Conflict and Culture Lab
Hard Questions. Practical Inquiry.
The Certitude Conflict & Culture Lab is a practice-led initiative exploring some of the hardest unresolved questions in workplace conflict — and developing practical ideas, tools, and approaches to help organizations respond better.
Why This Work Matters
Workplace conflict is complex, costly, and deeply human. Yet some of the most consequential decisions organizations make about conflict are still made with limited data, imperfect tools, and unanswered questions.
The Lab explores three connected questions:
How can we better measure, understand, and allocate resources to workplace conflict?
How can we improve professional judgment, reasoning, and neutrality in high-stakes conflict decisions?
How can better-designed conflict processes improve intervention, recovery, and organizational learning?
How Participation Works
Participation is selective and theme-based. The Lab brings together senior Human Resources leaders to explore emerging conflict issues, compare approaches, and translate practical insight into better responses that protect trust, accountability, and culture.
What Participants Can Expect
- Senior-level peer conversations
- Access to research and emerging trends
- Opportunities to shape Lab themes and topics
- Visibility through published Lab insights
- Select paid collaboration opportunities
Current Areas of Inquiry
The Economics of Conflict
How can organizations budget, forecast, and allocate resources for something as messy and unpredictable as workplace conflict? We explore the hidden costs, useful metrics, and investment decisions that shape when and how organizations respond.
Judgment, Neutrality and Reasoning
How consistent is professional judgment when reasonable people can assess the same facts differently? Through the Reasoning Gap project, we explore neutrality, reasoning, and decision-making across fact-finding, policy analysis, and the consequential decisions that follow.
Human-Centred Conflict Design
How can Human-Centred Design improve workplace conflict processes? We explore how mapping the emotional trajectories of people in conflict can reveal process gaps and support more timely, effective, and impactful interventions.
Repair, Recovery and Organizational Learning
What helps a workplace recover after conflict? We explore how organizations rebuild trust, restore working relationships, learn from difficult events, and turn the aftermath of conflict into better systems, stronger practices, and reduced future risk.
Current
Areas of Inquiry
Interested in joining a future Lab conversation, receiving Lab insights, suggesting a topic, or contributing perspective?
Use the form below to let us know which themes are most relevant to your work.