Conflict in communication can appear in many ways. In the movie Crash Chapter 7 entitled “Just Cause”. Farhad is a small store owner and Daniel is a locksmith. Farhad hires Daniel to fix the lock on his stores backdoor. When Daniel fixes it he notices that it’s not the lock but the door that needs replacing. He then confronts Farhad the store owner that he fixed the lock but the door needs to be replaced. Farhad assumes that Daniel did not do his job and tells Daniel to just fix the lock. Denial, understanding that Farhad may not have fully understood him decides to emphasize to Farhad that he replaced the lock and that Farhad needs to fix his door. Farhad then asks if Daniel has a friend that replaces doors Daniel tells Farhad that he does not and that Farhad needs to call someone else that fixes doors. Farhad assumes that Daniel is trying to cheat him because even though Daniel replaced the lock but did not fix the door that he did not do his job. Because of the communication display of Farhad toward Daniel, Farhad did not effectively accomplish what he wanted. (Haggis, 2004)
The matter could have been easily handled effectively if Daniel maybe could have used nonverbal communication by showing him what he did and explained that the lock was replaced and that it’s not the lock but, his door that needs to be fixed.
“When you communicate with others, one way to minimize misunderstandings is to increase your awareness of the intentions of your messages and the possible interpretations of your words. In other words, make sure you understand the purpose of your communication and what you are trying to achieve when you communicate. Then pay attention to your word choice and consider how your words might be interpreted by others.” (Sole, 2011., Ch. 4.1, pp. 9)
Haggis, P. (Director). (2004). Crash [Film]. Los Angeles: Bob Yari Productions.