A lot happens on the edges. As we get close to the far edge of our life, it’s an opportunity to look back, and reflect on what happened, and be true to oneself. Listening and interacting with older people (older than me, anyways) or my elders, as I prefer to relate to them, can be […]
Circles: In Life and Death
November 5, 2011 by · 5 Comments
We gathered in concentric circles, like the rings on a tree that show its age, in a small community hall this week, to sing songs that celebrated our friend, who had just died. With those in the innermost circle leading the songs, we sang together, folk favourites of the deceased. Combined with other remembrances, food, […]
2 Dispute Resolution Conferences that got my attention last week
November 2, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
You need not leave your home to attend a conference these days. Yet, attending a conference, in-person, has its benefits. I had the best of both worlds last week. On the virtual front, I participated in a few of the sessions offered at Cyberweek 2011, a week long series of webinars and discussion forums, featuring […]
Aging and The Joys of Mostly Good Enough
October 24, 2011 by · 2 Comments
In a world of be all you can be, I’m getting more comfortable with being, mostly good enough. There is a rhythm to life. Why fight it. Go with the flow, I tell myself. Maybe this inclination is nothing more than a gut feeling. A feeling based on 5.6 decades of being, alterations to the body, […]
Just Enough: Reframing the Paradox of Social Media
October 21, 2011 by · 4 Comments
Reframing is about changing the game. It’s about how we describe a conflict. There is no shortage of buzz about a personal conflict many of us wrestle with, our struggle to maintain attention, focus, in a world of digital busyness, the world of social media. Social media is a paradox. On the one hand, it […]
It's a mediator's world
October 18, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
I spent yesterday in Vancouver, at an all-day gathering with my court mediation colleagues. Part information sharing, part community building, always a learning experience… these types of get-together I really enjoy. There were a number of presenters during the day. I was one of them, on the topic of Collaborating on Business Development. That was […]
Henri Lock: Community Connector
October 13, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
For most students attending university, it is a time of great personal exploration. It was for me. Henri Lock helps university students with their internal explorations. He also helps them connect their personal passions, interests, values to opportunities in the external world; of people, work, causes, organizations, Henri is United Church Chaplain at the University […]
The Future Value of Increased Collaboration
October 11, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
It’s a wondrous world. Just finished Michael Ondaatje’s book about his conversations with the seminal film editor, Walter Murch, The Conversations: Walter Murch and the Art of Editing Film. A companion to Murch’s own book, In the Blink of an Eye. Two books; each shedding new light on my understanding of collaboration. In my previous […]
Culture Clash for Innovation
October 8, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Im reading The Conversations: Walter Murch and the Art of Editing Film by Michael Ondaatje. I got introduced to this book by local filmmaker Mandy Leith, one of the presenters at the recent Wired Words symposium I attended, in Victoria. Murch is one of the 20th centurys great film editors, having worked on many classics; […]
On being unconditionally constructive
October 4, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
The bible of interest-based conflict resolution may be well be Fisher, Ury & Patton’s book, Getting to Yes. I’d be surprised if there is a mediator (Western world, anyways) who is not familiar with it. At the heart of Getting to Yes is the message: be unconditionally constructive when it comes to negotiating resolution to […]
