Conflict, Europe, Governments/Public Sector, Negotiation, peace negotiations, Russia, Ukraine, Uncategorized, Violence

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It was Thursday, February 24th, 2022. From the morning, I had been mediating a dispute between a grandfather and two of his granddaughters. Then, during the break, I switched on my phone and read the news. Very shocking news. As a person that has spent all his professional life bringing peace and understanding to the…

Book Review, Causes of Conflict, Communication, Conflict, Cross-cultural, Dispute Resolution, Language, Memory and Illusions, Negotiation, peace negotiations, Perception

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List of Must-Read Books for Every Negotiator Let me introduce you to my new project. I would like to put together a list of five books every negotiator must-read. And when doing this, I do not have in mind works directly related to negotiation and/or mediation such as Getting to Yes by Roger D. Fisher…

Cognitive Bias, Communication, Dialogue, Experience, Mediation Skills, Negotiation, Skills

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In theory, we expect the parties’ opening statements to be swift, persuasive and forceful. At least, this is what I teach my students in ADR classes. In my mediation room, sadly, this occurs rather sporadically. The communication at the table is, unfortunately, not faultless. I guess every mediator has witnessed long, ambiguous monologue instead of…

China, COVID-19, Europe, Future of mediation, Leadership, Mediation and Society, Neuroscience, Perception, The role of the mediator

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Early in the morning, I got a call from a lawyer representing one of the parties in cross border mediation. “Would you consider changing the venue for our meeting?”, he asked. Usually not a surprising demand. This time an expected one. We were about to meet in Milan, Italy which at the time being had…

Cognitive Bias, Creativity, Decision making, Efficiency, History of mediation, Mistakes, Philosophy, Planning, Practical Challenges for Mediators, Reflective Practice, Settlement Agreements, Stories, The role of the mediator, Understanding mediation, War Stories

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At a certain point, when another offer was denied, one of the managers showed a real disappointment with the hard negotiation approach presented by the other party: “You know what?! I lost my patience. I will not sit here any further… I will ask my lawyer to finish the formalities and let’s see each other…

ADR, Decision making, Efficiency, Feedback, Future of mediation, General, Mediation as a business, mediation as a career, Mediation Outcomes, Mediation Practice, Mentoring, Mistakes, Social intelligence, Tips

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“The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” – Winston Churchill Improving Habit of Thinking The popular quote attributed to the former British prime minister is easily adaptable to mediation. The optimistic mediator considers the mediated settlement probable and helps the parties by spreading the friendly and promising…

ADR, Apologies, Bias, Communication, Conflict, Dialogue, Mediation as a business, Mediation Outcomes, Mediation Practice, Research, Skills, Social intelligence, Success in mediation

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You are usually at a disadvantage for you will take over the boat in midst of the conflict storm without having the chance to prepare the crew and to check on the ship. Yet you are charged to navigate the vessel through all perils of misunderstandings, mistrust, and perceptions. It takes time to make sure…

ADR, Feedback, mediation as a career, Memory and Illusions, Negotiation, Preparation, Reflective practise, Training

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The old guy smiled. His old Corsican eyes showed some understanding…: “How much do you have?” -“I have a ten euro bill and we are leaving tomorrow…” – “OK, boy, deal…but no receipt, right?” Not understanding the shadow economy at the time, I accepted without knowing why is he not willing to give me a…

ADR, Business, Disclosure, Due Process, Europe, European Law

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In the house of a poor man, a lizard was accustomed to come to the table and thereby kept himself alive on crumbs. During this time, everything went well with both the animal and the host whose fortune grew. When the farmer became rich, he became angry at the beast. One morning, he wounded it…

ADR, Appointment of Mediators, Bias, Decision making, Disclosure, Due Process, Ethics, Mediation Practice, Mentoring, Neutrality, Stories, Trust

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In one of my recent cases, the question of impartiality appeared in quite an irregular way. It happened when I entered the mediation room where both parties were seated together with their lawyers. They were drinking coffee and making small talk. To my surprise, one of the lawyers looked quite familiar. Just for a moment,…