I dreamed the world had all agreed to put an end to war. The lines are from Ed McCurdy’s song Last night I had the strangest dream. Written in 1950, this classic anti-war song continues to inspire and give hope to those in the peace movement. McCurdy was an American folk singer, songwriter, and television […]
A few random questions about mediation: Any answers?
July 25, 2010 by · 4 Comments
Here`s a few random questions related to mediation that have recently come to my mind. Hey, it’s summertime… the mind wanders. Did the modern mediation movement come out of the Quaker tradition? This was a question posed by J Nyden in response to this post on Peter Phillip’s Business Conflict blog. Is web TV the […]
Constructive Conflict: Revisiting the genius of Mary Parker Follett
July 11, 2010 by · 3 Comments
Last month, my collaborative-minded web friend, John Folk-Williams, introduced us to Mary Parker Follett, in this article on his excellent blog Cross Collaborate. Among the living humans from 1868-1933, her insights reflected a brilliant mind, systems thinking, and in retrospect, are visionary. I was totally intrigued, and so I followed up… First, I procured […]
Haliburton Community Farm: A collaborative model worth emulating
June 27, 2010 by · 1 Comment
We need more places like Haliburton Farm. Last month, I partook in a farm tour, dinner and conversation there. This week I visited this local farm to chat a bit more with Elmarie Roberts, one of the farmers working the property. Our conversation reinforced my view that Haliburton Farm is a powerful, collaborative community model […]
4 Factors that are reshaping the world of conflict resolution
June 20, 2010 by · Leave a Comment
From my feeds (RSS, Twitter), I’ve recently come across some interesting goings on in the world of conflict/dispute resolution. And as much of it jives with my own experience and take on resolving conflicts, I thought I’d summarize, with a few examples, what I see as key factors impacting the practice of conflict resolution, going […]
The Magic Relationship Ratio
June 12, 2010 by · 4 Comments
In relationships, accentuate the positive. Negative interactions have more clout than positive interactions. It is not a balanced equation. You need to have many positive interactions for each negative interaction, if you want a healthy, sustainable relationship! Relationship expert John Gottman sees each of our daily interactions with another person as bids for connection. By […]
11 Good reasons to support your community dance
June 6, 2010 by · 1 Comment
While we’re investing in building and nurturing collaborative habits, let’s not forget that many tight-knit communities have learned, survived, and prospered, by working AND playing together. So, let me suggest something for the playing, community dancing. 11 reasons why I’m a big fan of traditional, community-oriented music and dance. I previously shared my reasons why […]
