Managing the Half-Life of Workplace Conflict

Recently, I was asked by a local organization to assess a workplace conflict situation and provide some recommendations for them, going forward. While I did that, I also realize that the tensions that had surfaced in the group don’t just end, full stop. In many ways, they morph and carry on, below the surface, in […]

In Which Corner(s) is Your Conflict?

When in conflict, the source of the conflict can be confusing, never mind the way out!  Ken Wilbur’s Integral Vision is a handy, big picture, framework that can be applied to conflict management: Wilbur’s model is not dedicated to conflict. It applies to everything, literally, as I discovered in his A Theory of Everything.  Each […]

Apply A Culture Map To Visualize Interpersonal Differences

One of my newest, favourite communication tools is a Culture Map. I first came across this better way to visualize cultural differences in Erin Meyer’s book, The Culture Map (published earlier this year). Here’s a short interview of Meyer, about her book: (video not displaying? watch here, on YouTube) The Culture Map The Culture Map is […]

Listener as Storyteller

It’s Conflict Resolution Week, here in BC.  The theme is #LetsTalkItOut.  Before we talk, though, better to listen.  Right? And with being a really good listener, one understands the others’ story. We become a storyteller, too. Why listen? A large chunk of what we communicate between us is unsaid. This fact tends to get magnified […]

Offering a Continuum of Choices is a Trusted Collaborative Problem Solving Technique

When we’re stuck on a problem, and filled with negativity, the options lean to either/or.  When we articulate the spaces in-between, new possibilities emerge, a continuum of choices.   A continuum of choices reduces the risk of either/or, win/lose, and encourages collaborative problem solving. Offer a continuum As a contract court mediator with Mediate BC, […]