Conflict...Talk About It, Part 1

It’s a big decision. Talk about it.

That’s the bottom line message of the most recent United States Military marketing campaign, which is titled “Conversations”.

I recently flipped to the page in a magazine, and read the following:

“Your daughter wants to enlist in the Military. You want her to go to college. Is this the end of the conversation? Or the beginning?”

Similar advertising is found on television and on the web, depicting parents having discussions about military service with their recruitment-age children. Officials with the Department of Defense’s Joint Advertising, Market Research and Studies program believe the marketing campaign accurately reflects conversations that are taking place in homes across America.

Of interest to me is that the marketing campaign presumes a few things:

1. The consideration of joining the military is a source of conflict.
2. Parents are important decision makers in their children’s consideration of joining the military.
3. Parents don’t know all the facts about military service.
4. If parents and children have a frank and honest discussion about military service based on facts, then everybody has won, regardless of the final decision.

In Part 2 of this post, I will examine these presumptions and tell you how you can apply the themes of the military’s marketing campaign to conflict management in your own life.