Blogs

You will find useful articles on conflict-related topics.

WHAT I’VE BEEN READING: Neuroqueer Heresies by Nick Walker

Thanks to Rebecca Kornmehl for recommending this book to me! I learnt so much from this book that is essential for my role as parent of an autistic child, and a practitioner who frequently works with neurodivergent clients. Most importantly, the book helped me understand better the distinction between autism as seen through a pathology

When the Boss Is Exhibiting Challenging Behaviours

I recently had an interesting conversation with someone who started out by describing their boss as a “narcissistic personality” and who was looking for some advice about how to get them to change their behaviours towards staff. Work with behaviours, not labels The first step is to emphasize the importance of avoiding labelling the boss

WHAT I’VE BEEN READING: Revenge of the Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell

I’m a big fan of Malcolm Gladwell’s books, they are always a terrific read, even if he is prone to overstatements and lack of rigorous research. In this latest book, he reviews his earlier book The Tipping Point and its hypothesis that little things can make a big difference. Twenty-five years later, it’s a very

Navigating Ethical Dilemmas in Mediation: Insights from Practitioners

In the world of mediation, professionals frequently encounter complex ethical dilemmas that require careful consideration and judgment. Recently, a discussion among mediators explored such challenges in depth, providing valuable insights into the ethical intricacies of the profession. This blog post delves into the key themes discussed, focusing on the delicate balance mediators must maintain between

REAL WORLD INSIGHTS: How we adapt our interpersonal conflict strategies

Coleman argues that there are three different criteria for how we might adapt our interpersonal conflict strategies: relational importance, goal type, power differences. These different criteria lead to seven basic types of interpersonal situations. These include: where the conflict is of low importance (independence), compassionate responsibility (high power, cooperative goals), partnership (equal power, cooperative), cooperative

REAL WORLD INSIGHTS: Peter Coleman’s “Adaptive Mediation”

Peter Coleman’s research has identified the four most challenging conditions or “derailers” of mediation as: High intensity conflict: higher levels of destructiveness, emotionality, and intransigence; High degrees of constraints or limitations on the mediation: including legal and time constraints and constituent pressure; Highly competitive relationships between the disputants; and The covert nature of the issues