My point I guess is that mediation is not all linear and purposeful as it might appear in the competition environment, with polite openings with the usual platitudes, logical issue identification, measured joint meetings, ordered caucusing and win/win agreements…. it’s… well… messier, I guess.
Any active mediator or mediation advocate will experience a huge range of mediations from corporate to personal, from cash and carry to multi party, multi-faceted, high conflict emotional situations. And for those who go on to represent clients in mediation and then perhaps become mediators, it will be a considerable surprise that the skills needed are not the ones that many teams will have spent most time on when preparing for this year’s competition.
Because, one of the several paradoxes of mediation is that in many cases, the more logical, the more persuasive the argument, the more contrary and extreme the response. And in fact, what is needed, is the ability of advocates, and more so mediators, to build trust and create rapport.
