These are excerpts from the author’s book “Deep,” which contains eight of his small books published in the form of Wisdom Literature covering different aspects of life: Facing troublemakers, dealing with pain, personal financial issues, gastronomy, reading, criticizing, inspiring, and feeling always good to go.

Week 5: Avoiding Conflict Traps

• Before getting into the details of a conflict, reevaluate your position; maybe you could find a way to withdraw without any loss before the battle starts.

• Many conflicts could be won without participating. Think carefully before making the decision to get involved. It may not always be that others have bad intentions; you might be dragged into the wrong conflict by mistake.

• During the harbingers of the conflict, the question is not always how to avoid it. It could be wise to go into the conflict for a radical solution that was previously inaccessible.

• Before getting involved in the conflict, you have the privilege of thinking freshly outside the box. However, you still see neither the details nor the whole picture of the conflict.

• Beware of those who incite you to be a hero; nobody other than you should determine the level of your involvement in the conflict.

• Unless you are too busy, do not hesitate to accept an invitation to participate in a relevant conflict management as an observer. It is at least a good chance to get some useful information and experience; just maintain your marginal position throughout the process.

• Transferring the problem to someone else is more effective before you are trapped in the conflict. However, it is still possible during all phases of the conflict.

• Whenever a new conflict emerges, take some time to conduct an independent overview, and then look over your record on past conflicts to review lessons you learned and to get inspired.

• When you receive an invitation to a conflict, make sure that you are not in front of a problem transferred to you by someone else..

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