Q. 1 Pinto must find a way to deal with the on-going conflict between Lovas and Bennett.
Using Crucial Confrontations, create a plan for Pinto.
The common goal for the team, as well as intra-group dynamics, has been lost in the process of creating the prototype. The conflict between Lovas and Bennett, two lead engineers with very different personalities and communication styles, and thus, two protagonists, is not in their abilities or capabilities, but in their styles. To decide how to confront the situation in hand, Pinto must think CPR: Content, Patter, and Relationship. In addition, he must consider the Six Sources of Influence.
My suggestion to Pinto would be to start with the finding the issues of what exactly he is going to confront: the absence of mutual respect between the two high-profile engineers on the team, the lack of a clear mutual purpose, great deal of competitiveness, and a lack of compromise and collaboration, plus, a very poor communication practices within the team.
In order to confront the absence of mutual respect and establish a mutual purpose, Pinto should plan to have a meeting with just Bennett and Lovas, rather than use a group meeting to do so. When Pinto defined accountability, he gave each member a separate task, except for Lovas and Bennett. Pinto should re-define the accountability and give Bennett and Lovas individual tasks where they can complement each other, rather than work separately on the same task, which, in itself, creates an unhealthy competition in the team. As Bennett is being a more creative and a high risk engineer and Lovas is a more “conservative” in his risk aversion and a steady, solid approach, they could easily complement each other.
Ultimately, Pinto is looking for his team to succeed, which is not likely when two most senior members are at odds, and the rest of the group is feeling the strain. Pinto