The day after Labor Day is a good time to reflect on your labors of love. You work hard to take care of your family: You labor to take care of their financial needs. You juggle to make time for the things that matter to them. You strive to keep them safe. You know that […]
Read more...Last week, the New York Times published an article by Jane E. Brody titled “Frank Talk About Care at Life’s End.” The article covered some of the thorny issues surrounding “the medical, humanitarian and economic value of helping terminally ill patients and and their families navigate treatment options as they approach the end of life.” […]
Read more...The upcoming “direct talks” in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process are in the news. Some stories reference “mediators”, some “negotiators”, some “diplomats”. So what’s in a name? Does it matter what the people are called? In these high profile situations, it seems at times that the connotation of a word can mean as much as the […]
Read more...A few days ago, NPR’s “Morning Edition” ran a story called “Tourists Seek Real Berlin on Bridge, Find Controversy.” As reporter Eric Westervelt summed it up, the residents who live near the bridge want a good night’s sleep and a better plan to manage the city’s “growing tourist industry and the local conflicts that success […]
Read more...We don’t always think of Russia as a nation with a strong emphasis on enlightened dispute resolution processes or a desire to craft conflict resolution procedures that embody respect and equality for participants. So, a recent online article in “The Voice of Russia” caught my eye. According to the July 30, 2010 article, a new […]
Read more...TV pilots cover a wide range of topics; some reach production and some don’t. One that caught my eye actually involves mediation. Backstage.com describes it this way: Facing Kate (Drama, USA Network) A top litigator, frustrated with the bureaucracy and injustice she witnesses in the legal system, decides to become the ultimate anti-lawyer: a mediator. […]
Read more...Last time, I wrote about a New York Times article, by John Schwartz, “More Delicate Diplomacy for the Overseer of the Compensation Fund,” describing Kenneth Feinberg’s recent swing through Louisiana in his work as administrator of the BP claims fund. Feinberg’s work is often described as that of a mediator, which may be in a […]
Read more...In yesterday’s New York Times, John Schwartz’s article, “More Delicate Diplomacy for the Overseer of the Compensation Fund,” described Kenneth Feinberg’s swing through Louisiana. Feinberg is handling the BP compensation fund, in much the same way as he has done before, following the 9/11 attacks and various mass tort situations. As the article notes, even […]
Read more...It seems a natural instinct for some (most?) people to try to avoid conflict. They will excuse bad behavior, wait for things to get better on their own (with no real reason for a bad situation to improve), engage in denial, learn to live with it,make unreasonable compromises, etc., etc. Rarely does conflict avoidance lead […]
Read more...As I wrote about last time, last week I had the pleasure of participating in a daylong Summer Institute program presented by the New England Chapter of the Association for Conflict Resolution (NE-ACR). We were treated to a rich day of skills building from StageCoach improv. Specifically, we were part of their Conflict Resolution Interactive […]
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