3 Strategies to help mediate the affordable housing crisis

My city, Victoria, is in the middle of a housing affordability crisis. Even more so, is my city neighbour, Vancouver. Property values have escalated so fast, and high, that all but the wealthy can afford what used to be common aspirations of the middle class – e.g., own your own home. With a growing affordability gap […]

Your Conflict Advantage: A workplace success story

Back in October, I was a speaker at a Disrupt HR event in Victoria, to a room full of HR (Human Resource) professionals. The event was capably orchestrated by a well-known local HR firm, Engaged HR, in partnership with Calliope Learning. “Disrupt HR is an information exchange designed to energize, inform and empower people in […]

How to build and scale conflict competency in your small business

There are approximately 400,000 small businesses in British Columbia. Every single one of them will face conflict, of one type or another. Yes, conflict will come. Conflict will most definitely come. If you are a small business owner, why not build your business’ conflict competency now, in preparation for the conflicts that will definitely come […]

Smart Urban Design Focuses on Safety and Relationships for Healthier Interactions

Whenever I rush into a difficult conversation without first creating a safe space to have that conversation, I invariably regret my impulsivity. Difficult conversations, especially relationship-oriented ones, demand paying attention to the ‘how’ conversation is to take place as much as ‘what’ the conversation is about. No matter the place, safety precedes authentic conversation. Relationships […]

Show me: Restorative Justice

Remember “show and tell” time when you were small? It wasn’t “tell and show” time. It’s “show”, first, for a reason. A local ‘show’ came my way this week. It was from the terrific folks at Restorative Justice Victoria. Restorative Justice video (video not displaying? click here to watch it on Youtube) Restorative Justice Victoria’s (RJ […]