The Boston Globe reports today that many of us — possibly 80% — are optimists.

Optimism and pessimism alike each have benefits. Studies suggest that optimists may enjoy better health, but being overly optimistic can be a hindrance when it comes to launching or running a business.

The effect of optimism may also be influenced by one’s career:

The importance of positivity can vary by profession. University of Pennsylvania psychologist Martin Seligman, a leading researcher on optimism, has found that pessimistic law students are the most successful. Optimistic sales agents, on the other hand, significantly outsell pessimistic ones.

And optimism may even have political consequences:

According to Seligman’s analysis of presidential elections between 1948 and 1984, optimists usually win. Pessimists lost 9 of those 10 elections.

Test yourself to measure how optimistic you are at the Authentic Happiness web site (registration required first for access to tests). Or take this shorter test posted at the Boston Globe.

Since I began blogging over three years ago, one of the most delightful changes I have witnessed is the steadily increasing number of mediators who now share ideas, news, practice tips, and their best thinking through the medium of blogs. In fact, on any given day, a stroll through the ADR blogosphere is like attending a conference with none of the expense but much of the pleasure.

There are many mediation blogs I enjoy but one of my favorites is the French language blog, Réseau Médiation (Mediation Network). Published by Dominique Foucart, a Belgian mediator in family, civil, and commercial disputes, this blog stands out for its thoughtful and honest reflection on difficult issues in the mediation field and its attention to the discoveries in other professions that have special relevance to the work of mediators. It is well worth the time it takes me to read it with what remains to me of the French I learned in junior high and high school and the help of my trusty Larousse.

In a recent post, “Comment libérer votre créativité“, Dominique shared with his readers a link to an interview with three experts at Scientific American with advice on “How to Unleash Your Creativity” — ideas on tapping into and freeing up the creative powers of individuals and groups, adults and children.

It describes the four competencies necessary for creativity:

The first and most important competency is “capturing”—preserving new ideas as they occur to you and doing so without judging them. The second competency is called “challenging”—giving ourselves tough problems to solve. In tough situations, multiple behaviors compete with one another, and their interconnections create new behaviors and ideas. The third area is “broadening.” The more diverse your knowledge, the more interesting the interconnections—so you can boost your creativity simply by learning interesting new things. And the last competency is “surrounding,” which has to do with how you manage your physical and social environments. The more interesting and diverse the things and the people around you, the more interesting your own ideas become.

If you need some inspiration to revive your own creative processes, be sure to read this interview.

Dan Harris hosts Blawg Review #162 at China Law Blog, a blog with a strongly international perspective that covers the legal issues of doing business in China.

Dan dedicates this most impressive presentation of Blawg Review to world peace and the ending of all disputes.

One case haunts me still, from the days when I was practicing law. The clients were parents left bereft by a tragedy that no mother or father should ever have to face.

A driver in a truck, speeding down a quiet suburban street one warm spring morning, struck and critically injured their 12-year-old son, who was riding his bicycle with his friends. The boy was rushed by ambulance first to the local hospital and then transferred to the city hospital better equipped to deal with injuries so severe. For three long months he suffered in great pain, his anguished parents by his hospital bed, until, on a day in late summer, he died.

A moment of careless haste on the part of a driver in a hurry on his route, and a young life senselessly ends.

Liability was never at issue. But to settle the claims against them, the insurance companies involved naturally required proof of our clients’ loss. We produced it all — the police report, statements of eye witnesses, ambulance and hospital records, medical bills, statements from his attending physicians and nurses, affidavits from family members. Even the diary his mother kept of her son’s final days.

There was something indecent about these negotiations, these efforts to reduce to a dollar figure a human life — as if the impact of the death of a 12-year-old boy on his parents could be calculated down to the last decimal point. My own son was 7 at the time, which made this case particularly hard. It hit too close to home, too close to the heart.

The case left me with unsettling questions: How can we possibly place a value on a human life? Why must judgments and settlements value some lives more highly than others? What dollar amount would represent my loss to my family? Or your loss to yours?

Others ask these questions, too. Over the weekend, Kenneth Feinberg, the attorney and ADR professional known for his work in the 9/11 and Virginia Tech cases, shared his thoughts on the National Public Radio program This I Believe when he asked himself, “What Is the Value of a Human Life?” He describes his own personal struggle as he grappled with his legal training and his conscience and gives the conclusion he reached:

In the case of Sept. 11, if there is a next time, and Congress again decides to award public compensation, I hope the law will declare that all life should be treated the same. Courtrooms, judges, lawyers and juries are not the answer when it comes to public compensation. I have resolved my personal conflict and have learned a valuable lesson at the same time. I believe that public compensation should avoid financial distinctions which only fuel the hurt and grief of the survivors. I believe all lives should be treated the same.

Read Feinberg’s essay, and ask yourself the same hard questions.

One of the best aspects of the digital age is the ability to connect to ideas and news whose source lies far from our own front steps. These ideas from across the globe are not only stimulating for their novelty; they also affirm, since they highlight our commonalities, not just our differences.

Since I was introduced to it last November, one of my favorite sources for information and fresh thinking with a global perspective is the International Dispute Negotiation podcast.

International Dispute Negotiation, presented by the International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution (CPR), explores ways people across a wide range of countries, backgrounds, and professions approach the resolution of disputes. International Dispute Negotiation is hosted by Michael McIlwrath, Senior Counsel, Litigation for GE Infrastructure - Oil & Gas, based at his company’s headquarters in Florence, Italy.

For each podcast Michael plays knowledgeable and affable host to influential leaders and thinkers about ADR and negotiation in international contexts. These beautifully produced podcasts offer revelations from all sides of the negotiation table, with episodes that have included:

• A discussion with American Museum of Natural History curator and anthropologist Robert L. Carniero on the evolution of dispute resolution
• Resolving disputes and drafting a constitution in Iraq with Zaid Al-Ali, who is advising the United Nations on legal developments in Iraq
• Mediation and Dispute Metrics in a Law Firm Culture

Now available is Michael’s most recent interview: Mediating from Singapore: An Interview with Christopher Lau.

When you toast your next successfully concluded mediation, you may want to think about hoisting a glass of Collaboration Not Litigation Ale, brewed by the Avery Brewing Company in Boulder, Colorado.

May I recommend as a suitable accompaniment some delectable “Make barbecue not war” spareribs?

Bottoms up!

(Here’s to the Legal Antiquarian for the link.)

(Photo credit: Laura Nubuck.)

Each week through the viewpoint of a different host, Blawg Review, the revolving blog carnival which presents the best in legal blogging, shows its readership a new perspective on law, the legal profession, and legal scholarship.

Consider as my proof the dazzling array of viewpoints courtesy of the last five hosts:

• Blawg Review #160, which speaks with a distinctly British accent at Ruthie’s Law (motto: “innocent until proven guilty)
• Blawg Review #159 at the Whistleblower Law Blog
• Blawg Review #158 in recognition of International Midwives Day at the Mommy Blawg
• Blawg Review #157 commemorating the Canadian National Day of Mourning, which honors workers killed on the job, at Thoughts from a Management Lawyer
• Blawg Review #156, hosted by Virtually Blind, a blog covering virtual law and legal issues affecting virtual worlds

Blawg Review #161 promises to deliver a caffeinated jolt this coming Monday morning - it’s hosted by the Patent Baristas.

[Update: Blawg Review #161 has been posted. It pays moving homage to Memorial Day, a day when the U.S. remembers its military dead.]

(Photo credit: Luiz Baltar.)

Without a doubt one of my favorite things in the whole world to do is to teach people how to mediate. For many people, a basic mediation training is their first introduction to conflict resolution theory and to new ways of thinking about negotiation, and it’s rewarding and fun for me to guide people through those early discoveries.

It’s important to remember that completion of a basic mediation training is not an end but a beginning, an initial step toward the practice of mediation. There’s a whole wide world of ideas waiting to be discovered or to be explored in far greater depth than a 40-hour mediation training can provide.

I’ve pulled together a list of recommended resources, both in print and on the web, to help new mediators continue their journey, arranging them by topic. And I invite readers and fellow bloggers to add their own suggestions.

Mediation, Conflict Resolution, and Consensus-Building

The following books represent a sample of the many texts available on these topics.

Mediating Dangerously: The Frontiers of Conflict Resolution, by Kenneth Cloke

The Promise of Mediation: The Transformative Approach to Conflict, by Robert A. Baruch Bush and Joseph P. Folger

The Dynamics of Conflict Resolution: A Practitioner’s Guide, by Bernard Mayer

The Mediator’s Handbook, by Jennifer Beer (for new mediators)

The Power of a Positive No: How to Say NO and Still Get to Yes, by William Ury

Breaking Robert’s Rules: The New Way to Run Your Meeting, Build Consensus, and Get Results, by Lawrence E. Susskind and Jeffrey L. Cruikshank

Finding information on mediation and conflict resolution on the web can be overwhelming. Google the word “mediation”, and you’ll get more than 24 million results. For the best, most up-to-date information on mediation, or for debate and discussion on the field’s most controversial topics, I recommend Mediate.com, the premiere ADR web site, and ADR blogs and podcasts. Click on the link to my blogroll to see what blogs I’m reading, view Mediate.com’s list of Featured Blogs, or visit the World Directory of ADR Blogs, which indexes blogs, vblogs, and podcasts from over two dozen countries, listed by country and by category, all related to alternative dispute resolution.

Negotiation

Since mediation is often called assisted negotiation, it’s important to be familiar with negotiation theory and strategies. In addition to the classic Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In, by Roger Fisher and William Ury, consider the following texts as you build your negotiation library:

Bargaining for Advantage: Negotiation Strategies for Reasonable People, by G. Richard Shell

Negotiation Genius: How to Overcome Obstacles and Achieve Brilliant Results at the Bargaining Table and Beyond, Deepak Malhotra and Max H. Bazerman

The Negotiator’s Fieldbook, edited by Andrea Kupfer Schneider and Christopher Honeyman

Ask for It: How Women Can Use the Power of Negotiation to Get What They Really Want, by Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever

Beyond Reason: Using Emotions as You Negotiate, by Daniel Shapiro and Roger Fisher

Online negotiation resources abound. You can receive announcements of upcoming events (many of which are free) and explore materials and articles at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard. Or sign up for the free Harvard Business School Working Knowledge newsletter, which covers negotiation and leadership.

To find blogs and podcasts on negotiation, visit the World Directory of ADR Blogs. Two podcasts that I especially recommend are Negotiating Tip of the Week, a 3-minute podcast on important topics in negotiation, and International Dispute Negotiation, which provides a global perspective on negotiation and ADR through interviews with leaders and influential thinkers around the world.

Decision-Making, Influence, and the Mind

Mediators help people make difficult decisions — decisions which hopefully are rational and informed ones. Several books offer insights into how humans process information, make sense of their world, weigh decisions, and make judgments.

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, by Robert Cialdini

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions, by Dan Ariely

A Mind of Its Own: How Your Brain Distorts and Deceives, by Cordelia Fine

Sites that will help you understand better the workings of your own mind include Project Implicit, a site for testing your hidden biases; the Visual Cognition Lab video demonstrations of inattentional blindness; and Brains on Purpose, a blog that explores the link between neuroscience and conflict resolution.

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An excellent resource for scholarly articles on all the topics highlighted above is the Social Science Research Network, with a searchable database of articles many of which can be downloaded in PDF for free.

Finally, for more online resources on conflict resolution, negotiation, ADR, as well as diversity and culture guides for business travelers and negotiators, visit the resource page on my web site.

Collaborative lawyer and ADR professional David Hoffman, in an op-ed in the Christian Science Monitor, asks, “Microsoft and Yahoo: Where were the mediators?“

David makes the strong case that mediation could have made all the difference, getting these digital technology giants to yes:

In the Microsoft-Yahoo negotiations, a mediator could have helped in several concrete ways.

First, since disagreements about the price of a company usually turn on financial predictions, mediators can help the parties structure creative options for mitigating their risks. Acquisition agreements often contain “earn-out” provisions that award benefits to the seller if the deal turns out to be a winner for the buyer. Without any investment in the outcome, mediators become “honest brokers” who can advance such ideas without the perception that they are seeking an advantage based on secret knowledge.

Second, a mediator can help the parties obtain neutral and independent opinions – as opposed to the potentially partisan opinions of the parties’ hired experts, lawyers, and investment bankers.

Third, a “mediator’s proposal” can test the waters of compromise. Let’s say the mediator asks each side to tell the mediator – on a confidential basis – whether they would accept a deal at $35 per share. This protocol means the mediator will report the answers only if both sides say “yes.” Thus, each side can take the risk of saying yes because the other side will never know unless they, too, have said yes.

Considering that mediation is “assisted negotiation“, it’s time for all of us who mediate to draw attention to the fact that mediation is not just for settling cases on their way to court or already in litigation — mediation makes sense whenever people want to negotiate better and smarter.

Read the rest of David’s commentary here.

Susan Jacoby, the author of The Age of American Unreason, a polemic on anti-intellectualism in the U.S., has accused Americans of a lack of global awareness. There is indeed evidence to support her views: a geographic literacy study conducted by National Geographic in 2006 found that six in 10 Americans ages 18 to 24 cannot locate Iraq on a map of the Middle East.

Even more depressing is the news that “fewer than three in 10 of those surveyed think it is absolutely necessary to know where countries in the news are located. Only 14 percent believe speaking another language fluently is a necessary skill.”

In an effort to build global knowledge and increase geographic literacy among American youths, National Geographic has created My Wonderful World, with tools and resources for parents, educators, and students.

Interested in more sites and online tools for increasing global knowledge or improving your ability to interact with those of other cultures and countries? Check out these posts from the Mediation Channel vaults:

“New world (view) order: Web site promotes culturosity and intercultural awareness”

“Online game tests knowledge of world geography”

“Geography has made us neighbors: the importance of geographic literacy in the 21st century”

“Internet as mediator: web sites provide online resources for building community and conversation”

Brevity, said the Bard, is the soul of wit.

If you seek proof of the truth of that maxim, then look no further than What About Clients?, one of the very best of the legal blogs. Irreverent, edgy, and smart, with a keen international focus, What About Clients? has long made the case that in a flat world, savvy American lawyers eager to retain their competitive edge must look beyond U.S. borders and across the seas for news, ideas, and business.

Practicing what it preaches, WAC? recently assumed a new name (What About Paris?) and a new slogan (”News and ideas on clients, customers, business and law around the globe”). What remains unchanged of course are the crisp writing, dangerously sharp ideas, and the extensive list of international blogs in the site’s sidebars.

In a speech in March, U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama initiated a national conversation about race. He reminded Americans that “that your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams; that investing in the health, welfare, and education of black and brown and white children will ultimately help all of America prosper”.

It’s a hard conversation to have. But one web site is pushing people to keep talking.

Exploring Race, a forum hosted by Chicago Tribune editor Dawn Turner Trice, gives Americans a chance to bring race out into the open. Trice writes,

We have a moment in history to have a national discussion about race. We should seize it and try to mine it for what it’s worth. I want this to be a safe place where people of all races can explore their views and biases, openly and honestly.

You can learn about race etiquette, use the prejudice compass to get your bearings on your own biases, or simply join the conversation.

If we are fortunate, mentors await us along our path, reaching out a hand to guide us when the road grows rocky or shining a light on the way ahead. Later our lives lead us miles and years from our own beginnings. In keeping our eyes on the path ahead, it’s easy sometimes to forget to look back and remember the ones who steadied our steps.

I received an email this week that reminded me how important it is to stop and look back, to recall our mentors and the difference they made to our work and our lives. The email was from my friend Ericka Gray, who shared with her colleagues reflections and memories on learning of the death of a champion of ADR and justice, whose wisdom and encouragement influenced the direction of Ericka’s own life. I thank Ericka for allowing me to share her message with a wider audience:

Dear friends and colleagues;

I just learned of the recent death of my first mentor in the field of ADR, retired judge Martin L. Haines. I wanted to share my knowledge of him with you.

He taught me to always challenge the status quo when the status quo wasn’t good enough and to always question things that I thought needed questioning. At my interview to become the director of the 4th multi-door courthouse in the US, he asked me what I thought my job might be. I responded, after having listened to his ideas, that it was to challenge the court system to do better and to make people think about things differently. I was hired even though I wasn’t a lawyer, as the job supposedly required. After working for him for several months, I revisited the question of my job and told him I thought that it was my job to cause some sort of trouble at least weekly. He smiled, thought for a moment, and said that he was inclined to agree. His eyes sparkled as he added that he often caused trouble and it seemed that he had the most fun when he was doing so. Since he wrote many controversial decisions and was known to routinely be questioned by those above him, he truly enjoyed what he did! I resigned when he announced his retirement since I couldn’t imagine working there for anyone else.

Judge Haines was an incredible man who had the respect of all, even those who didn’t agree with him. He was truly a gentleman. I will miss him. He has left an indelible mark on my soul and encouraged my passion for pursuing justice in both process and outcome for all. I wish that you all could have known him.

Is there a mentor you’d like to thank? Let them know while there’s still time.

The internet always astounds me for the richness and diversity of the resources it makes available to anyone with the time and the curiosity to discover them.

Consider my latest web find: Social Innovation Conversations. Its motto proclaims its mission: “reinventing the world together one conversation at a time”.

Described as “an open and collaborative online platform for cross-sector and multidisciplinary learning for social change”, Social Innovation Conversations was launched to achieve an ambitious and inspiring goal:

From the pandemic of AIDS, to challenges posed by climate change, to substance abuse and global poverty, our world is faced with increasingly complex and pressing social and environmental challenges. While knowledge, tools, and technologies to develop innovative solutions exist, channels are still needed to reach the people who could use and apply them to social problems.

Social Innovation Conversations’ mission is to expand the reach of important and valuable knowledge to people who otherwise wouldn’t have access to it by recording and sharing the spoken words of thought leaders in all sectors and disciplines and offering listeners a multi-stakeholder perspective on the world grand challenges and social issues.

Teachers and students of negotiation will want to tune in to a recent podcast: “Myths and Truths About Negotiation“, a lecture by Margaret Neale, Professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business. The five negotiation myths that are in for busting are:

1. Making the first offer is risky
2. Perceptions about dividing the pie
3. Honesty is the best policy
4. Emotions at the negotiation table are your enemy
5. I had no choice so I said yes

There is other knowledge worth exploring at Social Innovation Conversations — as you will discover for yourself.

Alltop, a newly launched news aggregation site described by founder Guy Kawasaki as

an ‘online magazine rack’ that displays the news from the top publications and blogs

has just added eight mediation blogs. They are:

• My blogs, Mediation Channel and World Directory of ADR Blogs
• CKA Mediation & Arbitration Blog (Chris Annunziata)
• Conflict Zen (Tammy Lenski)
• Engaging Conflicts(Gini Nelson)
• Idealawg (Stephanie West Allen)
• Mediator blah…blah… (Geoff Sharp)
• Settle It Now Negotiation Blog (Vickie Pynchon)

You can see us all at http://law.alltop.com.

I feel deeply honored to have both my blogs selected for inclusion in this “best of the best”. To Guy Kawasaki, Kathryn Henkens, and Will Mayall, thank you for finding a place for mediation blogs on Alltop. And congratulations and best wishes on Alltop’s launch!

Make your mother proud by paying a visit to Blawg Review #158, hosted by The Mommy Blawg (”the intersection of mommyhood and the law”) in honor of International Midwives Day.

Blawg Review of course is the weekly review of the best in legal blogging, hosted each week by a different blog.  Next week’s host is the Whistleblower Law Blog.

Speaking of mothers, if you live in the U.S., don’t forget to call yours on Sunday — it’s Mother’s Day.

This is easily one of the best, all-time great quotes about mediation:

When we begin our mediation training and practice, we often hear (and speak) of the magic of mediation. When it works, it truly is wondrous. It’s easy to see why a mediator feels like a wizard with supernatural powers, enabling lambs to lie down with lions. Based on my experience in the realms of magic and mediation, here is my hope.

Once upon a time, if you could take a cup of water, put it in a box, push a button, and make that water boil — without raising the temperature inside the box — you’d have a miracle on your hands. Ditto for talking to someone, or even seeing them in real time, on the other side of the planet — or even in outer space! How magical is that! And yet, thanks to technology, even the youngest child is jaded by these daily experiences.

My fondest wish is that our social evolution keeps pace with our technological progress, so that the peaceful resolution of disputes will similarly become as commonplace as microwaves and mobile devices. Then it will no longer seem that mystical forces -or card tricks, or magic pennies — are needed to bring together the bitterest of enemies for a common purpose.

From Jerry Lazar, a mediator by day and magician by night, who explores the magic of mediation at his delightfully titled blog, Fight Nicely.

(With thanks to Vickie Pynchon who makes magic of her own at Settle It Now Negotiation Blog.)

Giving whole new meaning to the phrase “you be the judge”, People’s Court Raw invites anyone with a dispute and a video camera to upload their argument, notify the “defendant” by email, and then let the web-surfing masses vote on who’s right.

Boasting that People’s Court Raw “is the ultimate democratic tool”, spokesperson and media personality Harvey Levin (no relation) urges visitors to “let the world finally prove you right…” with this “ultimate argument ender”.

As of this posting, cases include a dispute over a boyfriend’s back hair; a workplace quarrel about a co-worker who belches; and a domestic spat that results when a husband can’t get to sleep because his wife snores.

Hat tip to Colin Rule.

Test your ability to distinguish genuine smiles from fake ones at BBC Science. You’ll get your results when you’ve finished, plus a discussion of why most people do a bad job at spotting fake smiles.

To put your ability to read faces to a different challenge, check out “Let’s face it: test your understanding of facial expressions” from the Mediation Channel vaults.

You can also test the sex of your brain, or amuse yourself with a full array of other online psychological tests and surveys.

(Hat tip to Cognitive Daily.)

Photo credit: Sanja Gjenero.

We mediators play midwife to decision making. We patiently assist in an arduous and sometimes painful process while parties labor, struggling to make the right choices in difficult circumstances. We strive to ensure that those who weigh those choices are able to reach rational decisions based on accurate and complete information.

But just how rational are the decisions that people make, whether at the mediation table or anywhere else? How much control do any of us really exert over those choices?

A new book has some surprising answers and explains why it is that we are more susceptible than we realize to the vagaries of our own minds and vulnerable to the forces of emotions and social norms. Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions, written by Dan Ariely, a behavioral economist, the Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Behavioral Economics at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, and a visiting professor at Duke University.

As much fun as the book (and of course more interactive) is the Predictably Irrational web site. Don’t miss the Demonstrations page with cool optical illusions and games you can test yourself with.