Agricultural, Creativity and the Mediator’s Craft
Paulo Coehlo My earliest years were spent on a farm. My dad was a farmer. In their own way, farmers are experts in relationships and sustainability. And so when I read a blog post last week on agriculture and creativity, penned by the renowned writer (and blogger, too!), Paulo Coelho, immediately my mind resurfaced strong [...]
Are you ready for the unexpected?
How do you respond when someone throws a wrench into your day? Here’s how one classical musician responded, after a Nokia ring tone went off in the middle of his performance… (thanks to my local fiddler/composer friend, Paul Gitlitz, for bringing this to my attention). (If the video not displaying, click here) I found this [...]
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 [...]
10 Holiday Gift Book Ideas for the “Mediator” in Your Life
I enjoy reading books. They are a safe way to explore the ideas and works of others. And, a really good book is inspiring. It seems to connect on a personal and emotional level; a connection that can motivate one to further thought and action. Here are ten of the books I read in 2011, [...]
I “don’t know” and I’m going to run with that
I felt crappy even before the face-to-face mediation began, this week. Fighting some seasonal bug, I was hoping the mediation would be a short one, no matter the outcome, and I would soon be on my way home, to a hot apple cider and a bed. It was not a short one. Yet, what kept [...]
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 [...]
Grandmothers and Collaborative Learning
[Note: I originally wrote this post, and had it posted a couple of months back, as a guest blogger on Lorie Vela’s excellent Collaboration Ideas blog. Thanks Lorie. With children shortly returning to school, and parents, and others, occupied by thoughts of "good learning", I thought it might be timely to post it again, here.] [...]
10 Dispute Resolution Questions asked by a Rainbow Mediator
There are many ways to resolve disputes. Do a quick global tour of the dispute resolution landscape, and you’ll see just how many. It’s as if there is a rainbow of options. The rainbow mediator acknowledges the diverse approaches to resolution, and incorporates key elements into her/his practice. Kind of a think global, act local. [...]
Reduce the gap: Integrate thinking and doing
Sometimes the gap between people seems so big that no common ground exists, no collaborative solution possible. Sort of like the current gap between U.S. Democrat and Republican politicians, negotiating the national debt? Or maybe the gap in a project team, in which teamwork is just a notion? Or, maybe the gap between businesses, or [...]
11 Reasons why Grandmothers are good Mediators
Let’s leave our dispute resolution “expertise” aside for a moment. If I had to package up the skills that a mediator, or anyone tasked with facilitating negotiations, would do well to have, that package might surely remind you of a grandmother you know, or knew. Here’s why: Grandmothers are good at seeing the positive “core” [...]
