Most of us advocate for better communications between people. What exactly does it mean though, ‘communications’? Apparently its roots are Latin in origin, and mean to make “common”. If we think of communications as making common, getting on the same page, then its part and parcel of effective collaboration. And that making […]
Urban beekeeping offers us a lesson in change and conflict management
July 7, 2014 by · Leave a Comment
Its summer, here. Flowers and gardens are blooming. Bees are buzzing in the neighbourhood, and more, if you have backyard beehives. A Yes! magazine article this week, Four Ways to Build a Bee-Friendly Neighborhood, gave some great tips for alleviating neighbour concerns, associated with urban beekeeping. I also thought the tips offer a larger model […]
Good-bye Alistair MacLeod
April 21, 2014 by · Leave a Comment
Canadian writer Alistair MacLeod passed away, yesterday, at the age of 77. I first came across his writings over a dozen years ago. At that time, I was into all things Cape Breton (on Canada’s East Coast), especially fiddle music. MacLeod’s summer home was near Inverness, Cape Breton. He spent 40 years teaching English and […]
High-context communications in a low-context virtual world
April 3, 2014 by · Leave a Comment
Singapore mediator Ian Macduff wrote a helpful article, last week, about the differences between low- and high-context cultures, and its’ impact in online mediation. His piece highlighted the challenges of understanding the meaning behind the message, when the message can mean so much more, or less, depending on the culture of the person sending/receiving the […]
The Future of Work and Multi-Organization Collaboration
March 12, 2014 by · 3 Comments
Over the last couple of months I’ve been assisting a local foundation that supports not-for-profit initiatives. The project I’m involved with has a HR (human resource) focus, and asks – how can non-profits better collaborate, with each other, to resource and deliver services, to make a difference? So, the jobs/work landscape was on my mind […]
