Mediation and Society

Commercial Mediation, Community Mediation, Developing the Field, Domestic Courts, Europe, Future of mediation, Mediation Act, Mediation and Society, Mediation Practice, Mediation Reforms (Legislation, etc.), Mediation Schemes (In Courts, etc.), Mediation Users/Clients, Neuroscience, Opt-Out, Promoting Mediation, Public Policy, Reform, Regulation, Scotland, The role of the mediator, Uncategorized

(Core Solutions Group)/ /2 Comments

Being a mediator brings surprises along the way. For me, I was presented with what turned out to be the biggest challenge of my professional career last November when the Cabinet Secretary for Health in Scotland appointed me to conduct a review of allegations made by staff (through whistle-blowers) of bullying and harassment in Scotland’s…

ADR, Brexit, Developing the Field, Dispute Resolution, Future of mediation, Impasse, Mediation and Society, Negotiation

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“In negotiations of all kinds, the greater your capacity for empathy – the more carefully you try to understand all of the other side’s motivations, interests and constraints – the more options you tend to have for potentially resolving the dispute or deadlock.” These are wise words from negotiation guru, Deepak Malhotra of Harvard Business…

ADR, Conventional wisdom, Court Procedure and Litigation, Developing the Field, Domestic Courts, Growth of the Field (Challenges, New Sectors, etc.), Legal Issues, Litigation, Mediation and Society, Mediation Practice, mediation process, Mediation Schemes (In Courts, etc.), Practical Challenges for Mediators, Scotland, Stories, Uncategorized, Understanding mediation

(University of Strathclyde)/ /1 Comment
Formality and informality

Place matters It’s good to see authors on this blog referencing academic research – see Rick Weiler’s recent post on decision-making. Similarly, a new chapter by Singapore judicial mediator Dorcas Quek Anderson (1) has got me thinking about the old chestnut of formality and informality. Anderson considers the impact on people and processes of the…

Developing the Field, Dialogue, Mediation and Society, Personal Development, Promoting Mediation, Reflective Practice, Skills, Training, Workplace

(Bond & Bond Mediation / University of Wildau )/ /Leave a comment

Last week I was reading an essay by the American novelist Jonathan Franzen, and was struck by the following thought: “The essay’s roots are in literature, and literature at its best […] invites you to ask whether you might be somewhat wrong, maybe even entirely wrong, and to imagine why someone else might hate you.”…

Causes of Conflict, Creativity, Dialogue, Economics, Efficiency, Interests, Leadership, Mediation and Society, Public Policy

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We are living in an every expanding web of interdependence; built around trade, investment, cultural exchange, digital technologies, and global politics. In such an environment effective cooperation is an ever more crucial. Yet alongside this need there are equally strong drivers spurring on ever more competition for resources, markets, talent etc.  Both cooperation and competition…

Cognitive Bias, Communication, Community Mediation, Creativity, Dialogue, Joint Sessions, Mediation and Society, Philosophy, Teamwork, Uncategorized, user perspectives

(Core Solutions Group / Scottish Universities Insight Institute)/ /Leave a comment

Julian Baggini’s recently published book “How the world thinks” is a history of global philosophy, looking at how thinking has developed in different places and times. In the introduction he highlights the importance of not just seeing something from another’s perspective, but trying to see what they are seeing as well. As he puts it:…

Developing the Field, Europe, Future of mediation, Germany, Growth of the Field (Challenges, New Sectors, etc.), Mediation and Society, Mediation Outcomes, Neutrality, Philosophy, Policy, Public Policy, Reflective Practice, Scotland, The role of the mediator, Ukraine, Uncategorized, Understanding mediation

(Core Solutions Group)/ /2 Comments

At a recent excellent conference hosted by Professor Ulla Glaesser at Viadrina University in Frankfurt (Oder), one of the workshop sessions focussed on the extent to which mediators can or should disclose or express their views when engaged in politically-related mediation work – or more generally. What a fascinating conversation we had. It was no…

Causes of Conflict, Communication, Dialogue, Economics, Governments/Public Sector, Mediation and Society, Negotiation, United States

(Core Solutions Group / Scottish Universities Insight Institute)/ /Leave a comment

When I first started getting seriously interested in mediation over ten years ago, the thought struck me that ‘Shades of Grey’ might be a good name for an organisation involved in this field. Thankfully, given a subsequent publication and film, I didn’t pursue it any further – although if I’d registered the domain name it…

Causes of Conflict, Economics, Future of mediation, Mediation and Society, Public Policy, Skills, Uncategorized

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A good friend of mine was recently surprised to see a robot cutting the grass around a well-known landmark in Edinburgh. Coincidentally this was around the same time as I came across a speech given by Adair Turner in April this year entitled “Capitalism in the age of robots: work, income and wealth in the…

Bias, Cognitive Bias, Commercial Mediation, Decision making, Developing the Field, Dispute Resolution, Future of mediation, Mediation and Society, Mediation Practice, mediation process, Mediators’ Conduct, Neuroscience, peace negotiations, Personal Development, Policy, Practical Challenges for Mediators, Promoting Mediation, Public Policy, Reflective Practice, Scotland, shuttle mediation, Skills, Social intelligence, Success in mediation, The role of the mediator, Tips, Transformation, Trust, Uncategorized, Understanding mediation

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“I’ve been trying to tell you, but you didn’t listen. You’ve got to go down more deeply and take more time, you’re rushing it and it’s too superficial. You’re hardly disturbing the surface. You’ll make no progress that way. And you are using so much effort. Relax. When you get into difficulty, you are expending…