Ralph Kilmann

Oct 31, 2024 | medium.com | Ralph Kilmann

Ralph Kilmann·Follow3 min read·--I’m publishing this newsletter series to discuss the nuances of the four timeless topics for people and organizations: conflict, change, transformation, and consciousness. Please “follow” to never miss an article. People often ask me to spell out the difference between accommodating and avoiding. Or, as some say: “Accommodating is an easy way to avoid, since you can quickly remove yourself from the situation by giving in to the other person.

Oct 25, 2024 | mediate.com | Ralph Kilmann

Photo credit: Vince Fleming on UnsplashI’d like to explore a rather atypical application of the TKI model, one that often gets overlooked. Indeed, we have a tendency to focus on conflict “out there” (interpersonal or workplace conflict), but not conflict “in here” (intrapersonal conflict or what has been called intra-psychic conflict). But those same five conflict modes can be used to examine how a person addresses incompatible needs and goals of different parts of the inner self.

Oct 17, 2024 | mediate.com | Ralph Kilmann

Photo by Tim Gouw on Unsplash Every member in an organization can be viewed as a problem manager, the nature of which can be usefully categorized into five steps: (1) sensing problems (noting if a gap exists between “what is” and “what could or should be” breaks a threshold of acceptability), (2) defining problems (uncovering the root cause of the gap), (3) deriving solutions (ways and means to close the gap), (4) implementing solutions (putting the chosen solution to effective use in a...

Oct 9, 2024 | mediate.com | Ralph Kilmann

I’d like to comment on the organic relationship between the Myers Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI) and the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI) — between psychological types and conflict modes, between magnifying differences and resolving differences.

Oct 4, 2024 | trainingmag.com | Ralph Kilmann

The first draft of the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI) was created in early 1971 at the University of California, Los Angeles. In UCLA’s Graduate School of Management, Ken Thomas was a young assistant professor, and I was an even younger doctoral student. After several rounds of data collection—which allowed us to fine-tune the instructions, the 30 items, and the accompanying interpretive materials—the TKI instrument was ready for publication.