A Civic Designer's Guide to Mindful Conflict Navigation
Summary
As civic designers, we are adept at listening well, understanding complex interactions between people and within systems, and identifying creative opportunities. Working on teams that often comprise many disciplines, perspectives, and motivations, we must approach teamwork with intention and importance. While differing opinions and interpersonal dynamics are inevitabilities of collaborative work, our civic design superpowers uniquely position us to navigate conflict skillfully. While tackling some of our communities’ toughest, most intractable challenges, we must care for ourselves and our teams too– so that we can live well and serve sustainably. This session will begin with guided self-reflection. We will then explore conflict navigation through a lens of mindfulness, systems-thinking, and human-centered design.
Key Insights
-
•
Conflict navigation focuses on self-awareness and co-creating solutions rather than just managing or mediating conflict.
-
•
Collusion is a dynamic where both parties unknowingly perpetuate conflict through reactive behaviors.
-
•
Positive feedback loops can escalate conflicts or be leveraged to rebuild connection.
-
•
Mindfulness practice helps individuals center themselves to engage in conflict more effectively.
-
•
Questioning assumptions is critical to breaking negative conflict cycles and understanding others' motivations.
-
•
Civic designers have valuable skills like deep listening and empathy that aid in conflict navigation.
-
•
Building relationships with influencers can help circumvent challenging power dynamics in conflicts.
-
•
Effective conflict resolution progresses through stages: mindful arrival, relationship-building, listening, teaching, and co-creating solutions.
-
•
Psychological safety in teams fosters transparency and makes it safe to voice challenges without fear.
-
•
Visualization tools, such as collusion diagrams, bring visibility to conflict dynamics and identify intervention points.
Notable Quotes
"Conflict navigation is creating self-awareness of how you are in conflict and understanding your worldview to co-create solutions."
"When you step away as a conflict manager, the conflict often just reignites because the root issues aren’t addressed."
"Maybe one person wanted the zest and the other wanted the pulp—the conflict isn’t always about the whole thing."
"Mindfulness gives us space to bring curiosity and compassion to ourselves and others during conflict."
"Collusion is this dynamic process where both parties, through negative interpretation and reaction, perpetuate the conflict."
"Questioning assumptions invites the possibility that there are other reasons behind someone’s behavior that we haven’t considered."
"Deep listening allows us to hear from another person’s perspective and build understanding."
"The positive feedback loop can either spiral a conflict out of control or help reconnect the relationship."
"If you can’t reach the main person in conflict, build relationship with someone who influences them."
"Psychological safety creates an atmosphere where it’s safe to speak up, ask questions, and be imperfect."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"What if learning was always mobile, decentralized, distributed among people and institutions, with new ways to acknowledge learning beyond grades?"
Nathan Shedroff Hugh Dubberly Thomas J. McLeishHow Will Design be Taught When the Schools Shut Down?
May 8, 2026
"We can forecast delivery dates despite shifting and volatile project conditions with 95% efficiency."
John Paul de Guzman10k Screens Later: How We Became a Data-Driven Design Organization
September 24, 2024
"Continuous feedback requires collecting responses tied to the same user across multiple channels with behavioral targeting."
Aleksandra Korczynska Caroline Jarrett Justyna ParmeeSurvey Tools
March 12, 2026
"How might your team maintain its resilience through constant change?"
Kristin SkinnerTheme 2: Introduction and Provocation
January 8, 2024
"The community is a big tent - welcoming diverse perspectives and geographies to define and shape civic design."
Rachael Dietkus, LCSW Victor Udoewa Jennifer StricklandEverything You Need to Know about the Civic Design 2022 Call for Presentations
May 17, 2022
"Influence is the real goal as a designer—over people, processes, and culture."
Uday GajendarThe Rise of Meta-Design: A Starter Playbook
May 19, 2022
"We approached feedback loops like a system equal parts structure and skill. They have to reinforce one another."
Vanessa VarinFeedback: The Other F-Word
September 10, 2025
"You don’t think of raising a child or teaching a student as solving a problem, it’s an ongoing process—and so is design today."
Hugh DubberlyProblems with Problems: Reconsidering the Frame of Designing as Problem-Solving
June 19, 2019
"Engineers started questioning old assumptions and product wasn’t just adjusting roadmaps, they were reframing decisions around user needs."
Sean McKayCoexisting with non-researchers: Practical strategies for a democratized research future
March 11, 2025
