Be it resolved: We value our relationship over the agreement
Image courtesy of USEmbMalta on Flickr Congratulations. You resolved your differences. You settled your dispute and reached agreement on how to move forward. What happens though when something goes wrong down the road? What will pull you through, sustain you…. the strength of your relationship or the terms of agreement? Navigate from the Future Agreements [...]
U Connect: The Art of Making Connections to Resolve Disputes
I published my 2nd e-book this week, on Amazon. It’s titled: U Connect: The Art of Making Connections to Resolve Disputes. It’s a consolidation of some my observations, along with insights I’ve culled from others, around “making connections”. Here’s the Table of Contents and here’s the Introduction section: “Disputes happen. How do we respond? One [...]
Ken Kelly: Connecting Communities in Downtown Victoria
Like any city centre, downtown Victoria is a place where people from different communities intersect; residential, visitor, business, service, cultural… Each community is diverse. Residents may be living in high-end condos or in short-term residence at Our Place. Visitors include tourists, local shoppers, and the transient homeless. Businesses range from big bank office to small, [...]
CIIAN: Helping Nations build their conflict resolution capacity
I had a great long-distance conversation with Evan Hoffman this week. Based in Ottawa, he is Executive Director of the Canadian International Institute of Applied Negotiation (CIIAN), a Canadian NGO, as well as being a Faculty member with the School of Peace and Conflict Management at Royal Roads University. Initially connecting with Evan through Twitter [...]
It’s a Mediator’s World
I spent yesterday in Vancouver, at an all-day gathering with my court mediation colleagues. Part information sharing, part community building, always a learning experience… these types of get-together I really enjoy. There were a number of presenters during the day. I was one of them, on the topic of Collaborating on Business Development. That was [...]
The Future Value of Increased Collaboration
It’s a wondrous world. Just finished Michael Ondaatje’s book about his conversations with the seminal film editor, Walter Murch, The Conversations: Walter Murch and the Art of Editing Film. A companion to Murch’s own book, In the Blink of an Eye. Two books; each shedding new light on my understanding of “collaboration”. In my previous [...]
Culture Clash for Innovation
I’m reading The Conversations: Walter Murch and the Art of Editing Film by Michael Ondaatje. I got introduced to this book by local filmmaker Mandy Leith, one of the presenters at the recent Wired Words symposium I attended, in Victoria. Murch is one of the 20th century’s great film editors, having worked on many classics; [...]
On being unconditionally constructive
The bible of interest-based conflict resolution may be well be Fisher, Ury & Patton’s book, Getting to Yes. I’d be surprised if there is a mediator (Western world, anyways) who is not familiar with it. At the heart of Getting to Yes is the message: “be unconditionally constructive” when it comes to negotiating resolution to [...]
Diversity: A pathway to connection, common ground and innovation
Diversity is a hallmark of innovative teams. One of the best ways to expand your own problem-solving capabilities is to diversify; apply a different lens, different perspective, to the problem. Traditional pathways If you’re a facilitator, you know how to build bridges between people’s differences, find common ground, as a stepping stone to joint solutions [...]
Neighbourhood Gifts
It was my neighbourhood association’s annual Streetfest last weekend. Excellent turnout. People connecting. Conversation. Having fun. No rain! And, gifts galore… locals sharing their time, talents, and community spirit. Many of those things that make for a healthy neighbourhood were there, all orchestrated by neighbours, volunteering, including: Food; donated, baked, cornucopia Music; DJ, musicians, musical [...]
