Category Archives: Mediation Channel Classics

With hundreds of posts in the Mediation Channel archives, each month I highlight those from prior years that drew in readers, produced discussion here or elsewhere on the web, or that simply happen to be my favorites.

Here’s my selection for March:

March 2009

• Outwitting the leopard: deception at the negotiating table
• Time for mediation certification in the U.S.? Not this way, thanks
• Negotiating disability
• What old school trial lawyers really think about mediators

March 2008

• What was your first time like? (your first mediation, that is)
• Debating the meaning of the “A” in ADR
• Myth busting: you don’t have to be a lawyer to be a good mediator
• Failure to listen leads to racial harassment charge
• You be the judge: do retiring justices make the best neutrals?

March 2007

• What’s so funny ’bout peace, love and understanding? Thoughts on why we’re not getting to yes
• Since when is changing your mind a bad thing?

March 2006

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

March 2005

• Why can’t we all just get along? There’s a place for both attorneys and mediators in dealing with divorce

Each month I highlight posts from that month in prior years, choosing ones that drew readers (or just happen to be my favorites).

Here’s my selection for February:

February 2009

• Mediating between law and mediation: time for both sides to declare a cease-fire
• More negotiation lessons from humor
• Twittering from the mediation table: social media come to ADR

February 2008

• One trick ponies? Political leaders should be adept in many negotiation styles, not just one
• What voters can learn from the field of negotiation
• Boys will be boys: gender still an issue for the legal profession
• When mediators roamed the earth

February 2007

• Sunshine is the best disinfectant: Bob Sutton’s “The No Asshole Rule” gets an age-old workplace problem out into the open

February 2005

• The Three Little Pigs go to mediation in this animated short from the Department of Veterans Affairs

As I do each month, I’ve highlighted posts from prior years. Here is the selection for January:

January 2009

• No soap, radio: confronting the fear of asking questions
• Remembering wartime: photos of present-day city evoke tragic past

January 2008

• Send lawyers, guns and mediators: what songs would be on your mediation playlist?

January 2007

• Is your negotiating style leaving value on the table?
  
• Three-part series: “Bridging the divide between lawyers and mediators“

January 2005

• Mediation isn’t “meditation” with a typo

I hope the new year is off to a good start – may you fulfill your aspirations for the year ahead!

Each month I highlight posts that appeared during that month from previous years. Taking a look over my shoulder at posts from Decembers past, I offer up the following selection:

December 2007

• Out of the mouths of babes: a child’s guide to the law

December 2006

• You say trials are vanishing like it’s a bad thing
• Lawyers negotiate whoopee in humor video

December 2005

• Behind closed doors: the meaning of privacy and the influence of culture
• Geography has made us neighbors: the importance of geographic literacy in the 21st century

Here’s wishing you happy December holidays, with joy, health, and peace.

At the start of each month, I highlight some selected posts from prior years.

November’s trip in the wayback machine yields these articles:

November 2008

• To err is human: how do we keep our feet out of our mouths in the first place?
• Testing for negotiation skills, creativity: an LSAT for the 21st century

November 2007

• Lawyers, Pakistan and democracy: is it time for a Nobel Prize in law?
• Myth or fact: are attorneys the best mediators?
• How to turn a simple misunderstanding into all-out war: a mediator’s advice
• In weighing the Uniform Mediation Act, Massachusetts mediators may be poised to repeat mistakes of the past

November 2006

• When in Rome (and Paris and Tokyo): avoiding the international faux pas
• Change of perspective: maps brings new ways of seeing

November 2005

• Deconstructing Harry: A legal scholar examines the role and rule of law in the world of Harry Potter

When you’ve been blogging for as long as I have – almost five years – you accumulate a lot of written material in your archives.

Back in July I began to spotlight posts from the past that generated reader response or are simply my favorites. So, on the first day of each month, I pick posts for that month from prior years to revisit.

Here are October’s selections:

October 2008

• Jumping to conclusions? Take the Cash Register Test to find out how much
• Disputant perceptions of gender: a challenge for women who mediate
• Animated short celebrates 60th anniversary of Universal Declaration of Human Rights

October 2007

• Mediators, so you think you’re neutral? Bias hard to detect in ourselves, study shows
• Antisocial networking sites link you to your enemies

October 2006

• “Making Mediation Your Day Job”: Mediator uses blog to publish book on mediation marketing (a real blast from the past, since Tammy Lenski is now at work on a second edition of this outstanding ADR marketing resource)
• When the political gets personal: what the Military Commissions Act of 2006 means to one mediator and her family
• Ghost of a chance: three ways mediators can celebrate Halloween (unfortunately one link has expired but the others are still good fun, so enjoy)

October 2005

• Accentuate the positive: studies reveal human propensity for reframing to see good in outcomes

After over four years of blogging, in July I began to spotlight posts that generated significant traffic, commentary or controversy, or just happened to be my favorites. On the first day of each month I pick posts for that month from prior years to revisit.

Here are my selections for September:

September 2008

• Judaism, media literacy and U.S. elections: reflections on the Jewish New Year
• A negotiator walks into a bar: a joke teaches a lesson on problem solving
  
• Will mediate for beer: as times get tough, locals turn to bartering
  

September 2007

• Art education may help prepare future lawyers (and mediators)

September 2006

• Nuclear Weapon Effects Calculator demonstrates impact of nuclear blast on major U.S. cities

September 2005

• Seeing ourselves: conflict and negotiation in popular culture

Hope you all had a great summer and are looking forward to the coming fall. September seems to herald new beginnings: the academic year gets underway. It also draws one season to a close, the time for the harvest of crops planted with hope in spring or early summer. May September bring you all promising new ventures or see past hard work come to rewarding fruition.

I realized recently that I’ve been blogging for over four years. During that time I’ve produced quite a bit of writing – over 900 posts.  That realization prompted me last month to institute a new feature: Mediation Channel Classics, since I thought it might be worth a look back in time.

At the start of each month, I’ll be highlighting selected posts published in other years during that month. These are posts that have proved to be classics – they continue to draw traffic, or at the time they were published, they generated commentary (or sometimes controversy) or emails; some are very simply my favorites.

Here are my selections for August:

From August 2008:

• Don’t pee on my shoes and tell me it’s raining: more truth, less fiction, in debate on mandatory arbitration (as relevant now as it once a year ago, given recent headlines)
• The rest is trust: cognitive errors make it easy to misjudge trustworthiness
• The mind and magic: conjuring up ways to improve awareness
• All gardeners are optimists: what squirrels reminded me about conflict resolution

From August 2007:

• Won’t get fooled again: negotiating with liars
• Requiem for a friend

From August 2006:

• Personal branding: how mediators can use blogs to define their identity online (some expired links in this one, but the topic remains relevant)

From August 2005:

• It never hurts to ask: more thoughts on negotiation and gender

Have a great August. For my friends in the Northern Hemisphere, hope you’re enjoying your summer.

Today I announced a new feature, Fallacious Arguments of the Month. I figured that as long as I’m looking ahead, it’s not a bad time to look back – back to posts that appeared in previous years on this site.

At the start of each coming month, I’ll highlight posts that appeared during that month in prior years. These are posts that have proved to be classics – that continue to draw visitors; generated email, links, or comments at the time of their publication; discuss issues that remain relevant; or simply happen to be my favorites.

From July 2008:

• Accessorizing for your next negotiation: should appearance matter?
• Within limits: honoring the finite at the mediation table
• Bargaining for your life: condom negotiation skills

From July 2007:

• Nothing but the truth: Radical Honesty movement proposes a world without deception

From July 2006:

• Don’t sell yourself short: why fair compensation should matter to mediators

From July 2005:

• More than we bargained for: does gender matter in negotiation?

I hope you enjoy these.