Power Conflicts

Write about one experience in your life where you experienced a power conflict.


The logo for the Boy Scouts of Canada
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I used to be a member of the Boy Scouts of Canada when I was younger. Once, on a geo-caching outing, myself and another of my group had a conflict over where we thought the compass co-ordinates were directing us to. The other boy, whose name was Bill, thought that the co-ordinates were pointing us to 30° NNW and I thought that we were supposed to go 30° NWN. After deliberating our course, I convinced the group that we should go my direction because I was usually pretty adept at deciphering directions. Even though I succeeded in gaining power over the group, it turned out that I was wrong about the co-ordinates, and we had to double-back and find the right path again.

Indicate the type of conflict.

In this case I believe it was a cross between Person v. Person and Person v. Group. On the one hand, I was conflicting with Bill, but on the other hand I also had to convince my group that they should side with me.

What steps did you take to resolve this conflict?

I simply argued with Bill about which direction we should take and rested on my excellent past geo-caching record to resolve the conflict we had.

Is there something else you could've done?



If I had been a little more mature and a little more experienced with geo-caching, I think that I might have realized that Bill's idea of the correct path was—in fact—correct. Unfortunately, I was too hard-headed and competitive to comprehend that sometimes instead of doing everything by yourself, you have to put your faith in other people to get things done.

Two boys fighting
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What could have happened if you allowed the conflict to escalate?

I don't think anything drastic would've happened if I allowed the conflict to escalate. However, the possibilities are endless. Perhaps it would've ended in a shouting match or even a fight. I have no idea. Thankfully, it was resolved peacefully and even though we lost time, my group still won the geocaching hunt that day.