Chief Mediation Officer: One of many ways to imbed the spirit of mediation in your organization

I came across this insightful article yesterday; Enhancing enterprise collaboration: the role of conflict and mediation, posted on Wikinomics.  Authored by Marilyn Davison, it echoed a number of my own thoughts of how organizations can move to a truly collaborative culture, and a few other good ones I hadn’t thought about!

A veteran of organizational development and leadership in the corporate context, Marilyn is currently working with the NGO, Mediators Beyond Borders, preparing for the upcoming Copenhagen Climate Change Conference.  From her involvement with Mediators Beyond Borders, she is struck by how we in the corporate world have so much to learn from how this amazing virtual team of mediators works together.

In her post, Marilyn advocates for organizations to (among other things):

• Continuously learn from ancient peoples and cultures
• Install a Chief Mediation Officer; someone who would become the keystone for building collaboration that is deep and lasting, and for embedding the spirit of mediation into all of the organization’s ventures
• Consider a Mediation Refresh Button as a short refresher program or as the usual part of setting the ground rules for every team/joint venture
• Build diverse (virtual) teams; leading to creative thinking and innovative results
• Conduct mediation skills building, as mediation training integrates many of the practices inherent in organizational learning; e.g., shared vision, systems thinking, personal mastery, mental models, and team learning

As we move toward disruptive innovation in our management practices; the most important need is how to capitalize on the human capital assets of diverse groups of people working together virtually. We can continue to learn from ancient peoples and we can put focus on the fields of collaboration with integral mediation skills and practices.

I look forward to reading more from her, and her Mediation Beyond Borders colleagues, and their observations and experiences at the Copenhagen Conference.

What do you think – would a Chief Mediation Officer work in your organization?

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Photo credit: babasteve
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