It is helpful to describe conflict in terms of metaphors. I share three metaphors below.
1. Conflict as a tree
The roots refer to the root causes, the stem is the problem, and the foliage is the effects.
2. Conflict as an iceberg
The tip of the iceberg is the conflict that you see an experience, that accounts only about 10% of the iceberg. The rest, which lies burred underneath refers to the hidden causes of conflict.
3. Conflict as an earthquake (epicenter and focus)
The Epicenter and Focus (hypocenter) of an Earthquake: The epicenter is the place on Earth’s surface directly above the focus (or hypocenter) where the earthquake happened. In other words, the epicenter is the location on the surface of the Earth directly above where the earthquake starts. Focus (aka Hypocenter) is the location in the Earth where the earthquake starts. When it comes to conflict, we often see what is on the surface, akin to the epicenter, but the focus of the conflict, like the focus of an earthquake lies deep beneath the surface.