Choosing your battles at work

It’s nice when everyone is in agreement about something. It’s even nicer when that agreement is around your way of thinking. But let’s face it, if everyone agreed with each other all the time, the world would be a pretty boring place.

Our uniqueness, whilst making us special, can often lead to conflict at work and we regularly find ourselves in situations where we’re going head to head with people because we don’t share their views and they don’t share ours.

These head to head battles of differing opinions are exhausting and if you regularly find yourself in them, either simultaneously or consecutively, you’re not going to have much energy left for much else. I wish I could tell you to just avoid conflict at work but it’s unavoidable and I’m certainly NOT telling you to let people walk all over you — that’s not the solution either.

For the record, conflict is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it can be a catalyst for innovation and success. Heated discussions with people with differing views and opinions can lead to amazing things, after all, “the steel of greatness is forged in the pit”.

Is this the hill you want to die on?

The solution (as you might have guessed from the title of this post) is to choose your battles at work and only stand your ground when the time is right to do so. But how do you decide which battles to choose and which to avoid?