About the time Charlie Irvine was penning his recent post about mediator assistants, a mediation colleague here in New Zealand was saying farewell to his own assistant as he cradled him in his…
According to commentator Rachel Maddow in her book “Drift,” the way the United States goes to war has gradually become more secretive and less democratic. She observes that in the last half century…
Talking to Dr Gilbert Wong
Senior Superintendent, Commanding Officer, Police Negotiation Cadre, Hong Kong
Walking into Gilbert Wong’s office is like stumbling into Aladdin’s Cave – a treasure…
Czech Innovation: "Mediation Assistants"
Fascinating visit to the Czech Republic recently. I was asked to provide the training for a group of ‘mediation assistants’. Never having heard the…
Over the last number of years I have been educating mediators in a variety of settings, professional and academic. In anticipation of a new training venture due to kick off later this year, which…
Many mediations are 80/20 – that is, 80% of the day spent in dialogue and debate with not much sign of movement and, as evening gathers, 20% frenetic activity.
So it is not unusual for the…
I write here about two contrasting experiences which have, for me, underscored the richness of the mediation process.
In one mediation, involving business partners with an ongoing management issue,…
“Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart. Try to love the questions themselves. . . Do not now look for the answers. . . At present you need to live the question.” Rainer…
Earlier this month the Supreme Court of Canada issued its unanimous decision in Union Carbide Canada Inc. v. Bombardier Inc., 2014 SCC 35. The reasons of Mr. Justice Wagner deal with an…
In his now famous Stanford Commencement Address in June 2005, Steve Jobs remarked: "Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices…
