Focus on Relationships to Increase Collaboration

Even in a short time-frame mediation, like those that I do in Small Claims Court, an initial focus on relationships  and process pays off.  If people are ok with what’s going down, process-wise, and nobody is getting bullied, then what flows after, e.g., the “facts”, seems to have more traction. I believe this same philosophy […]

Geek Girls: The Next Dispute Resolution Superheroes?

Fifty years ago there was only a few different communication channels.  If you wanted to have a conversation with someone, you had two basic options; meet in-person or call them on the telephone.  Today, thanks (or no thanks, as the case may be) to technology, your options have increased, a lot… add to the above: email, text, internet […]

Place-based Conflict Management

In our global village world, we are more likely to buy into ideas and approaches developed somewhere else, in a different place.  This is certainly true in the conflict management arena; whether its interest-based negotiation, more prisons, or Online Dispute Resolution (ODR).  No matter if good or bad, these other ways can distract us from […]

Collaboration insights gained through improv training with Dave Morris

Since early March I’ve been attending a basic improvisation class, led by Dave Morris, here in Victoria.  It just wrapped up.  I’ve spent a lot of my life relying on my left brain.  Spending 2 hours a week with 15 others, largely in right brain mode, was something I figured I could handle!  Plus, intuitively I […]