
The key to finding these buried opportunities is imagination, the capacity to envision the conflict transformed. Instead of thinking, “Why won’t they … ?” it requires asking, “What if we … ?” For example:
- What if we raised a generation so that they learned to be “conflict literate?”
- What if we students in business, management, law, and even medicine learned how to turn conflict from a liability into an asset?
- What if all of us at diverse faith-based schools taught about other systems of belief?
- What if we created in every community a public space designed for dialogue?
- What if we developed news media that were a laboratory for negotiation and dialogue?
- What if those of us in education learned and applied the tools of the Mediator?
- What if we voters supported political candidates who ran campaigns that strengthened communities rather than dividing them to get the most votes?
- What if we encouraged the U.S. Congress and other national legislatures to have an Office of Facilitation?
- What if we provided every serious conflict, particularly civil wars, with a mediation team with access to coaching and tools?
- What if we reformed the UN so that it had not only a Security Council but an Inquiry Council?
- What if we challenged defenders of the environment and defenders of economic growth to work together for a sustainable, equitable human future?

Leading Through Conflict: How Successful Leaders Transform Differences into Opportunities