an interesting question that needs further elaboration, than the 30-seconds I could devote to the answer. The question, “As a disabled person, in a professional setting (workplace), do I expect others to accommodate me?” At the time, I used pieces of Douglas Malloch’s poem “Good Timber” as an analogy to help answer this question, stating that a tree in a forest does not demand another tree stop growing in their direction for sunshine, air and water. Thus becoming a forest giant through individual growth, adaptation, individual choice, time, goal setting, and working with other trees.
Here is Douglas Malloch’s poem “Good Timber” declaring the natural law, “Conflict is Good!”
Good Timber
by Douglas Malloch
The tree that never had to fight
For sun and sky and air and light,
But stood out in the open plain
And always got its share of rain,
Never became a forest king
But lived and died a scrubby thing.
The man who never had to toil
To gain and farm his patch of soil,
Who never had to win his share
Of sun and sky and light and air,
Never became a manly man
But lived and died as he began.
Good timber does not grow with ease:
The stronger wind, the stronger trees;
The further sky, the greater length;
The more the storm, the more the strength.
By sun and cold, by rain and snow,
In trees and men good timbers grow.
Where thickest lies the forest growth,
We find the patriarchs of both.
And they hold counsel with the stars
Whose broken branches show the scars
Of many winds and much of strife.
This is the common law of life.
Discussion
True story, I learned to swim by being thrown into the deep end of a lake and told to get back to shore on my own; my mother was never one for “easy lessons.” The conflict made me understand and learn how to coordinate movement, and I learned to swim. Not well, and to this day, I swim like I am beating the water into submission, not in a manner that is conducive to smooth and flowing coordinated movement. The conflict of motion and resistance, movement and flow has taught me a lot about science, engineering, hydraulics, and much more; but I do not thank my mother for this “swimming” lesson!
Good timber does not grow with ease:
The stronger wind, the stronger trees;
The further sky, the greater length;
The more the storm, the more the strength.
By sun and cold, by rain and snow,
In trees and men good timbers grow.
As a process of learning and developing, conflict has been the driving factor in all of our lives. Conflict is a tool, and like all tools, when used appropriately, it can build, enhance, strengthen, and create. Whereas, if the tool is improperly used, destruction, damage, and chaos are spawned. Regardless, life lessons can be learned in both uses of conflict when two additional tools are added, self-reflection over time. It took a long time to realize the value of science in the lessons of swimming taught in almost drowning. Remember, the forest giant in Douglas Malloch’s poem did not become a forest king without scars.
Where thickest lies the forest growth,
We find the patriarchs of both.
And they hold counsel with the stars
Whose broken branches show the scars
Of many winds and much of strife.
Conflict happens; what a person chooses to do with that conflict and how that person considers conflicting occurrences is how the labels “good,” “bad,” “valuable,” “beneficial,” etc., are applied. McShane and Von Gilnow (2004, p. 390) postulated, “conflict as beneficial [when] intergroup conflict improves team dynamics, increase cohesiveness, and task orientation. … [C]onditions of moderate conflict, motivates team members to work more efficiently toward goals increasing productivity.” The sentiment regarding conflict as a tool and beneficial is echoed throughout the research of Jehn (1995). Jehn (1995) reflected that the groups researched labeled the conflict as beneficial, good, bad, etc. based on the group’s dynamics and the conflicts faced and settled, the groups formed an integrated model for organizational conflict. Essentially, how the conflict is approached and used by the team members individually and collectively dictates how beneficial the conflict is for the team and the organization.
The stronger wind, the stronger trees;
The further sky, the greater length;
The more the storm, the more the strength.
By sun and cold, by rain and snow,
In trees and men good timbers grow.
Rao (2017) built upon previous researchers’ shoulders, perceiving conflict being a tool, and provided vital strategies for leaders to employ if they choose to minimize conflict; however, if conflict is minimized, a caution is required. Minimizing conflict just to minimize conflict is not the road to success, but the road to ruination. Douglas Malloch was quite clear on this point and it must be understood.
The tree that never had to fight
For sun and sky and air and light,
But stood out in the open plain
And always got its share of rain,
Never became a forest king
But lived and died a scrubby thing.
The man who never had to toil
To gain and farm his patch of soil,
Who never had to win his share
Of sun and sky and light and air,
Never became a manly man
But lived and died as he began.
Good timber does not grow with ease:
The stronger wind, the stronger trees;
The further sky, the greater length;
The more the storm, the more the strength.
By sun and cold, by rain and snow,
In trees and men good timbers grow.
Thus, it cannot be stated enough, nor without sufficient emphasis, the leader who chooses to minimize conflict is leading their team to destruction, ruination, and despair. But, isn’t the path of less conflict more restful and peaceful? What about all those people who claim conflict is bad, fighting and war are terrible things and should be avoided at all costs. Let us examine Douglas Malloch further:
Whose broken branches show the scars
Of many winds and much of strife.
As a child, I had the privilege of examining up close and personal a forrest giant. The closest branch to the ground was 35’ in the air, the trunk had a girth of more than 25’, and the tree stood on the edge of an embankment. Gloriously large specimen of a maple tree. The tree hosted several families of squirrels, birds, and who knows how many other woodland creatures. When the tree was permanently damaged by a hurricane in 1989, a company paid my grandmother a princely sum to harvest this tree for the hardwood. My brother and I counted the rings to know the age of the tree and got to over 200 years. A true forrest giant indeed. As the tree was harvested for lumber, it was discovered the tree had been shot and wounded, several branches had been damaged by fire, multiple branches had been broken off and healed over, barbed wire was embedded in the tree and some wood was poisioned by the iron, and the harvester told us a lot about what the tree had experienced during its lifetime.
Rao (2017) intimated that “conflict builds character, whereas crisis defines character” [p. 93]. Recognizing that conflict labels are an individual choice, and character building is a choice left to the individual to onboard or shun, one is left with several questions, when conflict occurs, and crisis happen, what do you choose, fold or grow?
Kipling writes a “Just So Story” titled “The Tree and the Grass.” The tree boasts about its strength, its height, its ability, and strength, and one day the tree falls prey to the wind and falls. However, what is not clearly delineated, is that the tree is not in a forrest, but on a plain. The moral according to Kipling was that, one should “never condemn others looking at your greatness as nothing exists for ever.” While the moral is correct, and the lesson important, the fact that the conflict and crisis the tree faced, the wind, was on this occaision crippling and life shattering, is the cogent point for focus. Douglas Malloch points out another very important point:
The tree that never had to fight
For sun and sky and air and light,
But stood out in the open plain
And always got its share of rain,
Never became a forest king
But lived and died a scrubby thing.
The tree on the plain is never prepared for crisis and conflict, and falls prey to both due to a lack of preparation. The tree that is born into conflict and crisis is prepared from day one to understand the role of conflict and crisis, and then face both as friends and tools. Thus the problems with leaders who choose to avoid conflict and why these leaders will flail, fail, and lead their teams and businesses into failure and ruination.
Thompson (2008) calls those who actively work to avoid conflict as those taking “trips to Abilene;” included in those making trips to Abilene are those who take conflict personally and choose to become offended, as well as those who choose not to see conflict, as a method of ignoring conflict. Thomas (1992) captured how individual choices about the valuation of conflict open or close the door to the productive use of conflict. Ignoring conflict, avoiding conflict, and other strategies to avoid conflict form the most dangerous people to be around, for when conflict grows beyond a point where it can no longer be ignored or avoided, that is the conflict that can destroy people, places, and things.
Thomas (1992) is echoe in Jehn (1995), Lencioni (2002), and Thompson (2008) declaring the distinction between conflict as a process and the structure in which the conflict process occurred is critical to how beneficial the conflict will be for the team, business, or society. Conflict is the mental thinking, adherence to operating procedures, and individuals working become the instigating factor, which is a threat to what is known or done at the current time. Hence, Thomas (1992) provided a keen insight into conflict as a tool, purposeful initiation of a process (conflict) to improve a structure (organizational environment).
When people recognize the power of conflict and purposefully employ conflict, everyone receives the potential to improve through conflict (Lencioni, 2002). Thus, conflict continues to be a tool, nothing more and nothing less. The disparities between organizational conflict labels are critical to understanding the chasm between teams evaluating conflict as the process and business structure. The gap in understanding conflict’s results can create inhibitions to future organizational conflict and create unneeded additional conflict processes while undermining the organizational structure.
How will you choose to use conflict? Will you grow or fold? Will you break yourself to become better knowing that the deadwood you cast off is healthier long term than holding onto the past and pretending you are still able to hold onto everything? Will you keep an open wound instead of allowing time and healing to form a scar and a callous to protect you from additional injury? Is the injury worth growing or is the injury too much and it is time to fall and die? Conflict and crisis will define or defeat based solely upon the choices you make. How will you decide?
References
Amason, A. C. (1996). Distinguishing the effects of functional and dysfunctional conflict on strategic decision making: Resolving a paradox for top management teams. Academy of Management Journal, 39(1), 123-148. doi:http://dx.doi.org.contentproxy.phoenix.edu/10.2307/256633
Baron, R. A. (1991). Positive Effects of Conflict: A Cognitive Perspective. Employee Responsibilities & Rights Journal, 4(1), 25-36.
Brazzel, M. (2003). Chapter XIII: Diversity conflict and diversity conflict management. In D. L. Plummer (Ed.), Handbook of diversity management: Beyond awareness to competency based learning (pp. 363-406). Lanham, MD: University Press of America, Inc.
Du, F., Erkens, D. H., & Xu, K. (2018). How trust in subordinates affects service quality: Evidence from a large property management firm. Business.Illinois.edu. Retrieved from https://business.illinois.edu/accountancy/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2018/03/Managerial-Symposium-2018-Session-IV-Du-Erkens-and-Xu.pdf
Jehn, K. A. (1995). A multi-method exanimation of the benefits and detriments of intragroup conflict. Administrative Science Quarterly, 40, 256-282.
Lencioni, P. (2002). The five dysfunctions of a team: A leadership fable. Hoboken, NJ. John Wiley & Sons.
Lumineau, F., Eckerd, S., & Handley, S. (2015). Inter-organizational conflicts. Journal of Strategic Contracting and Negotiation, 1(1), 42-64. doi:10.1177/2055563614568493
McShane, S. L., & Von Gilnow, M. A. (2004). Organizational Behavior, Third Edition. Boston: McGraw-Hill Companies.
Moeller, C., & Kwantes, C. T. (2015). Too Much of a Good Thing? Emotional Intelligence and Interpersonal Conflict Behaviors. Journal of Social Psychology, 155(4), 314-324. doi:10.1080/00224545.2015.1007029
Rao, M. (2017). Tools and techniques to resolve organizational conflicts amicably. Industrial and Commercial Training, 49(2), 93-97. doi:10.1108/ict-05-2016-0030
Thomas, K. W. (1992). Conflict and conflict management: Reflections and update. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 13(3), 265-274.
Thompson, L. L. (2008). Chapter 8: Conflict in teams – Leveraging differences to create opportunity. In Making the team: A guide for managers (3rd ed., pp. 201-220). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
© Copyright 2021 – M. Dave Salisbury
The author holds no claims for the art used herein, the pictures were obtained in the public domain, and the intellectual property belongs to those who created the images.
Of all the unforgettable characters from M*A*S*H 4077, one of the most important characters is Reverend Francis John Patrick Mulcahy, Chaplain, United States Army. A most courageous and kind person, a character full of intestinal fortitude, with a deep desire to help the living, and a solid right hook when needed. Father Mulcahy has always been a hero of mine, and I wanted to explain why, as a tribute to both the character and the actor William Christopher.
There is a story about how William Christopher got sick with Hepatitis, and the show’s producers wanted to remove Father Mulcahy’s role entirely. Instead, Alan Alda went to bat for William Christopher, changed the scripts, and wrote Father Mulcahy’s sickness into the show to keep Father Mulcahy on M*A*S*H. Why would Alan Alda do something like this for a co-star? There are several reasons; Alan Alda was a good person. William Christopher was a good person. But William Christopher was always working hard; he was not supposed to carry litters and all the other stuff he was always doing in the background. William Christopher set a standard of behavior that modeled what a chaplain was supposed to do, and military chaplains copied his behaviors, mannerisms, behaviors, attitudes, and work philosophies.
The episode this quote comes from is where the mess tent is being used for services, fresh eggs had been donated, and a soldier comes in seeking ecclesiastical refuge and is AWOL from his unit. This episode has always been a favorite of mine; it has come back in times of stress and trial when the harder right and the easier wrong conflict, and I have the choice to make about which to follow. Father Mulcahy always chooses the moral high ground, the harder right, instead of the easier wrong, and the lessons he taught through living are not easily forgotten or pushed aside. I might not be as practiced in the execution of living the harder right, but I cannot choose the easier wrong, and that makes all the difference.
Let me be perfectly clear, Dr. Seuss is not the only victim of the book burning and banning liberals, but as the latest victim and the most egregious victim to date, I am going to use Dr. Seuss as the example. For the record, I am a bibliophile (book lover; lover of reading books), and I detest any book being castigated, derided, and depublished simply because a political party cannot stand the content. Of all the dumb and irrational actions of the political left, book shaming is one that sees me get madder than a soaked chicken with a raging case of hemorrhoids.
Mark Twain has regularly been banned for using language, which in his day was acceptable, and which today is considered “offensive.” I love Mark Twain’s sense of humor; his stories wrap me in imagination, daring, and fun. Yet, the political left has deemed him offensive, and millions of children will never know his name.
Now, Dr. Seuss is being added to the banned books, and I could weep! Shame on the fraudulent president for this foolish and disrespectful political action. Shame on the political left who will leave Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf on the shelves of libraries but will remove Dr. Seuss, Aesop’s Fables, Mark Twain, Kipling, Roald Dahl, and thousands of other titles and authors, simply because of political choices.
Do not choose to misunderstand me; all books are not equal, and some books I detest. But, I will never support the banning of books! I will never condone stealing authors’ intellectual offerings from the public simply because politics demands those books be banned. I read the “Captain Underpants” series; I did not particularly like or dislike the books, but to see the series banned is incomprehensible! I loved Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer, a Brave New World, Of Mice and Men, Goosebumps, The Catcher in the Rye, and so many other books that, as of 
Did you know the Holy Bible is regularly on the banned books list as a popularly forbidden book? Yet, the Koran is regularly found in public school libraries and public libraries? I first read the Koran in sixth grade because my school had a copy. I read Mein Kampf in Junior High School because my school had a copy. Neither book was mandatory reading; I just found them and decided I wanted to read them. Plus, reading them made my parents so mad! My parents are fans of banning “some books” due to content. Yet, like liberty and freedom, no books will be allowed if all books are not allowed. You cannot limit free speech and still have free speech. You cannot restrict warrantless search and seizure without limiting every person’s rights to be safe in their papers and property. Worse, you cannot grant liberty to one and steal freedom from another, that is the height of tyrannical behavior, and this pattern works just as well for books as it does for music, art, and every other human endeavor and government polity.
My tastes in books, like music, span the entire written spectrum offered. Sherlock Holmes, Father Dowling Mysteries, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Mark Twain, Kipling, Roald Dahl, C. S. Lewis, Aldous Huxley, and so many more make-up who I am, why I choose, and how I grow. I could not ban one book without banning all books, and I will not ban a book! Books represent the soul of the author; the ideals written should live forever so people may have a choice. If you are a book banning type, would you ban a book from the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe series? If so, which one? Would not a ban on one book mean you have to ban the entire series?
Banning books is wrong, plain, and simple. Admonishing long-dead authors because you do not like illustrations or phrases used is the height of cowardice and personal insecurity projected onto other people. Frankly, banning books is the worst abomination of thought police possible, and I, for one, will always oppose your choice of mental disease!
My high school experience included eight different high schools in four years. Seven high schools on the Wasatch Front in Utah, finally graduating from Camden-Rockport High School, Camden, Maine. During my high school career, I was unfortunate enough to be placed into several classes called “Language Arts,” “Literature Arts,” or something similar, plastic words covering the fact that I needed more English credits to graduate. In my first “Literature Arts” experience, I was hoping to explore books, literature, and as a young bibliophile (book nerd) I was excited to study literature.
In Junior High School, Crosby Junior High School, Belfast, Maine. The school was ancient, used to be the high school until the district built a new high school. Crosby Junior High was a gothic building, very imposing, but it had the coolest library. On my first day in Junior High, I bet the librarians that before leaving, I would have checked out all the books, read them, and returned them. I might not have gotten them all, but I explored every inch of that library, supplemented my reading from the Belfast Maine Library, and read books! Lots and Lots of Books!
When I was eleven, January, turning twelve in February, a person I admired introduced me to a poem that has defined, taught, and corrected me since that January day. The poem “
There are three reasons. One, literature arts is not just reading, but also writing, imagining, exploring the art inside you; but it is rarely taught in this manner. Two, the age of the mind during literature arts is unprepared for drawing lessons from materials for application to life through reflection on experiences. Reflection must be taught, and too often, reflection is refused as a topic in a classroom.It has taken a lot for me to find the poetic power in Kipling’s poem “
My penmanship is deplorable, but penmanship is rarely taught anymore, considered a wasted subject, but in killing penmanship, the art in literature arts dies just a little more. But what is penmanship, really? Some will erroneously claim, penmanship is writing cursive. Detestable ignorant blaggards! Penmanship is the science of writing the symbols of language neatly, precisely, cleanly, and writing in a manner that is interesting to read. As a K-12 student, penmanship meant cursive, and cursive meant I was going to suck! Why isn’t penmanship a daily practical lesson for K-12 students? Mainly because of the third and final reason literature arts is being murdered. Three, reducing literacy through abusing literature arts was a design characteristic in K-12 Education since the 1860s and John Dewey; for he looked upon literate people and loathed them, and children have struggled ever since.
We, the inheritors of intentionally designed poor education, must wake up, put on the work boots, and go to work learning literacy and literary arts. We are then responsible for teaching these lessons to our children so freedom and liberty can flourish and prosper again in America. Literacy and literature arts is a fight we cannot afford to lose!
Dane-Geld was “a land tax levied in medieval England, originally to raise funds for protection against Danish invaders.” The 11th Century saw many frightened landowners who wanted peace, who then raised money to pay-off the north’s warring tribes, called Danes. From across the land, the rulers gathered penny and pound to buy protection from these warring tribes. When the Dane’s saw how easy it was to obtain gold, they moved in and took the lands, and whole civilizations dropped into barbarianism. The only reason we know these stories today was that the warring tribes of the Dane’s met cold steel in a furious fist and were beaten back.
You can try and appease a mob, or you can fight a mob. These are your only two options. There is no third selection possible, for the mob, you fear today will be your rulers in captivity tomorrow. Ask the city of Philadelphia if they like their new rulers. Ask the community of Watts in LA if they wanted their rulers after the LA Riots. You can break a mob into individuals and hold them accountable, or you can try to pay off a mob, but you cannot do both, and you will lose short-term and win long when you act against the mob. Better to lose short term and win, then appease and lose everything short-term and long-term to the rule of a mob.
The mobs, the rioters, and the looters currently rampaging across America are domestic terrorists. Please make no mistake; their sole aim is to destroy your town, city, county, state, and country! Quoting from President Roosevelt, “We, too, born to freedom, and believing in freedom, are willing to fight to maintain freedom. We, and all others who believe as deeply as we do, would rather die on our feet than live [life] on our knees.”
Dane-Geld is “a land tax levied in medieval England, originally to raise funds for protection against Danish invaders.” The 11th Century saw many frightened landowners who wanted peace raised money to pay-off the warring tribes of the north, called Danes. From across the land, the rulers gathered penny and pound to buy protection from these warring tribes. When the Dane’s saw how easy it was to obtain gold, they moved in and took the lands, and whole civilizations dropped into barbarianism, and the only reason we know these stories today, were the warring tribes of the Dane’s met cold steel in a furious fist and were beaten back.
Mayors, Governors, you have a choice, to pay the Dane his pound of gold, or to fight the terror in society and be remembered. The Mayor in Philadelphia during the riots past gave up entire city blocks for the Dane’s of her city to destroy, the Dane’s were not appeased, they moved in, and now control larger sections of the city than ever before. Seattle’s mayor recently paid the Dane’s and has become the laughingstock of America over CHAZ. Minneapolis, Detroit, Chicago, and so many other cities across America have bent the knee, paid the gold, and will never be rid of the Dane.
Join us, ye politicians, who tremble! 
DNC-Consulting 