The Covid-19 Dispute

I guess I am doing what everyone else is doing these days; looking at the news through the lens of my training, expertise and experience. Thus, I am watching the issue of politics/economy vs. medicine play out as a dispute ripe for mediation. On one side is the plaintiff whom [Read More]

Civility Precedes Empathy!

There can be no empathy where there is no civility. I was at a conference  recently during which one the presenters made this statement. It struck me as I had never thought about these concepts as being connected. But, indeed, they are. “Civility” is defined as “…the act of showing [Read More]

Who Is Gonna Build the Fence?

In  a recent blog, Tammy Lenski discusses, “ 4 Handy Principles for Deciding When You Can’t Agree”. Considering the present national situation, I found the blog very timely and cannot resist sharing. But, to take it out of politics, let’s use an example. Suppose Jack and Jill are neighbors. Jill [Read More]

By |January 11th, 2019|Conflict resolution|

Three Conversations

As part of a book club, I just finished reading Difficult Conversations [How To Discuss What Matters Most] by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton and Sheila Heen (Second edition, Penguin Books, New York, 2010). While its advice is geared towards the layman, as an experienced neutral, I found some interesting nuggets [Read More]

By |October 27th, 2017|Conflict resolution|

The Pitfalls of “Moral” Politics

Morality and “moral” politics seem to be in the news lately. I came upon an article in the Science and Technology section of The Economist (June 22, 2017 edition) discussing “political morality”. Noting that this may be an oxymoron, the article discusses studies showing that politicians who take a position [Read More]

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