CHAPTER 12 Time ime is a gift. It is your friend. In a smartphone and social net- working crazed world, a world that is driven by instant messages and immediate access, this idea defies all logic. What could pos- sibly be useful about taking time in dealing with conflict? We don't have time for that! T Patience Is a Virtue When we talk about time in the context of a conflict, we are mostly talk- ing about patience. Here is an example: In January, my company com- pleted work on a project for one of our favorite clients. Back in the office, after a job well done--the client agreed on that--we submitted an invoice. Just like we always do. The phone rang in March. "So sorry, there has been a mix-up with the contracting vehicle; it's going to take us a couple more weeks to sort this out." We are now well into the mid- dle of May--those bare branches of winter were in the full green leaf of spring--and we still had not been paid. Somewhere in the maze of cubi- 181 American Management Association · www.amanet.org