You Are A MARVAL*
In the dark ages before blogs, I wrote an article about Mediator Added Value At Last* partly out of a concern that many mediators just sit there and direct traffic - when they should be leaving a lot of themselves on the table.
But my mate, Gary Fitzpatrick (the go-to-man in Vancouver) is a wise old owl and taught me a valuable lesson - 'ask yourself before each mediation, what do these folk want/need...do they want a guy in the middle (really front and centre), on the edge as a chair or what?'
Sound obvious?
It's cathartic for a beat up mediator with a blank pad to actually find some space to do it.
You there Gary? Come in and tell us some more.
1 comment:
I have moved to a space of simplicity.Reading todays academic articles I realize what we do is too complex for me to master. I have to go back to basics. The dynamics of a dispute are people vent, want to feel the other side has heard them, sprinkle in a healthy bit of blaming, move to trying to find their way out, finally realize no one will be happy with the result but everyone will be happy to get on with their lives. The mediator will want to fiqure out what the parties need on the way through the trip. Do they need a lot of help, or should you stay out,do they need sympathy, new ideas or just an explanation of whats happening. Some how I need to get them to that unhappy-happy end. When I read the academic articles regarding this trip I wonder how anyone could learn to mediate from these articles. Am I the only one who gets the impression the articles sound like the media analizing the Super Bowl or the All Blacks season? Don't seven year old kids play these games.
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