Learning on the job is great, unless someone’s life or job depends on it. I often meet workplace managers who run quite successful businesses, yet feel somewhat lost, ill prepared, when a conflicted employee knocks on their door. On the contrary, 911 emergency dispatchers know exactly how to respond. The effective 911 dispatcher and workplace manager […]
The 911 Emergency Dispatcher and the Workplace Conflict Manager: Your Solutions Connectors
Filed Under: Communication & Relationship Skills, Conflict Management · Tagged: conflict management, leadership, learning-organization, metaphor
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 […]
Filed Under: Conflict Management · Tagged: conflict management, conflict resolution, conversations, metaphor, relationships
That Was Picasso! A sports psychology model for mastering personal challenges
The PGA tour, professional golfer’s association tour, is winding down for another year, over the next few weeks. I golf. Not a lot; enough, though, that I’m motivated, after a bad round (not infrequent), to go out, and do it again. No pain, no gain? It’s the psychological side of golf that has me hooked. […]
Filed Under: x, y, z · Tagged: metaphor, process design, visualization
Getting to Hello: A Strategy For Facing Unfamiliar Territory
Picture this – You are in a foreign land, and feeling uneasy. You’re crowded around a table, with people that you barely know. The conversation feels awkward. The food is different. You’re confused. Not in control. You ask yourself, what’s next? Yesterday, I did a workshop, on cross-cultural conflict management, for my local Inter-cultural Association. For […]
Filed Under: Communication & Relationship Skills, Conflict Management, In my neighbourhood · Tagged: communications, conflict management, conversations, metaphor, Victoria, visualization
Sexual Consent, Serving Tea and Learning Through Metaphor
Sexual consent speaks to how we treat each other. When we choose consent, as our way, we choose constructive, relationship-oriented behaviour. We choose a collaborative way. How do we know if sex is consensual? Using ‘serving tea’ as a metaphor for sexual consent, this 3-minute animation by Blue Seat Studios (building on the work of blogger Rockstar […]
Filed Under: Communication & Relationship Skills · Tagged: communications, conversations, creativity, mediator, metaphor, relationships, storytelling, visualization
