dougnoll’s posthaven

Segment 1 Bernie Mayer

On this edition of the Doug Noll Show, we have with us Bernie Mayer.
Bernie Mayer is a Professor of Dispute Resolution, The Werner Institute, Creighton University, is a leader in the field of conflict resolution. Bernie has worked in child welfare, mental health, substance abuse treatment, and psychotherapy. As a founding partner of CDR Associates, Bernie has provided conflict intervention for families, communities, universities, corporations, and governmental agencies throughout North America and internationally for over 35 years. Bernie’s latest book, The Conflict Paradox, Seven Dilemmas at the Core of Disputes, is just out (January, 2015). Earlier books include: The Dynamics of Conflict, Beyond Neutrality, and Staying With Conflict.

Bernie's was a child of the 60's. His journey began when he became very active in the role of mental health and in child welfare. He was very active in the civil rights movement, the anti-war movement He was in the student movement and was involved in the waiver movements in his early life and in most of those roles he found he was dealing with conflict all of the time and often with people who did not handle conflict well and sometimes to be frank, he was not the best at handling conflict.

Segment 2 Paradox: Competition and Cooperation

Competition and cooperation. In the west, it seems like we value competition more than cooperation and collaboration. Doug and Bernie discuss what this is all about.

Also discussed in this segment is the paradox between optimism verses realism. Bernie discusses this with the Doug and how he applied it and understood it on a personal front and how you cannot have one without the other.
The last paradox of this segment is about avoidance and engagement. Very interesting paradox and conversation.

Segment 3 Paradoxes Continued

Doug and Bernie discuss emotions and logic. You cannot solve an emotional problem with logic alone and vice versa. There is research proving you cannot have one without the other. As mediators, you have to listen to if the problem is logical or emotional so you can help them integrate the two.
Neutrality and Advocacy is the next paradox discussed that is more practitioner focused. Clients don't want his. They want to be deemed as being fair and the the mediator is working with them. This means caring and advocating for them to listen to each other.

Segment 4 Final Paradox
Doug and Bernie further discuss the last paradox discussed in Segment 3, community and anonymity.

Segment 1 - Jeff Bachman

On this edition of the Doug Noll Show, we have with us Jeff Bachman. Jeff Bachman is a professor of human rights, with a focus in genocide, counterterrorism and human rights, media coverage of human rights events, and state responsibility and individual accountability for violations of human rights law and international humanitarian law. He is especially interested in the misuse of the law as a political tool through its selective application and enforcement. Jeff has field experience working for Amnesty International in the Government Relations for Europe/Eurasia program.

In this segment, Professor Bachman shares with us the journey that brought him to where he is today and he and Doug discuss the decision invading Iraq and taking down Saddam Hussein and the Rwanda Genocide. This is a must listen segment.

Segment 2 Acceptance and Change

In this segment of the Doug Noll Show, Professor Bachman and Doug discuss how we should as a nation be balancing national interest against morality and moral decision making.

Morality should be national interest from the ground up. For Jeff, it raises short-term and long-term issues. Something he does with his students as a proponent of nonviolence and peaceful conflict resolution is recognizing that things are the way they are now and so we can talk about trying to make things the way we want them to be either more ethical or moral down the road. But, we still have to do deal with situations right now.

Also discussed in this segment is so many parts of the world do not hold the same values around moral and ethical decision making that the was does.

Segment 3 Moral Dilemmas

Doug shifts the conversation on an issue that is also perplexing to him and that is the relationship of the International Criminal Court and the prosecutor's statement that it will not grant amnesty for peace and the need to negotiate in countries where the top leaders have engaged in human rights abuses but they are not going to go quietly. Syria is a classic example.

Also discussed in this segment is Retributive justice. Retributive justice works on the principle of punishment, although what constitutes fair and proportional punishment is widely debated. While the intent may be to dissuade the perpetrator or others from future wrong-doing, the re-offending rate of many criminals indicates the limited success of this approach. Doug feels it does not provide justice to anyone. It’s a femoral.

Segment 4 Mainstream Media and Advertising Role in Narratives

One thing that Professor Bachman has studied and found interest in is the relationship of the US media to things like military actions overseas that are not full fledged wars but are activities that the US engages in to protect its power in places like Pakistan. The media shapes or frames our assumption of US Foreign policy activities by reporting narratives. Doug discusses Mr. Bachman’s take and conclusion on the topic.

Click http://wsradio.com/052815-what-is-the-connection-between-human-rights-and-peace/  to listen to this edition of the Doug Noll Show.

Segment 1 – Kenneth Feinberg

On this edition of the Doug Noll Show, we have with us Kenneth Feinberg. Mr. Feinberg is a legend in the industry of law and mediation and a remarkable man. We are so pleased to have him with us.

Kenneth Feinberg received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst in 1967 and a law degree from the New York University School of Law in 1970. He worked for five years as an administrative assistant and chief of staff for U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy and as a prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney General. Before founding his own firm The Feinberg Group (now Feinberg Rozen, LLP) in 1993, he was a founding partner at the Washington office of Kaye Scholer LLP.

Mr.Feinberg has served as Court-Appointed Special Settlement Master in cases including Agent Orange product liability litigation, Asbestos Personal Injury Litigation and DES Cases. Feinberg was also one of three arbitrators who determined the fair market value of the Zapruder film of the Kennedy assassination and was one of two arbitrators who determined the allocation of legal fees in the Holocaust slave labor litigation. He is a former Lecturer-in-Law at a number of U.S. law schools.
An attorney, specializing in mediation and alternative dispute resolution. Kenneth Feinberg was appointed Special Master of the U.S. government's September 11th Victim Compensation Fund and served as the Special Master for TARPExecutive Compensation, popularly called the "pay czar." Additionally, Mr. Feinberg recently served as the government-appointed administrator of the BP Deepwater Horizon Disaster Victim Compensation Fund. Mr. Feinberg was appointed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to administer the One Fund—the victim assistance fund established in the wake of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings. Most recently, he was retained by General Motors to assist in their recall response.

Kenneth Feinberg share his journey with us in this segment of the Doug Noll Show.

Segment 2 - Negotiations and Settlements

In this segment, Doug and Ken discuss some of the cases Ken has been involved in and the way different companies handle claims and allegations. Some will go through the trial process. Others, like GM and BP, had a set amount set aside for the victims to be allocated.

Segment 3 - The emotional side of acting Mediator

From 9-11 to the BP Oil Spills to the Boston Marathon and other tragic events, Ken Feinberg has played an intricate role in helping the victims of these terrible events. As an, arbitrator, as a mediator or as a consultant you are bound hear the stories of the victim or the loved one of a victim that will bring the event to life. Many times, they want you to hear “their” story so that a face can be given to the tragedy. This is very difficult and can take a toll on the emotions of these professionals trying to help the victims. Ken feels the pain of his clients.
Ken and Doug also touch on legitimacy of the claims and how fraud is prevented. The only way to avoid fraudulent claims is to have organization of the claims being made. It’s important to have proof, interviews, etc before claims and settlements get paid. You must be very vigilant and Ken’s team is amazing at structuring this process and has been doing it for decades.
This segment is a tear jerker when Ken shares a story of a woman who lost her husband (a fire fighter) in the World Trade Center on 9-11.

Segment 4 - The future of mediation
In this segment, Doug and Ken discuss the future of mediators and the new up and comers. What does it take to be a mediator? What is the future of this field? This is a very fascinating segment.

To hear this amazing show, please click http://wsradio.com/052115-mediation-and-alternative-dispute-resolution-kenneth-feinberg/

On this edition of the Doug Noll Show, we have with us Anna Spain. Every peacemaker has his/her story and that is true for Anna. Anna's journey really started in high school when she was 15 years old and living in a small town outside of Columbus, Ohio she got involved as many people do with the peer mediation program. Her first mediation was two young girlfriends of hers that were fighting over a boy and both came out of the mediation saying they were going to be best friends let's forget about him. From there, Anna moved into more serious work. The town she lived in had several community level areas of conflict and the mayor formed a facilitation team and she was a part of that team so her role as a mediator began long before she made it as a career.
After attending Harvard, she learned that she wanted to focus on International Law. Listen to this wonderful segment while Anna continues to share her journey and she and Doug discuss the basic concept of international law.

Segment 2 - UN and International Law

The system that we operate under today was formulated last century so it is a very outdated including internationally. It is very challenging to get 193 nations from the international system to make changes to the existing laws. In this segment, Doug and Anna speak more about international law, current climate, practice improvement and human rights.

Segment 3 - International Mediation

In this segment, Anna and Doug discuss International Mediation and it's processes. At times, the mediator could be a brilliant international diplomat but being a diplomat does not mean you are a brilliant mediator. In Doug's book, he wrote of a number of examples where he looked at what some very big names (Nobel Peace Prize winners in fact) how they mediated some very important and difficult conflicts to end violence and totally failed. Often this was due to rookie mistakes.

Anna shares her opinion on the subject. Very good segment.

Segment 4 - Transitional Justice Initiatives

Transitional justice consists of both judicial and non-judicial processes and mechanisms, including prosecution initiatives, truth-seeking, reparations programs, institutional reform or an appropriate combination thereof. In this segment, Doug and Anna talk about the process of reconciliation’s.

To listen to this wonderful show in its entirety, please click http://wsradio.com/051415-international-peace-through-mediation/

Segment 1 Joe Markowitz’s Journey

On this edition of the Doug Noll Show, we have with us Joe Markowitz. Joe Markowitz began began practicing in New York City back in the 80's which was a time when what was en vogue was particularly aggressive style of litigation. The idea of that was that if someone sues you or you wanted to sue someone else, your job was not to make their life a picnic, your job was to make their life unpleasant. That was the way to get to resolution. Joe figured out there is a be a better way to get to the point of negotiation resolution. He began getting into mediation in the nineties by attending seminars and volunteering in the courts.

Joe is now a mediator (20 years strong) and also enjoys being a trial lawyer but he believes people are trying to find a better way for the process. It's not that we mediate to avoid trials. The problem with our system is not that we have too many trials. We actually have way too few trials. Our system simply has too much litigation and there must be smarter ways to resolve problems.

Segment 2 Joint Sessions

In this Joint sessions have diminished that there and in this segment, Joe shares with us why he thinks this is the case. A lot of this is the culture people have grown up in and partly because people have had bad experiences in the past. What Joe has to do ask what are they worried about happening in the joint session. Instead of that, let's share information and a have a chance to listen to one another. The value of joint session is direct communication. If people understand the ground work, they can see that mediation is a great tool. Doug finds that the resistance is when the parties don't like each other. People don't have the confidence or courage to be in front of the person they have conflicts with. It seems that people are conflict diverse. There are not a lot of mediators that know how to handle strong emotions.

Also discussed in this segment are the dramatic changes that have affected mediation practices in California.

Segment 3 Mediation Confidentiality

In this segment Joe and Doug discuss Mediation confidentiality and the Millhouse case along with speaking about how mediation skills are applicable in many other professions.
Segment Four Future of Mediation
It's clear that mediation is the trend of the future and the current legal system needs to be streamlined and reformed. This is further discussed in this segment of the Doug Noll Show.

Segment 4 Future of Mediation

It's clear that mediation is the trend of the future and the current legal system needs to be streamlined and reformed. This is further discussed in this segment of the Doug Noll Show.

 To listen to this great show with Joe Markowitz, click http://wsradio.com/043015-mediation-confidentiality-and-the-millhouse-case-pending-the-9th-circuit-joe-markowitz/ now.  

Meredith Richardson - Conflict Management Specialist, meredithmediates.com

Segment 1 Meredith Richardson’s Journey

On this edition of the Doug Noll Show we have with us Meredith Richardson. We hear about her journey and Meredith tells us about the mediation process in New England. In terms of mediation, the difference between the two states is very interesting, Maine has had mediation flourishing for about 40 years and mandates mediation. For New Hampshire, it's taken a long time to take root. In New Hampshire, mediation is not mandatory. You still opt into mediation in a variety of circumstances instead of it being something that is mandatory. Meredith does a good amount of divorce mediation in Maine and New Hampshire.

Segment 2 The Mediation Process

In this segment, Doug and Meredith continue their chat about the mediation process in Meredith's work. Meredith shares with us three kinds of people she mediates. The first ones are " we're not ready to have divorce but are looking to make their relationship better they're looking for some assistance of getting through a difficult conversation or just looking to improve their communication skills and their skills around conflict". This is usually done via retreat with a couple therapist and they do this out on Star Island for 4 days for people who are really wanting to strengthen their relationship. The second type of people who are those trying to be very mindful in terms of their divorce and their coming to her before even touching the court steps. This helps them find out how to do this and do it well so they can file all the documents at once. And the third type are people that have already gone through the court system and they are coming to her to mediate.

Segment 3 Trailing Dockets

Doug and Meredith discuss the length of time to come upon an agreed mediation and the famous trailing docket. Trials are typically scheduled on what is called a “trailing docket” meaning that your case can be called to potentially go to trial several times in a given month. It could take several times being on the trial list before the case is heard. Meanwhile your attorney has to be prepared and you are left hanging as to whether it will happen or not. This bost costly and stressful. After the trial, it can takes weeks and sometimes months for the court to issue a written decision, which can be challenged by motions for reconsideration or an appeal to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. This is why it can take years to receive a divorce in Maine. As you can imagine, mediation is less time consuming and can prove resolve sooner.

Segment 4 Resolution before the Court Steps

Doug and Meredith discuss developing a market in the non litigated disputes. There are thousands of disputes in our society, community and families. People no longer want to just go lawyer up and go to the courthouse. They have conflicts that would be a lot better if they can just get them resolved on their own with mediators.

To hear more about this interesting interview, please click http://wsradio.com/042315-transformative-mediation/

Segment 1 Allan Barsky's Journey

On this edition of the Doug Noll Show, Doug speaks with  Dr. Allan Barsky.  Dr. Allan Barsky is professor of social work at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. He has a background in law, social work, and conflict resolution, including family and community mediation.  Allan  Barsky grew up always wanting to be an attorney. He wanted to help people so Allan went to law school and  graduated  at the young age of 23.  At such a young age, he really didn't find the right place for himself in law so after he graduated Allan did a bit of a left turn and he went into Social Work where he got involved in mediation.  Allan was fortunate enough in New York City to participate in different types of models of conflict resolution.   He worked on diversion cases from criminal courts where he worked with community-based disputes and also worked with with family court matters with youth and parents to help them resolve conflicts instead of having it turn out to be a state issue a punitive model.

Doug gets more clarity on social work and what it encompasses.

Segment 2  Partial Neutral

In the previous segment, Allan shares with us the that in the field of social work. A social worker cannot counsel anyone but the person they are helping.  The Mediator who is primarily hired as a formal mediator needs to be neutral and impartial.  They can't have prior relations with the parties thus they cannot have a stake in the outcome.  They cannot pressure the parties into deciding their conflicts one way or another.  

Doug and Allan discuss the mandatory mediation in the California family court system.  The couple is required by law to go through a 20 minute meditation. This is simply not long enough.  It is more of a reference for the court.  We really should have different languages for different processes.  .it's okay to have different processes but let's not confuse our public.  Very interesting segment.

Segment 3 Conflict Resolution in the Helping Profession

One of the books Allan has written is "Conflict Resolution for the Helping Profession".  How do you approach conflict resolution when you are trying to explain it people that are going to become  social workers, clinicians or therapists?  One of the things they start off with is the of the benefit is to people in the mental health profession learn about communication skills and mindfulness.  People that are very self aware and present and can listen to others, they already have conflict resolution skills.  

Segment Four: Playing nice

How do we engage people to participate in mediation?  In this segment, Doug and Allan discuss how to get both sides to participate in mediation for the goal of resolution.

To listen to this fascinating show, please click http://wsradio.com/041615-allan-barsky-professor-of-social-work-at-florida-atlantic-university-a-state-of-florida-certified-family-mediator-and-chair-of-the-national-association-of-social-workers-national-ethic-comm/

Maria Simpson, Ph.D, executive coach, consultant, trainer and mediator

Website: http://www.mariasimpson.com/index.html

Biography:

Maria Simpson, Ph.D. is an executive coach, consultant, trainer and mediator who has worked extensively with the corporate, non-profit and conflict resolution communities to promote incorporating conflict resolution into organizational systems and training people in the skills and approaches of mediation.

As an executive coach, Dr. Simpson works one-on-one with managers at senior levels to improve their conflict resolution and management communications skills. She also works with teams and departments to improve their decision-making and group process skills, which often focus on improving their ability to manage disagreement and reach resolution.

As a consultant to management, Dr. Simpson has conducted large-scale organization development programs that both integrated conflict management systems and approaches into new training and development programs, and worked with departments on a national level to identify the source of conflict and make recommendations for addressing it.

Dr. Simpson is active in the conflict resolution community. She:
serves as a volunteer mediator for the LA County Superior Court.
has taught conflict management and communications at UCSB and UCLA Extension programs, Antioch University/Santa Barbara, and CSU Dominguez Hills.
speaks on the topic at conferences such as the Association for Conflict Resolution and the Southern California Mediation Association.

Segment 1 Maria Simpson - Author of "Leading Unstoppable Teams"
On this edition of The Doug Noll Show, we have with us Maria Simpson. Maria's journey began when she obtained her in PHd in communications but communications never once mentioned mediation, conflict resolution or peace building (which is her calling now). While Maria was obtaining her PhD in communications she took a program called media ecology. The program set up to have an understanding of the complex communications environment like in mediation conflict resolution. This grabbed her attention.

Her change came when she move to California 20 years ago. One day she suddenly saw an ad "training for mediation" and even though she barely knew what that word meant, there was just something about it that clicked. She knew she must jump on this opportunity. Within three weeks she was in training with the Bar Association and Bill Haas was the trainer. This changed my life forever.

Doug and Maria touch on the subject that but the skills that we learn as beginning mediators are life skills that every human being should be exposed to because they teach us how to really listen to each other effectively and solve problems and it's been learned that these skill are not taught. It is something that does not enter into the public consciousness.

Also discussed in this segment is workplace issues and solving with mediation verses the attorney route. Mediation is still getting to be known in our culture but there are community mediation centers everywhere. It's a more affordable and often more effective result.

Segment 2 Leadership and Organizational Conflict Resolution
In this segment, Doug and Maria discuss that leadership failure is the number one cause of organizational conflict. This is often caused by the different styles of leadership and the fact that managers have never really learned the skills to be a leader. People are looking for leaders and when a leader is weak or do the work of the employees, there is no respect and it causes many internal issues.

Segment 3 Workplace Behavior                                                                                                                                                            Maria shares with us a story about a unit of city government that she was called in to find out whether or not the leader was a terrible bully or just very unprofessional. The city government and Maria set up a organizational study beginning with designing an interview protocol. Maria interviewed 35 out of the 125 of the staff which almost a third of the people in the department. She submitted a questionnaire and the staff was so eager to tell their stories that some of the wrote 5 page letters. Right away, she knew there was an issue with this government leader and how he treated staff. Shortly after her report was a presented to the officials, the leader was let go.

Very fascinating segment

Segment 4 Public Knowledge

Maria and Doug discuss the importance of teaching the public about mediation and her role with SCMA (Southern California Mediation Association).

Click here to listen to this fascinating interview: http://wsradio.com/040215-maria-simpson-author-of-leading-unstoppable-teams-the-best-of-2-minute-training/

David R. Brubaker, Associate Professor of Organizational Studies. David earned a BS in Business Administration from Messiah College, an MBA from Eastern University, and a PhD from the University of Arizona, where he specialized in the study of change and conflict in religious organizations. David has trained or consulted with over 100 organizations, including in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe.

Since graduation from college in 1980 David served with several community development and conflict transformation organizations. These roles included Associate Director of Mennonite Conciliation Service and Assistant Director of Mennonite Central Committee’s Recife, Brazil program where he became fluent in Portuguese. David is the author of numerous articles on conflict transformation, both in organizations and internationally. He is also the author of “Promise and Peril: Understanding and Managing Change and Conflict in Congregations,” published by The Alban Institute and co-author (with Ruth Hoover Zimmerman) of “The Little Book of Healthy Organizations,” published by Good Books

Segment 1: David Brubaker

On this edition of the Doug Noll Show, we have with us David Brubaker. David’s journey began in 1986 when he entered the field of peacemaking. His interest in mediation came out of the experience that he had when he was a teenager and was working as a dispatcher for a trucking company. The teamsters declared a strike the year David was working with them and the very positive relationship that he had had with the truck drivers turned starkly negative during that strike. David realized there had to be better ways of resolving conflict. This gave him the drive to find alternatives and went to college and majored in labor management relations thinking he would go into the labor management field as a mediator but went into workplace and organizational development. David’s goal was to make the workplace a better place to spend time by improving the relationship between management and employees.

In this segment, Doug and David discuss workplace development and David’s international work. Organizational development is the same across the board no matter what part of the world you are in. People are people and there lies opportunity for communication development.

Segment 2: Congregational Disputes

David and Doug speak of Congregational disputes. These can often times be the most challenging disputes to mediate. Why? Because congregations are meaning making systems. This is the role of religion in every society. It helps us make meaning and because congregations are about meaning and identity, when individuals get involved, it touches the deepest areas of their lives and their place in the Universe. This often creates vulnerability and ego issues.

David approaches these conflicts in 2 ways. First, he makes sure he is listening so may understand the situation. Second, he develops teams with 5-7 members with variety members. By coaching the team of insiders, changes can happen within the congregation from the inside out.

Segment 3: Adaptive Change
Doug and David speak more about organizational change. Ronald Heifetz, author of “The practice of adaptive leadership” has a unique approach to organizational change. Basically, there is reference to technical change and adaptive change. The adaptive change is critical when there is a need for deep change to take place usually because the organizational environment is changing in significant ways and this has been seen across the country and through out the world. Since there have been changes in the broader social context and what Heifetz calls for the organizational leaders to “get off the dance floor” and to get up on the balcony so they can get the big picture and get the whole system. This way you can see what is working well and what needs to change for the good of the organization.

Segment 4: Fixing the problem within
In this segment, Doug and David take the conversation overseas. The Middle East is complete chaos and no easy solutions can be seen over there. There is some very distressing news in the Middle East and parts of Africa, Syria and Iraq and Libya in particularly. People look at these situations and they see the visuals and they think Islam is extremism but David personally does not that is the deepest cause of what’s going on. That is certainly one of the presenting issues but really what all of those situations have in common is that in every one of them there is a failed state. The government system has completely broken down. In the cases of both Iraq and Libya has something to do with international intervention and disposing the dictator and replacing with pure anarchy. The reason why organizational development is relevant that what we need to learn how to how to take what we have done with non profit and for profit organizations in this country and other counties and apply it to government organizations in other parts of the world. We need to strengthen government systems because it is the failure of government systems that leads to anarchy and it’s anarchy that leads these extremists groups to thrive. We need to strengthen the state so they can stand up to the extremists.

To listen to this fascinating show, click http://wsradio.com/030515-peacebuilding-organizational-development/