The Foundations of Transformation: An Introduction to Proactive Approaches to Conflict

In this introductory episode, Dr. Nashay Lowe explores the concept of conflict transformation, emphasizing its importance in personal and professional growth. She distinguishes between conflict resolution and transformation, highlighting the need to understand the deeper causes of conflict rather than just addressing surface-level issues. The discussion includes the idea of provention, which focuses on preventing conflict by addressing unmet human needs, and the distinction between negative and positive peace. Dr. Shay also introduces systems thinking as a way to understand the broader context of conflict and concludes by inviting listeners to view conflict as an opportunity for growth and change.

Key Takeaways

• Conflict transformation is about changing relationships, not just resolving issues.
• Understanding the deeper needs behind conflicts is crucial for transformation.
• Provention focuses on addressing root causes before conflicts arise.
• Positive peace involves creating conditions for thriving, not just the absence of violence.
• Systems thinking helps us see the broader patterns contributing to conflict.
• Conflict can clarify what truly matters in relationships and organizations.
• Transformation doesn't always mean resolution; it can occur through shifts in awareness.
• Conflict is often a signpost indicating deeper issues that need attention.
• We should view conflict as an opportunity for growth, not a threat.
• The work of transformation starts with how we choose to engage with conflict.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Conflict Transformation
• 3:17 Understanding Conflict Transformation
• 5:05 Conflict Resolution vs. Transformation
• 7:38 Seeing Conflict as Opportunity
• 10:24 The Concept of Provention
• 14:30 Positive Peace: Beyond Absence of Violence
• 17:22 Systems Thinking in Conflict
• 20:29 Conclusion and Resources

Transcript

Dr. Shay (00:01)
Hi world and welcome to the resolution room. I'm Dr. Nashay Lowe, AKA Shay and I created this podcast as a space to explore conflict transformation, resilience, and both personal and professional growth. At the heart of all of it is one central theme, how we turn pain into purpose while navigating the everyday challenges of being human. Like many people, I face seasons of chaos and conflict that deeply shaped me. 

Those experiences sparked a lifelong commitment to breaking unhealthy patterns, building inner stability, and supporting others on their path to doing the same. I think of myself as a lifelong learner who has dedicated my professional development to understanding and facilitating transformation from reactive conflict management to proactive, preventative approaches. 

Through this podcast, I'll be talking with people from all walks of life, everyday folk,
experts, change makers, all the above about how they've navigated conflict, broken generational cycles, and transferred adversity into growth. My professional journey began as a first generation college student and has taken me across several countries, each experience shaping how I see conflict, culture, and connection. 

Along the way, I earned a PhD in international conflict management and blended personal trials, global insight, academic study, and real world training to mediation, coaching, and resolution work. That path led me to create something deeply personal and purposeful, Lowe insights consulting. Now, as a certified mediator, educator, and consultant, I work to support individuals and institutions through some of their most complex challenges. But beyond the credentials, I've lived this work. Transformation isn't just what I teach.

It's what I practice from the inside out. This podcast isn't about just one type of conflict. It's not about reaching perfection. It's about progress. And it's about the common threads that run through all kinds of human experiences, especially the ones we face in relationships, communities, and within ourselves. Some of the themes we'll explore together include breaking generational cycles of conflict.

So learning how to recognize and release patterns of dysfunction in families, relationships, and workplaces. Turning pain into purpose, which includes reframing struggle as a catalyst for building a meaningful, resilient life. Navigating inner and interpersonal conflicts. And that includes tools and strategies for setting boundaries, communicating effectively, and showing up with emotional intelligence. And the power of perspective, including how cross-cultural experiences can shift the way we understand ourselves, others, and conflict itself. My goal with this podcast is simple, to invite you into honest conversations that help you see conflict not as a roadblock, but as a doorway to the life you really want. So let's begin. 

Segment one, we'll talk about what is conflict transformation. So let's take a step back to the very beginning with the question that seems simple but holds a lot of depth. What is conflict transformation? So conflict transformation is not just a strategy. It's a shift in how we see conflict and what we do with it. Most of us are taught to think of conflict as something we need to eliminate, as a threat to harmony or progress. 

But in the field of conflict studies, especially in the work I've been immersed in for years, we understand conflict very differently. We see it as a signpost...something that draws attention to what's no longer working beneath the surface. Conflict transformation is about engaging with that signal, not silencing it. It's about asking, what is this conflict trying to show us? What are the deeper needs, the deeper values or wounds beneath the tension? And how can we use this moment, not just to patch things up, but to grow into something more honest, equitable or whole? 

In its simplest form, conflict transformation is about more than ending the conflict. It's about changing the relationship between people, between groups, between systems, and changing the conditions that gave rise to the conflict in the first place. And here's the powerful part. Transformation doesn't always mean resolution. Sometimes there isn't a neat ending. But even in those cases, transformation can still occur through shifts in awareness, behavior, and structure.

So whether it's two people in a personal relationship, two departments in a workplace, or two communities navigating historic harm, conflict transformation asks, what would it take for something new to emerge here? And that's what makes this work so powerful. It's not about peace, it's about possibility.

Segment two, conflict resolution versus conflict transformation. Now that we've grounded ourselves in what conflict transformation is, it's important to pause and explore how it differs from something we're much more familiar with, conflict resolution. At first glance, the two terms might seem interchangeable, and in casual conversations they often are. But in practice, they represent two very different approaches to dealing with conflict.

Conflict resolution is about solving the immediate issue. It often focuses on the event or disagreement at hand with the goal of restoring peace, reaching agreement, or at the very least ending the tension. This might look like negotiating a settlement, clarifying a misunderstanding, or agreeing to disagree so things can move forward. And that can be incredibly valuable. Sometimes situation does just need a clear conversation, a compromise, and closure.

That's resolution and it has its place. But here's where conflict transformation steps in. It asks not just what happened, but why it happened. It looks at the patterns, not just the incident. It doesn't settle for restoring the status quo if the status quo is part of the problem. For example, imagine a workplace where two colleagues are constantly clashing. A resolution approach might get them to agree on new communication norms and move on, but a transformation approach would dig deeper. Are there unspoken power dynamics at play? Are the team structures setting them up to fail? Is one person carrying unseen emotional labor that's never been acknowledged? Where resolution seeks peace in the short term, transformation seeks change in the long term. 

One metaphor I like to use is, if conflict is a fire, resolution grabs the extinguisher. Transformation asks, why do we keep storing gasoline next to a matchbox? It's a different mindset altogether. That's not to say one is better than the other. It depends on the situation. But what I've found, especially in my work across education organizations and communities, is that many conflicts we try to resolve are actually calling for transformation. They're not just disagreements, they're deeper misalignments rooted in unmet needs, broken systems, or unspoken histories.

And until we're willing to go deeper, we'll find ourselves back in the same conflict just wearing a new name.

Segment three, understanding conflict as an opportunity, not a threat. One of the most powerful shifts we can make, both personally and collectively, is learning to see conflict not as a threat, but as an opportunity. Most of us have been socialized to associate conflict with discomfort, disruption, or danger. Maybe we grew up in households where conflict meant yelling or silence.

Maybe we've worked in environments where speaking up had consequences. So it makes sense that we try to avoid conflict at all costs. But here's the truth. Conflict is part of being human. It's what happens when needs, values, goals, or identities bump into one another. That doesn't make it a failure, it makes it information. It means something in the system, whether that's a relationship, a workplace, a family or broader structure is calling out for attention. And if we can learn to listen to conflict instead of suppressing it, we can open the door to transformation. 

Conflict can clarify what really matters. It can reveal what's been ignored or suppressed. It can push us into growth, speaking our truth or setting new boundaries. It can even bring people closer if it's handled with care.

One of the questions I often ask in my workshops is this, what if conflict is not the thing tearing us apart, but the thing trying to bring us back together? Differently, more honestly, more intentionally. I've seen this play out in so many ways in university classrooms, team offsites, community dialogues, you name it. Conflict becomes a mirror. 

It shows us what's misaligned. And when we stop treating it like an intruder and start engaging it like a guide, everything changes. Now this doesn't mean conflict is always going to feel good. This is actually rarely the case. It doesn't mean every situation leads to harmony, but when we treat conflict as an opportunity to go deeper rather than an obstacle to avoid, we build a culture of reflection, not reaction.

Segment four, John Burton's prevention, which deals with preventing conflict before it happens. Now let's talk about a concept that deeply reshaped the way I think about conflict and one that doesn't get nearly enough attention. It's called provention. And yes, it's P-R-O, Pro-vention. I think a lot of times when I put this out in the public, a lot of people think it's a typo for prevention. 

So, this term comes from conflict theorist, John Burton, whose work emphasized that we shouldn't just be responding to conflict once it erupts. We should be thinking about how to address the root causes before it ever gets to that point. So provention goes even beyond the idea of prevention, which often implies stopping something from happening. Burton saw that as too reactive. Instead, he suggested that real transformation requires identifying and addressing the deeper conditions-social, emotional, and institutional-that allow destructive conflict to take hold in the first place. At the heart of Burton's theory is the understanding that all human beings have basic non-negotiable needs. These include things like identity, belonging, recognition, security, autonomy, and justice. And when those needs are chronically unmet, ignored, or violated, whether in a relationship, community, or workplace,

Conflict is almost inevitable. It may not be loud or obvious at first, but it will build beneath the surface. Provention then is about creating environments where those needs are actively nurtured, not just as a response to conflict, but as a way of structuring relationships and institutions. It means designing systems where people feel seen, heard, and valued from the start. Let me give an example.

Imagine a school where students are constantly getting into verbal conflicts. The typical approach might be disciplinary, suspensions, parent calls, detentions. But a proventative approach would ask, are students being given tools to express their emotions? Do they feel safe and respected by their teachers? Are there underlying issues of bullying, or marginalization that haven't been addressed? See, provention isn't about stopping students from misbehaving.

It's about asking why they feel the need to act out in the first place and what needs aren't being met. In any setting, education, business, family, provention invites us to build the kind of systems and relationships where conflict becomes less likely because the conditions for dignity and trust are already in place. It's the quiet work, the foundational work, and it's often invisible until something doesn't explode. And we realize that's the win.

So is the foundation of my approach. Although we are the resolution room, there is a sort of hierarchy, if you will, of conflict management with management being at the bottom, meaning there is a situation at play that we are trying to get under control. Then we want to resolve the problem. So the next step is resolution. And then we want to learn from those mistakes and prevent it from happening again, which is the preventative stage. And the utopia is, of course, to reach conflict provention.

Segment five, positive peace, moving beyond the absence of violence. So when we talk about peace, what usually comes to mind? For most people, peace is defined by what isn't happening. No fighting, no violence, no visible tension. And while that's certainly important, it's only part of the picture. Norwegian sociologist and peace studies pioneer Galtung introduced a critical distinction between negative peace and positive peace. This framework invites us to think more deeply and more truthfully about what it really means to live in peace. Negative peace is the absence of direct violence or conflict. It's when everything looks fine, quote unquote, on the surface. But unresolved issues, inequities, or fears still linger just below. 

Think of a tense family dinner where no one argues, but no one really speaks their truth either or speaks to one another or a workplace where employees don't complain, but also don't feel safe enough to contribute honestly. By contrast, positive peace is the presence of justice, equity, inclusion, and systems that support human dignity. It's not just about what's missing, it's about what's actively present in the environment. In other words, peace isn't just the absence of conflict, it's the presence of conditions where people and communities can thrive.

Let's take a societal example. So a country might not be at war, but if people are experiencing systemic racism, economic injustice, or lack of access to healthcare, that's not positive peace. That's silence with suffering beneath it. And Gal Tung would argue that's not peace at all. This distinction is so important for the work of conflict transformation because it reframes what success actually looks like. It's not just calming things down, it's about building things up trust, fairness, opportunity, connection. We can't measure peace only by the lack of disruption. 

We have to measure it by the presence of wellbeing. So if we return to our earlier metaphor, if conflict is a wound, negative peace is putting on a bandage and hoping for the best. But positive peace is cleaning the wound and...understanding how it happens, making sure the conditions for re-injury don't exist and supporting full healing. Positive peace is long-term, it's layered and often invisible, but it's what allows people to feel whole. And when we prioritize that kind of peace, we're not just avoiding conflict, we're building a world where fewer people are left to fight for basic needs in the first place. 

Segment six, systems thinking and conflict seeing the bigger picture. So if you've been following along so far, you may have noticed a theme. Conflict doesn't happen in a vacuum. It's not random and it's rarely just about two people not getting along. It lives within and is shaped by the systems we're all part of. That brings us to our final foundational concept, systems thinking. So systems thinking is the practice of zooming out.

And invites us to step back from the surface level issue and look at the broader patterns, the relationships and structures that contributed to the conflict. It asks us to stop treating symptoms and start recognizing causes. Let me give you a simple example. Imagine two coworkers constantly clashing about project timelines. From the outside, it looks personal, like maybe they just don't get along. 

A traditional resolution approach might suggest mediation time management training or team building activities. But a systems thinker would ask, are deadlines unrealistic because leadership is out of touch with capacity? Is the team understaffed and overworked creating chronic burnout? Is one person expected to do emotional labor that's not part of their job description? When you look at it through a systems lens, the conflict is no longer about personality, it's about patterns.

And once you see the pattern, you can change the design. Systems thinking also challenges us to look inward. What systems have we internalized that shape the way we respond to conflict? Do we shut down because we've been taught to fear confrontation? Do we overcompensate because of cultural or generational messages about productivity or worth? This lens helps us understand not only the what of conflict, but the why and the how. It helps us ask better questions. What are the underlying forces that play here? Who benefits from the system staying the same? What would need to shift for a different outcome to be possible? And that's the real power of systems thinking. It takes us from blame to design. It's no longer just this person did this, but what are we all participating in consciously or not that's making the conflict possible?

When we apply systems thinking to conflict transformation, we move beyond interpersonal solutions to institutional ones. We begin to redesign the cultures, policies, and practices that shape our relationships.

And maybe most importantly, we stop thinking of conflict as isolated and start seeing it as a reflection of something bigger, something we can actually change. Not overnight, of course, but over time with care, with courage, and with commitment.

As we wrap up this foundational episode, I wanna leave you with this thought. What if the conflicts in your life, past, present, or even those yet to come, aren't detours, but invitations? Invitations to slow down, to listen more closely, to examine the systems we live and lead within, and to ask, what is the conflict trying to teach me about myself, about us, about what we value or have neglected? 

Conflict transformation doesn't promise quick fixes, but it does offer the possibility of deeper change within relationships, organizations, and the world around us. It invites us not to just resolve, but to reimagine. If today's episode sparked something in you, I hope you'll stay curious, keep learning, and keep asking those good questions. Because the work of transformation isn't just out there, it starts right here with how we choose to see, listen, and engage every single day.

Thank you for listening up to this point. I really appreciate it. I do want to offer a few books and materials that I recommend if you want to go deeper on these topics. 

So in the area of conflict transformation, John Paul Lederach has a book called The Little Book of Conflict Transformation. It's a short but powerful book that distills the heart of what transformation means in everyday terms. For human needs and prevention,

John Burton's Conflict, Resolution, and Prevention is a foundational text introducing the concept of provention and the importance of human needs and understanding conflict. For peace studies and positive peace, Johan Galtung's Peace by Peaceful Means is a more academic but insightful dive into Galtung's theory of positive versus negative peace. 

For systems thinking, we have Thinking in Systems by Donnella Meadows, and it's a beautifully accessible introduction to systems thinking and how to apply it to real world complexities. And for some accessible articles and resources, check out the Berghoff Foundation's online handbook of conflict transformation. And you can do a search for conflict transformation videos by the Kroc Institute for Institutional Peace Studies at Notre Dame.

If you'd like more guided learning, curated tools, or to bring this work into your organization or campus, you can also visit loweinsights.com. That's L-O-W-E, insights, with an S at the end, .com. Or you can connect with me on LinkedIn, I'm at Nashay Lowe and Instagram at Low Insights. And of course, if you enjoyed this episode, I'd be honored if you'd share it with a friend or colleague navigating changes in their lives.

And until next time, stay open, stay grounded, and remember conflict is not a disruption, it's a doorway.