Reporting on Conflict | Media Watch Blog

• News source:
• 4 March 2010
• Financial Post
• By Karin Mizgala

For Carrie Gallant negotiating is more than an art or a science it is a way of life. “We negotiate every day,” she insists. And it’s not just in business, but also in our marriages, with our children, and every other aspect of our lives. “We compromise. We make trade offs. We offer to make dinner if someone else does the dishes. We negotiate something countless times every day.” But, she adds, “this doesn’t mean we’re always good at it.”

• News source:
• originally published 26 February 2010
• Huffington Post
• By Sasha Galbraith

It was always just a matter of time. As more women graduated with advanced degrees, entered the workforce and gained relevant experience, we would see an abundance of talented women rise to the top of big corporations. But the so-called pipeline has sprung a leak and/or has an anti-female filter attached to it. A recent survey by Catalyst, a non-profit organization that works to promote women and diversity in business, found that women with MBA degrees lag behind their male counterparts in both advancement and compensation, and they don’t ever catch up…

The report pins the blame on implicit bias in the recruiting, selection, job assignment and promotion processes. Women start their post-MBA careers at overwhelmingly lower levels in the organization than men, and they do not move up the ranks as quickly…

Not asking is a problem we women have. A study done at Hewlett-Packard found that women would not apply for promotion opportunities unless they felt they had 100 percent of the qualifications, whereas men applied as long as they met 60 percent of the requirements. In their book Women Don’t Ask, Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever found that the starting salaries of men graduating from the Carnegie Mellon University master’s program were $4,000 higher than the women. The reason was that eight times more men than women (57 percent of men versus 7 percent of women) negotiated their starting salaries.

• News source:
• 28 February 2010
• The Mediation Channel
• By Diane Levin

In my ongoing one-woman effort to contribute to the improvement of public discourse, each month I discuss an example of a Fallacious Argument. In December I chose a particular favorite of mine, the ad hominem.

This month I revisit it. Why? Because accusing someone of committing a fallacy of the argumentum ad hominem can itself be a fallacy.

• News source:
• CoRe Clinic, UBC

2010 CoRe Clinic Speaker Series
Singleton Urquhart LLP, sponsors and host of the CoRe Speaker Series located at
1200 – 925 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC

Vicki Trerise
“Disputes Between the Canadian Polity and Aboriginal Peoples: Is Neutrality Possible?”
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 – Time: 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm

Nancy Cameron Q.C.
“Litigation, Dispute Resolution and the Brain: What do These Have to do with One Another, and with us as Practitioners?”
Wednesday, March 17, 2010 – Time: 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm

Christine Mingie
“Online Dispute Resolution – A Quiet Revolution in Justice?”
Wednesday, April 14, 2010 – Time: 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm

Sharon Sutherland and Carrie Gallant
“Improvisation and Mediation”
Wednesday, May 12, 2010 – Time: 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm

• News source:
• 20 February 2010
• The Australian
• By Thea O'Connor

WHEN family mediator Jonathan Toussaint asked a 13-year-old boy recently what message he wanted to give his separated mother and father, the boy replied: “I have two messages. When you speak to each other, use each other’s names [not insults] and don’t use me as a message carrier. It’s not my problem.”

• News source:
• originally published 30 June 2009
• Get It Done Guy
• By Stever Robbins

Today’s topic is telling people they’re wrong…

Elizabeth writes in.

“I work for a small company and we often contract work from larger companies to survive. Sometimes we deal with clients who are just plain wrong. How can you tell a superior, or in this case a client, that they are just plain wrong? (Without losing your job!)”

Elizabeth, I like you! We share a common desire: we both like to let people know they’re wrong, WRONG, WRONG!!!! And of course, that means we’re right. I’m curious why you do it; I know why I do it…

• News source:
• 10 February 2010
• Chronical Journal
• By KRIS KETONEN

A new document aims to stave off conflicts between First Nations and mining companies looking to start operations on band territories.

• News source:
• 8 February 2010
• Globe and Mail
• By Dave McGinn

In his new book, Robert Mnookin outlines how to determine when to negotiate and when duke it out.

Whether we’re talking about political leaders confronting adversaries or office employees asking for a raise, people in all sorts of jobs face conflicts on a daily basis. And they have to determine if it’s better to sit down and compromise or stand up and duke it out. But how do we decide which course of action is best? Robert Mnookin, chairman of the program on negotiation at Harvard Law School, has spent years grappling with this question. He lays out the answer in his new book, Bargaining with the Devil: When to Negotiate, When to Fight. By understanding the complexities of negotiation we can put ourselves in a better position to reach the ideal outcome, he says, whatever the situation may be.

• News source:

University of British Columbia
Conflict Resolution, Arts and iNtercultural Experience (CRANE)

CRANE is pleased to sponsor an Interactive Symposium during which visionary leaders in conflict resolution will present on creative approaches to social change on divisive issues including race, climate change and crime.

March 26, 2008, 12:30 – 4:30 pm
The Coach House, Green College, UBC

Please RSVP at craneevents@gmail.com

• News source:
• January–February 2010
• Harvard Business Review Magazine
• By Dan Ariely

The heat of the moment is a powerful, dangerous thing. We all know this. If we’re happy, we may be overly generous. Maybe we leave a big tip, or buy a boat. If we’re irritated, we may snap. Maybe we rifle off that nasty e-mail to the boss, or punch someone. And for that fleeting second, we feel great. But the regret—and the consequences of that decision—may last years, a whole career, or even a lifetime.

At least the regret will serve us well, right? Lesson learned—maybe.

• News source:
• 22 January 2010
• By Kevin Daley

Managers meet resistance every day. The way they handle it often is counterproductive…

The typical manager’s default response when somebody keeps saying no is to keep selling the idea. The manager trots out more evidence to support the idea and describes the payoffs for the other person. And the person keeps saying no.

There’s a better way.

Asking a series of easily answered questions will help the other person rethink his assumptions and open up possibilities for agreement. The idea was first proposed by Socrates in classical Athens some 2,400 years ago. The Socratic Method has helped opposing parties reach agreement ever since, though in today’s more confrontational world it’s greatly underused.

Asking a question like “Why do you say that?” can help you learn the reason why the other person isn’t cooperating. The reason might surprise you.

• News source:

“The Coming Shape of Legal Practice and Culture”

The CoRe Conflict Resolution Society and the CoRe Clinic are pleased to announce the launch of the CoRe Speaker Series with the following special event.

M. Jerry McHale Q.C. will launch the 2010 CoRe Clinic Speaker Series on January 27 with his talk “The Coming Shape of Legal Practice and Culture”

Date: Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Time: 4:30pm – 6:00pm
Place: Singleton Urquhart LLP: 1200 – 925 West Georgia Street
Light refreshments will be available.

Powerful forces (both internal and external to the legal system) are reshaping the role of lawyers, the function of legal institutions and the basic values of legal culture. This talk will explore how factors ranging from the affordability of civil process to globalism are changing our thinking about both substantive and procedural law, and how lawyers are bringing new strategies and new skills to bear on legal problems.

M. Jerry McHale, Q.C. has been the Acting Deputy Attorney General since October 2009. Prior to that he was the Assistant Deputy Minister, Justice Services Branch of the Ministry of Attorney General where he was responsible for dispute resolution programs as well as for family law programs, legal aid and civil policy and legislation. He is responsible for a number of mediation initiatives such as the Notice to Mediate and the Child Protection Mediation Program.

Prior to joining government he was in private practice as a barrister and solicitor and mediator from 1979 to 1991. Jerry has taught alternate dispute resolution at the University of Victoria and for the Continuing Legal Education Society of B.C. In 2000 he received the John Tait Award for Excellence in Public Sector Law from the Canadian Bar Association, and in 2009 he received the Georges A Goyer, QC Memorial Award for Distinguished Service.

Attendance at the speaker series is free for CoRe members, $15 for others. Pay by cheque or with exact change at the door.
RSVP on the Events Page at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=212216078714&index=1

For more information about Core, visit www.coreclinic.ca.

Thank you to Singleton Urquhart LLP, sponsors of the CoRe Speaker Series.

• News source:
• 13 January 2010
• ADR Prof Blog
• By Andrea Schneider

Yes…and they should! Coming back from the WIP conference this past November at Harvard, one of the most interesting conversations was a late night one between several professors—men & women—about teaching gender in a negotiation class…

As others have noted to me, the vast majority of gender & negotiation research, and public presentations on gender, tend to be by women. Debbie Kolb, of course, would point out that everyone has gender—not just women—and yet there is clearly something about teaching gender that make at least some male professors uncomfortable…

• News source:
• 7 January 2010
• Globe and Mail
• By Micah Toub

It’s a new year, and as is my habit, I’m taking advantage of the occasion to reflect on how to be a better human being. For the second year in a row, this means making a resolution to be more stubborn, pick more fights and just generally be harder to get along with. See, taking stock of my past relationships – and my life in general – I’ve noticed a disturbing pattern: I’ve been too nice. I’ve been compliant and attentive to the point of becoming a conflict avoider. And, as many of you fellow conflict avoiders out there have probably come to realize yourself, I now know that when it comes to relationships, this type of behaviour doesn’t bring peace but breeds only tension and resentment.

• News source:
• 5 January 2010
• Globe and Mail
• By Justine Hunter

A new industrial park is set to break ground in B.C.’s Okanagan this month, the latest economic initiative of the Osoyoos Indian Band. Chief Clarence Louie has no time for treaty talk – he’s also busy securing a multimillion-dollar housing development around the band’s golf course…

To the north of that development, another Okanagan Indian band, the Westbank, have bailed out of nearly 20 years of treaty talks and now intend to turn to the courts…

“There is no sense wasting any more time or energy on negotiations, we have no other choice but litigation,” he said. His council will meet next week to discuss a lawsuit that aims to settle the band’s land claims without giving up what they already have, which is a community where his people benefit from the shopping malls and industrial and residential development on their reserve lands.

• News source:
• 31 December 2009
• ADR Campus Tech Blog
• By Bill Warters

An interesting new series of reports has been released exploring informal, community-based dispute resolution practices in Afghanistan. The qualitative research project was conducted by Deborah Smith and colleagues from the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit with funding from the United Kingdom Department for International Development…

A zipped up package of 3 pdfs provides the following…
- A Holistic Justice System for Afghanistan (Policy Note), by Deborah J. Smith and Jay Lamey
- Community-Based Dispute Resolution in Nangarhar Province (Case Study), by Deborah J. Smith
- Community-Based Dispute Resolution in Bamiyan Province (Case Study), by Deborah J. Smith and Shelly Manalan

• News source:
• 29 December 2009
• ADR Prof Blog
• By Cynthia Alkon

The only thing these two movies have in common is that I recently saw each movie. Both of these movies also have some interesting and vastly different views of dispute resolution.  Avatar is the classic tale of corporate/colonial greed at the expense of a native population…  It is not an awe-inspiring example of how to engage in cross-cultural negotiation…

In contrast, Invictus is a film that shows wonderful examples of the potential of dispute resolution and reconciliation. It is the true story of Nelson Mandela, the South African Rugby Team, and the 1995 Rugby World Cup…

• News source:

19th ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM ON CONFLICT RESOLUTION
Friday, February 5, 2010, 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
The R.A. Centre, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

THIS YEAR’S SYMPOSIUM THEME IS:
Thinking, Knowing & Doing: Linking Theory, Knowledge & Practice in Conflict Resolution

• News source:
• 1 November 2009
• abstract posted on the Human Security Gateway
• By Uppsala University // Department of Peace and Conflict Research

Abstract : What lessons can be learnt from peacemaking in contemporary peace processes? This report assesses practical and theoretical challenges from three comprehensive peace processes: Bosnia and Herzegovina – the Dayton Agreement (1995), Liberia – the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (2003), the North-South conflict in Sudan – ‘The Naivasha Agreement’ (2005)…

• News source:
• originally published 22 December 2009
• IPS
• By Daksha Warty

RANMALA, India – The villages of Ranmala, Nandagane, Shirgaon and Mengdewadi, in Pune, Sangli and Satara districts, western India, have one thing in common.

They are all headed by female sarpanches (village chiefs), and what a difference it has made.