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What’s the Role of Playfulness in Creativity?
February 13, 2015
An important topic: play. Fortunately it is receiving serious attention these days. For example, Current Biology has devoted an edition to it. An excerpt from the article "Playfuness and creativity": Having fun is a good reason to be playful. The pleasure it generates could be seen as its primary benefit. Even so, I want to explore what can be the longer-term benefits of playfulness. For the biologist, benefits are measured in terms of the particular ways in which an activity increases the chances...
February 13, 2015
An important topic: play. Fortunately it is receiving serious attention these days. For example, Current Biology has devoted an edition to it. An excerpt from the article "Playfuness and creativity": Having fun is a good reason to be playful. The pleasure it generates could be seen as its primary benefit. Even so, I want to explore what can be the longer-term benefits of playfulness. For the biologist, benefits are measured in terms of the particular ways in which an activity increases the chances...
Biased Perception, the Spiral of Conflict, and the Role of the Mediator
February 12, 2015
The word "Truth" etched in the pieces of this sculpture on Canyon Road in Santa Fe If we disagree with someone, we typically...
February 12, 2015
The word "Truth" etched in the pieces of this sculpture on Canyon Road in Santa Fe If we disagree with someone, we typically...
Neutral Analysis and Second Opinions
February 12, 2015
Corporate counsel—under seemingly never-ending pressure to contain costs—have a wide array of dispute resolution tools...
February 12, 2015
Corporate counsel—under seemingly never-ending pressure to contain costs—have a wide array of dispute resolution tools...
What Mediators Know (or Can’t Help Noticing) About Conflict
February 12, 2015
What Mediators Can’t Help Noticing About Conflict: When conflict escalates – we are not very good at guessing other people’s intentions When conflict escalates – we underestimate our own contribution The double edged sword of the supporter When conflict escalates – we are not very good at guessing other people’s intentions We can’t help noticing that, when our clients are asked about the other person’s thinking or motives, they aren’t very charitable. They tend to see only...
February 12, 2015
What Mediators Can’t Help Noticing About Conflict: When conflict escalates – we are not very good at guessing other people’s intentions When conflict escalates – we underestimate our own contribution The double edged sword of the supporter When conflict escalates – we are not very good at guessing other people’s intentions We can’t help noticing that, when our clients are asked about the other person’s thinking or motives, they aren’t very charitable. They tend to see only...
Oldies But Goodies
February 11, 2015
SSRN subscribers will soon see a passel of my old articles scrolling across their screens and may wonder, “What the heck?” The heck is that, thanks to a new scanner, I was able to make nice pdf files of some articles I wrote before I started posting pieces on SSRN. With the benefit of hindsight, I might tweak some of them a bit, but I think that they generally still have some valuable insights. So here are descriptions of these pieces highlighting some points of interest. You can read more...
February 11, 2015
SSRN subscribers will soon see a passel of my old articles scrolling across their screens and may wonder, “What the heck?” The heck is that, thanks to a new scanner, I was able to make nice pdf files of some articles I wrote before I started posting pieces on SSRN. With the benefit of hindsight, I might tweak some of them a bit, but I think that they generally still have some valuable insights. So here are descriptions of these pieces highlighting some points of interest. You can read more...
New Book on “Business Divorce”
February 11, 2015
Just the other day, I opened the first page of Stephen H. Knee’s book, Business Divorce, and found this problem described: Two individuals form a business. One has expertise in the normal back-office functions, the other is a great salesperson. Over the years, one of the individuals begins to feel that she is contributing much more to the business than the other individual and that is unfair, because both are drawing the same salary and are 50-50 owners. The resentment results in the individuals...
February 11, 2015
Just the other day, I opened the first page of Stephen H. Knee’s book, Business Divorce, and found this problem described: Two individuals form a business. One has expertise in the normal back-office functions, the other is a great salesperson. Over the years, one of the individuals begins to feel that she is contributing much more to the business than the other individual and that is unfair, because both are drawing the same salary and are 50-50 owners. The resentment results in the individuals...
When to Sell with Facts and Figures, and When to Appeal to Emotions
February 11, 2015
When should salespeople sell with facts and figures, and when should we try to speak to the buyer’s emotional subconscious, instead? When do you talk to Mr. Intuitive, and when to Mr. Rational? I’d argue that too often, selling to Mr. Rational leads to analysis paralysis, especially for complex products or services. And yet many of us continue to market almost exclusively to Mr. Rational. The result is that we spend too much time chasing sales opportunities that eventually stall out. We need...
February 11, 2015
When should salespeople sell with facts and figures, and when should we try to speak to the buyer’s emotional subconscious, instead? When do you talk to Mr. Intuitive, and when to Mr. Rational? I’d argue that too often, selling to Mr. Rational leads to analysis paralysis, especially for complex products or services. And yet many of us continue to market almost exclusively to Mr. Rational. The result is that we spend too much time chasing sales opportunities that eventually stall out. We need...
Negotiation Games To Help Your Business Deal Sidestep Legal, Technical And Emotional Glitches
February 10, 2015
What’s faster than the pace of technological development? The pace of lawsuits being filed about the adoption of new technologies, patent infringement, and intellectual property rights. In our modern world, professionals must be able to resolve highly challenging technology-related disputes – often before they reach the courtroom. That’s where the Program on Negotiation’s Teaching Negotiation Resource Center (TNRC) comes in. Drawing on a wide-range of disciplines including microeconomics,...
February 10, 2015
What’s faster than the pace of technological development? The pace of lawsuits being filed about the adoption of new technologies, patent infringement, and intellectual property rights. In our modern world, professionals must be able to resolve highly challenging technology-related disputes – often before they reach the courtroom. That’s where the Program on Negotiation’s Teaching Negotiation Resource Center (TNRC) comes in. Drawing on a wide-range of disciplines including microeconomics,...
Rare Claim Falls Outside Arbitration Agreement, Creates Piecemeal Litigation
February 10, 2015
Because of the strong federal policy favoring arbitration, and cases providing that any doubt about the scope of an arbitration agreement must be resolved in favor of arbitration, it is uncommon to find a decision holding that the parties’ claims are not within the scope of their arbitration agreement. But, the Supreme Court of Alabama held exactly that in Porter v. Williamson, __ So.3d__, 2015 WL 403081 (Ala. Jan. 30, 2015). Porter involves a family drama in which two brothers owned investment...
February 10, 2015
Because of the strong federal policy favoring arbitration, and cases providing that any doubt about the scope of an arbitration agreement must be resolved in favor of arbitration, it is uncommon to find a decision holding that the parties’ claims are not within the scope of their arbitration agreement. But, the Supreme Court of Alabama held exactly that in Porter v. Williamson, __ So.3d__, 2015 WL 403081 (Ala. Jan. 30, 2015). Porter involves a family drama in which two brothers owned investment...
If Your Boss Thinks You’re Awesome, You Will Become More Awesome
February 10, 2015
If your boss thinks you’re awesome, will that make you more awesome? This question came to us recently, when we were working with the top three levels of management in a multinational. When asked to rate their direct reports on 360 evaluations, some managers consistently rated everyone higher, and others consistently lower, than the average. We wondered if this was a result of bias, and what effect it had on the people who worked for them. To understand this better we looked at a larger set of 360 data...
February 10, 2015
If your boss thinks you’re awesome, will that make you more awesome? This question came to us recently, when we were working with the top three levels of management in a multinational. When asked to rate their direct reports on 360 evaluations, some managers consistently rated everyone higher, and others consistently lower, than the average. We wondered if this was a result of bias, and what effect it had on the people who worked for them. To understand this better we looked at a larger set of 360 data...
