Free Workshop at Northeastern University November 17 to November 21
November 13th, 2008There is a free workshop being hosted by Northeastern University as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week.
Some interesting topics on the schedule…
Upcoming Basic Mediation Training in Cambridge, MA
January 24th, 2008CDSC is pleased to announce the Spring 2008 Basic Mediation Training. Please find attached registration brochure which includes the dates and times of the training. Please note that class size is limited to a maximum of 24 participants. The cost of the training is $695. The early registration cost for the training is $650 if registration is received by April 3, 2008
Upcoming Divorce Mediation Training in Cambridge, MA
January 24th, 2008The Community Dispute Settlement Center is pleased to announce its 2008 Divorce Mediation Training.
This 24 hour course is designed for mediators who are interested in the practice of divorce mediation. The training integrates substantive information with practice through interactive role play experience. Prerequisite: Basic mediation training. The training is being held on March 28, 29, 31 & April 4.
Attached please find the Divorce Mediation Training brochure and registration for our upcoming training.
Consensus Building Institute
July 25th, 2007Dear Friends and Colleagues,
I have very exciting news to share with all of you! I recently accepted the position of Senior Associate of Assessment, Coaching, Training at the Consensus Building Institute in Cambridge. It is a role that I am extremely excited about with an organization that I feel fortunate to be a part of. For me, it appears to be the perfect culmination of my experience as a mediator and organizational developer and leverages my education in dispute resolution, psychology, and law.
I want to say thank you to all of you for the various roles you have played in helping me get here. Without your support and encouragement, this opportunity simply would not have been available to me.
Some background…
The Consensus Building Institute (CBI) is a not-for-profit originally founded by Professor Lawrence Susskind out of the Harvard-MIT Program on Negotiation. My role will primarily be focussed on assisting corporate clients with enhancing their capacity to build creative, value-added, negotiations to further their inter and intra organizational challenges.
CBI’s Mission
The Consensus Building Institute improves the way leaders, advocates, experts and communities make public and organizational decisions. We use innovative strategies to engage diverse stakeholders, identify shared goals, manage conflicting interests, achieve joint gains, and build productive working relationships. We work with government agencies, community groups, businesses, advocacy organizations, researchers and educators.
Our work spans:
• Economic, environmental and social issues in the U.S. and around the world
• Organizational management in corporations, public agencies and non-profits
• Conflict resolution education in schools
• Organizational management in corporations, public agencies and non-profits
• Conflict resolution education in schools
What CBI does:
The Consensus Building Institute (CBI) improves the way leaders use negotiations to make organizational decisions, achieve agreements, and manage multiparty conflicts and planning efforts. We use proven principles, processes, and techniques that improve group decision-making on complex public and organizational issues. We use our substantive experience and innovative strategies to assist clients worldwide in three core areas:
• Facilitate public collaboration
• Strengthen organizations
• Build knowledge
Whether managing important public issues, building organizational capacity, or expanding knowledge, CBI helps our clients make better decisions and get things done.
Feel free to contact me at the new information below. I will still be reachable through my jgordon@potsadr.com email address so no need to delete anything from your address book or contacts.
Joshua A. Gordon Senior Associate Assessment, Coaching & Training Services The Consensus Building Institute 238 Main Street, Suite 400 Cambridge, MA 02142 617.492.1414 (Office) 617.492.1919 (Fax) 440.388.1079 (eFax) http://www.cbitraining.org http://www.cbuilding.org
How to stifle your creativity in 10 easy steps!
April 3rd, 2007How to stifle your creativity in 10 easy steps
~ Courtesy of Lifehack.org
- Be afraid. Be very afraid. There’s nothing like fear to put a stop to any kind of creativity: fear of getting it wrong; fear of what other people may say; fear of embarrassment; fear of change. The more afraid that you are, the less creative you will be—and the less you will act on any creative thoughts that manage to break through the curtain of anxiety.
- Remind yourself of all the times that you failed in the past. Keep them fresh in your mind. Dwell on them—the pain, the shame, the hurt, the way others sniggered. Let your imagination go to work and really re-live those cringe-making moments. That should stop you ever trying again.
- Never waste time. Stay constantly busy. Never mind what the tasks are, just keep them coming thick and fast. Time is money, isn’t it? There’s no mileage in leaving any moments free from gainful activity—especially for self-indulgent activities like day dreaming or reflecting on what has happened. If you fill every waking moment with busyness, you won’t have to worry about creative thoughts sneaking up on you. There will be no space for them.
- Always try to fit in. Be much more than a good team player—be the person who never, ever rocks the boat. Whatever seems to be the majority opinion, go with it. People who have ideas of their own can face suspicion or—horror of horrors—criticism and dislike by the majority. Don’t risk being on the wrong side. The minute that it’s clear what the majority (or the most powerful players) want, that’s where your opinions and thoughts must be.
- Stick to what you know. Tried and true is what’s right for you. Change and novelty involve risk, and risks can go wrong. If you give in to entertaining innovative thoughts, you may find that what you’ve been doing all these years isn’t as good as you thought. That would upset you and maybe force you to do something risky, like altering your habits or changing your viewpoint. So don’t be rash. Caution must be your watchword at all times. Whatever that new idea is, let it wait a while—say a decade or so—before considering it seriously. You’ll be surprised how many will go away in far less time than that.
- Always defer to authority. The people in charge must know what they are doing, or they wouldn’t hold the positions that they do. It would be presumptuous to inject any of your own ideas, when they clearly have all the answers. Rules exist to be obeyed, not challenged. If you always do exactly as you are told, you won’t ever risk disapproval from your betters.
- Don’t ask stupid questions. Best of all, don’t ask any questions. They only get people into trouble. Folk who develop the nasty habit of questioning things may upset the status quo, and that simply causes trouble and disruption. Things are as they are. There’s no point wasting time or effort wondering whether they ought to be different in some way. Only dissidents and weirdoes don’t understand that simple fact.
- Always listen to your Inner Critic. It’s there to stop you making a fool of yourself. Whatever it says, pay close attention. It will unfailingly point out how useless, pointless, and silly those creative ideas really are. It will explain to you that they will never work, and how expressing them will only make you a laughingstock. It’s your friend. Trust it implicitly.
- Leave thinking to the experts. There’s no point in bothering them with with your pathetic notions or observations. If it was an idea worth having, the experts would already have thought about it. They have all kinds of qualifications and can use long words too. If you think that some change might be needed (and you can’t simply ignore such a disruptive idea), hire expensive, expert consultants to do the thinking. They’ll quickly tell you whatever you want to hear, then add what others are doing, so you can copy them. Best of all, if it goes wrong, you can first of all say that what you did was follow industry best practice (whatever that means); and, if that doesn’t disarm any criticism, you can blame the consultants.
- Keep it simple, stupid. The worst thing about creative ideas is that they so often make life more complicated. The best way to stay on an even keel is to keep everything very, very simple. Find one or two rules of thumb and stick to them like glue. Don’t listen to anyone who tries to tell you that there aren’t simple, easy answers to every situation. There are. It’s just that, for some odd reason, they don’t work very often—if ever. Still, persistence is a great virtue. If you stay with these simple, superficial approaches long enough, one or two are bound to work in some circumstance, sometime. Then you can point out to the clever dicks that you were right all along. Why mess up your head with learning? It’s learning that allows creative ideas in the first place. Anyway, learning is for children. Adults like you don’t need it.
Open Letter to Superintendents and Mediation Programs from the Office of the Attorney General
March 27th, 2007
I am pleased to announce the opening of the Request for Proposals for the Student Conflict Resolution Experts (SCORE) program for the 2007 - 2008 school year. We are accepting applications from schools who are interested in working in partnership with a Local Community Mediation Program (LCMP) on the development of a SCORE program.
As you may know, SCORE uses trained student mediators to help resolve conflict between and among their peers. The model for SCORE is a unique collaboration among the Attorney General’s Office (AGO), middle, junior, and high schools, and LCMPs. The grant funds are awarded to the school to support a local SCORE partnership. The school funds staff from the LCMP who implements the program in the school.
As a condition of participation, we require the partnership to raise matching funds for the community mediation program to hire a SCORE Coordinator to work in the school exclusively to develop and direct a peer mediation program. The Coordinator=s responsibilities include program development, recruiting and training student mediators, scheduling and supervising student mediation sessions, conducting post-mediation follow-up, and working collaboratively with school and AGO staff. The partnering LCMP is responsible for hiring and supervising the SCORE Coordinator. The AGO collects data from SCORE programs and provides training and technical assistance to the partnership as needed. Subject to funding availability, we anticipate awarding grants of up to $20,000 per school.
This year we are also offering a SCORE Training Grant. This differs from the traditional grant in that the responsibility of the LCMP is limited to the initial training of student mediators. The management of the program is left to school staff. Some of the grant funds may be used to stipend school staff as well as to pay the LCMP for the training of the students.
Staff from my office will conduct two pre-proposal conferences to help potential applicants understand the requirements of the program and how to apply for a SCORE grant. To register to attend a pre-proposal conference, please contact Dawn Fontaine, Program Coordinator at 617-727-2200 x 2934 or by e-mail at dawn.fontaine@ago.state.ma.us
The pre-proposal conferences will we held on:
April 12, 2007 at our regional office in New Bedford and
April 13, 2007 at our regional office in Springfield.
You may download a copy of the Request for Proposals from the website, www.ago.state.ma.us. The due date for applications is May 15, 2007. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Nora Mann, Chief of the Community Information and Education Division at 617-727-220 x2356 or nora.mann@state.ma.us.
Cordially,
Massachusetts Attorney General
Arbitration and Mediation workshop by JAMS
January 27th, 2007JAMS co-produced workshop on International Arbitration & Mediation, Mar. 27, in Los Angeles, CA, you will gain tips and strategies for the resolution of complex international disputes, with special consideration to matters based in Asia. Join program co-chairs Cedric C. Chao, Esq. of Morrison & Foerster LLP, Jay Welsh, Esq. of JAMS, and a faculty of leading practitioners, including senior corporate counsel from such major multinationals as Bechtel and Nike, to discuss what corporate counsel, litigators and professionals involved in transnational ADR need to know. Sign up soon. You can register here What: International Arbitration & Mediation When: March 27, 2007 Where: Los Angeles, CA (Omni Los Angeles Hotel) Details: International Arbitration & Mediation Workshop or call us at (800) 854-8009
Online Dispute Resolution Course offered by UMass
December 30th, 2006Spring 2007 Online Course in Online Dispute Resolution offered by UMass Online https://www.umassulearn.net/Default.asp ODR, Online Dispute Resolution, currently is the hottest area of the ADR field, but it is still in its infancy and there are many questions about how and when to apply ODR to disputes. Do the rules of offline ADR apply to ODR? How does technology change the equation? Can dispute resolution efforts be effective when parties are not face-to-face? How can offline neutrals best translate their skills online? How can ODR compliment ADR? A complicating factor in the growth of ODR and the application of technology to dispute resolution is a growing body of “digital natives” using technology as an integral part of their everyday lives. These “digital natives” pose interesting problems for “digital immigrants” who have not, and probably will not, integrate technology into their lives in as complete a manner. In this online course we will examine the development of ODR, consider the key questions about its use, think through some of the new challenges it poses to neutrals and systems designers, and look at many of the major providers, administrative agencies, and international organizations currently involved. We will also do hands-on work with state-of-the-art ODR technologies through a series of simulations. Daniel Rainey, head of mediation services with the National Mediation Board (rainey@nmb.gov); Alan Gaitenby, executive director of the Center for Information Technology and Dispute Resolution – Legal Studies, UMass, Amherst (gaitenby@legal.umass.edu ) Instructor: Alan Gaitenby and Daniel Rainey Email: gaitenby@legal.umass.edu rainey@nmb.gov LEGAL 391N Online Dispute Resolution 24541 Online 3 Open Register Continuing & Professional Education, University of Massachusetts Amherst. www.umassulearn.net • academicprograms@contined.umass.edu • 413-545-2414 Course Fees: $870.00 Materials Fee ($0.00 per credit): $0.00 Infrastructure Fee: $0.00 Transit Fee ($2.00 per credit): $0.00 Registration Fee: $40.00 Total: $910.00
Outside the Box / Inside the Ring Update
July 18th, 2006A few updates on the Outside the Box / Inside the Ring Conflict Resolution Curriculum…
We are pleased to announce that all of the lesson plans and exercises will be made available via this website by early August. Our goal with this program has always been to be able to provide the innovative material to as many organizations, as possible.
In addition, a video from our pilot implementation is available on the Outside the Box / Inside the Ring webpage. Check it out!
The plan with publishing the hardcopy book has been delayed, for now. This is a large undertaking and our primary goal is in ensuring that the program remains accessible and we believe that the website approach is the best approach at this time.
***Schools, non-profits, and other educational settings are authorized to use our copyrighted material free of charge so long as they are not used in any profit making capacity. Other organizations must contact us to gain expressed written permission prior to using the material.***
How Brainstorming Works Best
June 20th, 2006An interesting article by Jared Sandberg of the Wall Street Journal.
Click here to read.
