In my Culinary Management class the students and I were exploring strategies for addressing conflict. There are five strategies according to our textbook. We call them the three c's an two a's to make them easier to remember: collaboration, compromise, competition, accommodation, and avoidance. Each has its advantages and disadvantages - except collaboration, which is a win-win.
I've taught this same topic about a dozen times and a realization settled in this quarter. Competition and avoidance, two of the weakest strategies, when combined are passive aggressiveness. You make a challenging statement or action and then you runaway so that there is no opportunity for discussion. It is like a yapping dog that runs behind he bushes when you get close.
