In this book, Professor Michael Norton merges his expertise in social psychology and behavioural economics to explore rituals, and how people use and experience rituals in their day-to-day lives. This includes everyday rituals far beyond the kinds of religious rituals that might first come to mind. The book asks what rituals do, for ourselves, our […]
WHAT I’VE BEEN READING: The Ritual Effect by Michael Norton Read More »
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. Between April and July 1994, and estimated 800,000 to million people were killed and an upward of 350,000 women were raped. As an internally recognised expert on sexual violence committed during the genocide and on transitional justice initiatives that dealt
In my work with clients in conflict, I constantly find that they have missed many opportunities to manage conflict more effectively. In particular, they often fail to set appropriate boundaries (or ANY boundaries) to allow themselves to be at their best in conflict situations. Boundaries are a fundamental part of preventing unnecessary conflict, and managing
Boundaries in conflict Read More »
This book is all about how we influence others, and how other people influence us. It is full of fascinating information, case studies and practical strategies. The chapters cover how our existing information impacts on our willingness to change our minds, the role of emotion, incentives and curiosity, the double-edged sword of agency, the impact
WHAT I’VE BEEN READING: The Influential Mind by Tali Sharot Read More »
When we look at how people typically promote conflict-related services like mediation, the services are often presented as a better option than other alternatives. In fact, this thinking is even found in the name “alternative dispute resolution”. However, psychological research shows that using scare tactics to try to motivate someone to do something tends not
Motivating people to engage in conflict resolution services Read More »
This book is a wealth of information and resources about how our brains work in conflict and how to work with them during conflict management and resolution. It includes well-researched and accessible content, as well as links to videos and other useful resources. The book introduces readers to foundational concepts in neuroscience, cognitive psychology, personality
I was very fortunate to be given the opportunity to read a final draft of this book before it’s officially published. I have been a huge fan of Michael’s work since reading his and Alison Taylor’s book The Making of a Mediator over 20 years ago. This book was a turning point in my approach
In our Beyond the Table course, we have an entire module on ethics. But it doesn’t focus on the ethics of practice in the sense of what we do in the mediation or coaching room with the client. Rather, it focuses on the ethics of doing business in the conflict services field. We look at
CRITICAL REFLECTION: Marketing settlement rates Read More »
Claire Holland and Judith Rafferty, conflict management specialists, academics, researchers and trainers with the Conflict Management Academy (CMA), say YES! According to Judith and Claire, frameworks are a useful way to break down and look at complicated conflict situations in a way that can bring greater awareness, understanding, and clarity to the situation. It’s not
Are frameworks useful to help understand complex conflict contexts? Read More »
This book is not new, it’s been around since 2009, but it remains one of the few books about how to work with conflict that is not resolvable, or that may take many years to resolve. The book introduces the role of the conflict specialist (in contrast to the more limited ‘conflict resolver’ and their
WHAT I’VE BEEN READING: Staying with Conflict by Bernard Mayer Read More »
