Compassion is an attitude. It’s principled and consistent concern for another. It’s about putting yourself in someone else’s shoes, feeling their pain, as though it where your own, and entering generously into their point of view. It’s not about pity or feeling sorry for someone else. To be compassionate is to live the golden rule; […]
15 Ways to bridge the gap between cultures and communities in conflict
December 6, 2010 by · 14 Comments
I shed tears this weekend. They weren’t for me. They were for others, and their stories, I heard, as a participant, along with 200+ others, in the first ever Truth and Reconciliation conference between Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals in Victoria. The conference was titled Open Hearts, Clear Minds: A Road to Reconciliation, and took place at […]
Getting to Resolution: Turning Conflict into Collaboration – Video book review
October 19, 2010 by · Leave a Comment
I’m always on the lookout for ideas and frames that give context to my work. Recently I came across Getting to Resolution: Turning conflict into collaboration by Stewart Levine. It does just that. It touches my buttons; collaboration, conflict, resolution, mediation, community, systems thinking, to name a few. In this short video (can’t see it? […]
Triangulate conflict to find the sweet spot of resolution
October 15, 2010 by · 5 Comments
One of my earliest professional gigs was as a land surveyor. One technique surveyors use is triangulation, finding a position or location based on two other, known fixed points. Triangulation, i.e., cross-checking, is also a technique used by resolutionaries, such as mediators. We use multiple sources of information, signals, to locate that sweet spot of […]
The Long Tail for Conflict Prevention
September 6, 2010 by · Leave a Comment
The long tail applies to more than just business. It applies to our most basic needs, such as health and safety. The sooner we invest in positive prevention-oriented programs, the better off as a society we’ll be. The long tail… The long tail refers to the statistical property that a larger share of population rests […]
