Skills

Communication, Conflict, Developing the Field, Dispute Resolution, Future of mediation, International Mediation, Mediation Outcomes, Mediation Practice, Negotiation, Practical Challenges for Mediators, Public Policy, Reform, Scotland, Skills, Transformation, Uncategorized

(Core Solutions Group)/ /1 Comment

This week, I have had the genuine privilege of contributing one of the key note addresses at the Annual Conference of the Arbitrators and Mediators Institute of New Zealand (AMINZ) in Wellington. It has been a terrific conference, superbly organized by the indefatigable Deborah Hart. The standard of the many and diverse sessions has been…

Communication, Decision making, Dispute Resolution, Ethics, General, Skills, Social intelligence

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“The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that’s the essence of inhumanity.” The Devil’s Disciple, Act II (1901). G B Shaw I ended my previous blog post [http://kluwermediationblog.com/2015/05/26/the-mediator-as-ethicist/] by saying that there were a couple of aspects of ethics and mediation – beyond the…

Efficiency, Skills, Success in mediation, Training, Young Mediators

(Ulrich Mediation)/ /1 Comment
Young Mediators Initiative (YMI)

Given the rapid expansion of the mediation field over the past several decades, an increasingly important question for young and aspiring mediators is whether it is worth the time and/or money to invest in what are, in many cases, quite extensive mediation and dispute resolution training programs that have popped up around the world. Common…

Communication, Conflict, Decision making, Developing the Field, Memory and Illusions, Negotiation, Neuroscience, short term memory, Skills, Tips

(Singapore International Dispute Resolution Academy)/ /Leave a comment

Is it true that as we get older, we tend to forget things more easily? Or is it that some things are just less important? As negotiators and mediators, we often deal with complex layers of information that appear all too much for any one person to recall. So we enter the negotiation room burdened…

ADR, Book Review, Business, Causes of Conflict, Clients, Cognitive Bias, Commercial Mediation, Communication, Conflict, Conventional wisdom, Creativity, Decision making, Developing the Field, Future of mediation, General, Improvisation, Language, Mediation Practice, Mediation Users/Clients, Neuroscience, Policy, Scotland, Skills, Stories, Success in mediation, Tips, Training, Uncategorized

(Core Solutions Group)/ /1 Comment

It’s funny how one thing leads to another. Regular Kluwer blogger Ian Macduff posted a great blog earlier this week on the importance of asking questions. That reminded me that I had intended to get hold of a book by Edgar Schein entitled “Humble Inquiry: The Gentle Art of Asking Instead of Telling”. So, I…

Communication, Conciliation, Conflict, crisis negotiatons, Decision making, Dispute Resolution, Neutrality, Not-for-Profit Organizations (NGO), peace negotiations, Skills, Transformation, Young Mediators

(Paul Whittle Commercial Mediation)/ /Leave a comment
Young Mediators Initiative (YMI)

Abraham path was the idea of William Ury and his Harvard colleagues. The idea was to follow in the footsteps of Abraham which is the origin story of the Middle East. The origin story can be phrased: ‘4,000 years ago, a man and his family walked across the Middle East, and the world has never…

Causes of Conflict, Conflict, Developing the Field, Instinct, mediation as a career, Mediation Practice, Practical Challenges for Mediators, Scotland, Skills, Tips, Uncategorized, Understanding mediation

(University of Strathclyde)/ /Leave a comment

(This is the final part of a keynote address to the YMCA Conference “From Reactions to Relations” in Burton on Trent on 20 November 2014.) Having considered what we can’t help noticing about our clients and about conflict I now turn to the tricky business of self-knowledge: what has our unique perspective at the heart…

Bias, Cognitive Bias, Communication, General, mediation as a career, Memory and Illusions, Mentoring, Perception, Skills, Social Media, Uncategorized, Young Mediators

(Mediator & peace seeker)/ /Leave a comment
Young Mediators Initiative (YMI)

If you haven’t been living under a rock, you may have seen this recent meme in late February that got the internet buzzing with debate. A badly lit photo of a dress spread like wildfire with some people seeing it as white and gold, while others as black and blue. If you haven’t seen it,…

Commercial Mediation, Deal Mediation, Dispute Resolution, Employment, Ethics, Europe, Family Mediation, Future of mediation, General, Governments/Public Sector, Greece, Growth of the Field (Challenges, New Sectors, etc.), History of mediation, Interests, Ireland, Joint Sessions, Language, Lawyers, Legal Issues, mediation as a career, Mediation Lawyering, mediation models, Mediation Outcomes, Mediation Practice, mediation traditions, Mediation Users/Clients, Mediators’ Conduct, Memory and Illusions, Neuroscience, Nigeria, Particular Sectors (e.g. Construction, Banking, etc.), peace negotiations, Planning, Policy, Practical Challenges for Mediators, Public Policy, Reform, Scotland, Settlement Agreements, Skills, Sport, Stages of mediation, Standards, Success in mediation, Switzerland, Tactics, Transformation, Trust, UN and International Organizations, Uncategorized, Understanding mediation, Workplace

(Core Solutions Group)/ /1 Comment

I was all set to write about climate change and, more particularly, to reflect on some excellent writing on that subject which addresses so-called climate change sceptics or deniers. It seems to me that there is much to be learned about the motivations and psychology which affect such people and which can easily be read…

Business, Causes of Conflict, Commercial Mediation, Communication, Conflict, Costs in Mediation, Decision making, Developing the Field, Dispute Resolution, Future of mediation, General, Improvisation, Interests, Joint Sessions, Mediation Agreement, Mediation Outcomes, Mediation Practice, Mediators’ Conduct, Negotiation, Neuroscience, Scotland, Skills, Sport, Stories, Success in mediation, Uncategorized

(Core Solutions Group)/ /6 Comments

As 2014 comes to an end, it is good to reflect. How privileged many of us are. I often remark to others that my “job” is better than “real work”. What do I mean when I say that? As mediators, we have an extraordinary window through which we view life, other people and what happens…