Three people negotiating at a table

Soon after I started mediating, a client said “This must be a really satisfying job, when it’s successful.” I remember thinking it’s really satisfying even when it isn’t. This was my first glimpse of a question that has fascinated me ever since: what makes mediators tick? Why would anyone place themselves in midst of other…

    For the past 2 weeks I have been teaching an intensive postgraduate class on interest-based negotiation. Most of the group were international students who, until now, had been undertaking their studies online and in their own countries. Despite this country’s reputation as a safe place many were finding Australia and Australian ways difficult…

In 2017, I wrote one of my most read articles on Kluwer: Elementary my dear Watson! At that time, artificial intelligence (AI) had already invaded our lives and much was being discussed about its potential to replace human beings. In my article, I wondered about the possibility of AI replacing the mediator. And the answer,…

“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players” In his ‘untold history’ – “The Earth Transformed” Peter Frankopan charts the way in which the natural environment has shaped human history and more recently how humankind has in turn begun to influence the natural environment. In his conclusion he builds on…

Repetition works. It is a passive, effective tool of persuasion. It features heavily in the online marketing of programs for business leaders and, (as I am reminded as I endure another round of  parliamentary elections in my country) in the fear-inducing speeches of politicians desperate to avoid an election loss. A Google search of ‘The…

  This week the facilitator of a conflict resolution group to which I belong posed  this question: ‘What is the greatest challenge currently facing us?’ My answer came quickly – the threat of hyper-polarization in an increasingly dangerous world. It was not particularly original or insightful of me – hyper-polarization seems to feature constantly in…

This article was prepared by Christian-Radu Chereji and Constantin-Adi Gavrilă. Peter Drucker once famously said, “the only definition of a leader is someone who has followers“. While we do agree that Peter Drucker is a magnificent thinker and writer, his definition sounds a bit too simplistic. The followers are an important “ingredient” to leadership, but…

This month´s article was written together with Emmanuela Cipriano, University Professor and Doctoral Student at the University of Fortaleza, Collaborative Lawyer and Conflict Mediator Talking about a Culture of Peace nowadays is a challenge and implementing a culture of peace in different spaces is essential to reduce the escalation of conflicts, we are faced with…

The world of mediation today is far from the embryonic world I joined in the late 1980s. It has been wonderful to be part of the journey. From time to time there are major ‘disruptions’ – the exploration of mandatory mediation in some jurisdictions; the debates over definitions and enforceability and most recently the impact…

I recently had the pleasure of taking part in a workshop led by William Ury in which small teams of participants were invited to apply his BB3 framework to challenging situations they were confronting. BB3 brings together a number of ideas and approaches that Ury has contributed to the field of mediation and negotiation over…