by jcooper131 | Oct 29, 2017 | Arbitration, Mediation, Solving Conflicts
“People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do”. (Isaac Asimov)
Mediators who do not allow the principle of self-determination to guide the mediation’s outcome will risk seeing that mediation fail.
Mr. Mark Baer, a mediator who writes interesting articles, posted a recent study about mediation and shared it with us on his LinkedIn page. The study focused on family law mediation in California, and the data developed as part of that study identified an interesting fact. In the state of California the field is saturated with retired judges and attorneys. Having wrapped up their legal career these judges and attorneys turned to mediation as a second career.
I found several other facts in this study to be interesting as well. Their careers and experiences did not prepare them on how to use mediation effectively. The study reinforced the basic fact that good mediation combines skill, training, and experience. The researchers concluded in fairly blunt terms that mediation requires skills that …”judges and lawyers do not possess by virtue of having decided cases in a courtroom…”, and in that state surprisingly few retired judges and lawyers have any formal mediation training.
The study further disclosed that there is a higher instance of these mediators pressing or directing the parties in these mediations towards a preferred or suggested outcome, such that a higher number of mediations didn’t hold up, and the parties to a dispute reverted back to litigation. It confirmed what I had seen at an anecdotal level. The dry nature of the data understates the burdens these failures place on those who find themselves back in court
Mr. Baer has written before about the risks attorneys run when they, under the guise of mediation, begin to subjectively evaluate the actions and positions of the parties and attempt to lead to or suggest a particular settlement. It is a risk that I have written about as well in my posts.
A successful mediation changes the perceptions and relationships of the parties in dispute. It breaks down the distrust that the parties have towards each other, and helps rebuild trust. Successful mediations encourage the parties to decide the outcome(s) they want through consensus by using the process provided by the mediator.
When the process is set in motion correctly, the parties are able to step away from entrenched positions and it allows them to look at alternatives; and looking at alternative solutions is at the heart of successful mediations.
The message here is to think carefully about how you choose a mediator or a third-party neutral to assist in resolving any potential dispute. Ultimately, you need to have confidence in the outcome of any negotiation, and be well satisfied that it sets things back in balance to the point you can move forward.
We at CDCI follow this principle and encourage you to contact us if you have any questions. You can reach us at 832-452-8537, or contact us through info@cdci-mediation.com. We also respond to texts messages.
by jcooper131 | Sep 15, 2017 | Houston Mediation and Arbitration
Unravelling Conflict
I recently read an interesting article in one of the mediation blogs I follow. In that article was a phrase that caught my attention, which reads, in part, “when parties agree to mediate, the search for solutions is not a sign of weakness”. This phrase brought home in a simple way the challenge all mediators face.
Once you have done this a time or two you discover several ways to get things started so that each side talks about the issues that brought them to the table that day. The challenge, though, is getting them to ask the kind of questions they need to ask of the other party that will lead them away from an entrenched defense of their point of view.
In order to explore alternatives the parties need to reach a level of confidence that allows the parties to begin the examination of alternatives. They can only do that by becoming curious about/interest in the other party’s point of view.
A good mediator prepares the parties for the mediation by setting the stage, and in doing so gets the parties to buy into small agreements about the process that will be used. These small agreements occur where the mediator talks about mundane things such as the mechanics of the mediation, his or her role, the expectation of good manners and courtesy, and other such things. During this process, the mediator also explains that this is “their” mediation, and they control the outcome.
At this point the mediator also reminds them in a deliberately low-key manner that they will be the negotiators, they will be the authors of the final agreement, and at that point encourages them to ask questions after each side has stated the reasons for being there.
In my mediations I take several opportunities to make the parties comfortable with the idea of asking questions so that when the parties actually begin to engage each other so that, as mediator I can, where appropriate, encourage the pursuit of questions intended to invite an exploration of solutions without the parties seeing that as a threat or sign of weakness.
In other parts of my business I talk about the importance of building a framework from which questions can be asked and explored. I also emphasize why asking questions is important in my book The Monday Morning Checklist, A Guide for Experienced Leaders in a Busy World. The book is available through Amazon at: http://amzn.to/2f08DIH.
by jcooper131 | Aug 26, 2017 | Houston Mediation and Arbitration
Abigail Adams, the wife of John Adams our second president, was his intellectual equal. They wrote each other frequently when they were apart because they trusted each other’s judgement. In one of her letters she wrote, in part, “…How difficult the task to quench the fire and the pride of private ambition, and to sacrifice ourselves and all our hopes and expectations to the public weal! How few have souls capable of so noble an undertaking!”
Ethics and ambition will be in conflict with each other if a leader is not the master of his ambition. There are two kinds of leaders; one kind keeps his/her integrity intact, and the other type of leader does not.
The one who does keeps it close and guards it. It is OK if it is a little tattered around the edges and maybe holding a patch or two, but it is essentially all there. The one who does not keep his integrity intact sheds pieces along the way so that when that leader reaches the position he or she holds, there is a real question whether or not they can conduct themselves in an ethical manner.
I think the verdict is clear. Just in the past five years you can find real life examples of corporate leaders who failed in spectacular fashion.The seeds of their destruction was a result, in large part, to their unethical conduct. They chose the easy path instead because it looked like the fastest way out of a dilemma. Yet solutions that often seem to be a way out of a dilemma create opportunities for inappropriate behavior.
It leads to policies that, instead of creating innovation and growth, function as a shield allowing directors and managers to engage in behavior that is self-serving and unethical.
How many of you have heard the phrase honest to a fault? All us deal with a lot of noise in popular culture. With great sound and fury we demand that our leaders must be as close to perfect as possible. Yet, even the best of us lead imperfect lives, and the successful leader is one who catches his/her mistake and quickly corrects it. Good leaders do not allow gaps to form between the error and the action to correct the mistake.
How can you be sure you are doing everything you can to keep your integrity intact? Review the absence of the word “morality” in the business environment. This word gets very little attention in within the business community and this is ultimately harmful. This is not about forming judgements or replacing standards of behavior. It is about the moral dimensions of what they are doing. A leader cannot build an ethical culture in his organization without understanding the foundation on which ethics rests.
Want to know more, call us at 832-452-8537, write to us at info@cdci-mediation.com.
by jcooper131 | Apr 17, 2017 | Houston Mediation and Arbitration
In my book, which will be available through Amazon Kindle in about three months, if not sooner, I talk about the fact that many companies say they are customer focused, but they aren’t. They say they are committed to under-promising and over performing. They point out, often with much fanfare, that they have strong compliance programs and have a solid ethical foundation. They spend millions of dollars each year selling that message – until things fall apart.
It turns out it’s a fancy façade on a structure that is deeply flawed. One day the façade collapses and the structural flaws are glaringly obvious. A few months ago, we turned on the TV or opened the newspaper and read how Wells Fargo had, over a number of years, stolen money from millions of accounts, and now we see United Airlines in the midst of a disaster the scope of which will not be known for months.
It is safe to say that the credibility of both companies is non-existent. Wells Fargo is a company that has been around for more than 140 years, and they will do what it takes to rebuild its reputation. It will be a long-term effort but they have every reason to succeed. United Airlines presents us with more questions than answers at this point. But in its own way this failure is every bit as stunning as something pulled from the pages of a melodrama.
When I discuss ethics and integrity training with executives and managers , I am often confronted by a check the box mentality. I sometimes need to remind these men and women that they work in a high risk environment and the existence of compliance programs, ethics policies, written standards of behavior, and even training programs are not guarantors of success. That compliance failures and ethical lapses are just one bad decision away from erasing all hard-won gains. These failures often occur because they don’t look at ethics and integrity with a focus on the human factor.
Want to know more about our approach to ethics and integrity training? I invite you to take a few brief minutes and visit our website. Our approach is designed to reduce the impact on the time of executives and managers. Take a moment to view our upcoming training event in early May, and we will be happy to answer any questions you have.
by jcooper131 | Mar 2, 2017 | Houston Mediation and Arbitration
In a recent article I read, the author talked about how technology is disrupting the way work is done both nationally and internationally. Companies like Facebook and Uber have, within a few short years, achieved market values greater than 80 percent of the companies on the S&P 500. They have corporate structures, processes, and systems, but unlike the large corporations that have been around for decades, they do not have thousands of employees.
More than just the computer, technology is disrupting business models across the world and rendering many traditional methodologies obsolete. Brick and mortar stores like Macy’s and jcpenney are struggling to create new workable models in an environment where technological innovation is forcing a brutal transformation.
Add to this many companies are merging, and their organizations are growing more complex as their size increases. Managing these larger, more complex organizations successfully is a daunting task. Managing Ethics and Integrity issues in these demanding times also grows more challenging. The near constant demand to control costs in a low growth, low profit world puts intense pressure on companies to find savings. Many times training programs of all kinds become an easy target; ethics and integrity training included.
This unrelenting pressure claims high-profile victims every year. Whether it’s Wells Fargo Bank’s epic ethics failures, or MD Anderson’s failure to follow basic rules in placing millions of dollars in contracts involving a state of the art technology created by IBM, the number of companies that fail to comply with their compliance obligations grows each year. There is an area of risk that risk managers content with almost daily. Regardless of the fact that most companies have a range or resources that focuses on compliance and ethics, they do not provide certainty. The number of companies that must work under a Consent Decree or Deferred Prosecution Agreement give proof to that reality.
The list of companies that fail to meet requirements and standards grows every year, and companies struggle every day to avoid being added to the list. The question one needs to ask is if the old business models are being transformed as we speak, why do so many companies still rely on canned training programs that drive managers and employees to check the boxes at the appropriate places?
If the example of Wells Fargo and dozens of other companies teach us anything, it is that existing programs do not drive the cultural changes necessary for modern complex organizations to succeed long-term. We at The Ethics Workshop believe that a series of relatively small incremental steps, consistently applied and reinforced over time, will sow the seeds for real cultural changes in this demanding environment. We invite you to reach out to us and consider having a brief conversation. You have nothing to lose and potentially something to gain. To learn more please visit our website to view these offerings in more detail.
Each month I remind my readers in and around the Houston area that I support a business cooperative called Services Cooperative Association. SCA is an non-profit entity that helps people become successful business owners and entrepreneurs and it does this through regular workshops and a variety of training options. If you know someone with the desire to start a business, invite them to visit the website.
Food for Thought: Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved. (Helen Keller)
by jcooper131 | Feb 8, 2017 | Houston Mediation and Arbitration
Defensive Fort
All across the country in companies large and small annual reviews occur between a manager and the employees reporting under him or her. In the course of conducting this performance review, one of the areas that almost all performance appraisals include is how well the manager and employee communicated.
Whether the person being evaluated got a very good score, or something less, the inevitable result is that the evaluation will leave room for improvement, and will include suggestions to that effect.
But what if you find yourself involved in communication that is not intended to get things done – at least in a way that will advance the goals and objectives that matter. What about communication that does the opposite? In work environments where conflict goes unresolved communication isn’t about getting things done. There individuals begin talking over each other, going around each other, and working at cross purposes. The consequences of unresolved conflicts is significant.
Communication becomes the vehicles by which the combatants in a conflict build their defenses. They defend their positions in a conflict before any consideration about how it affects the work. Any criticism or complaint, no matter how small, becomes an imperative that must first be defended against and then challenged.
In this environment it is critical that encouraging and positive statements be maximized and that body language fully complement the language being used. When there is a disconnect between the words and the speaker’s body language, any effort to de-construct the defenses of employees in a conflict will quickly lose credibility.
Social scientists have developed a significant body of empirical data that non-verbal communication often sends messages more clearly that words. When I am asked by client about assisting in resolving work place conflict, this is one of the areas I focus on almost immediately. I emphasize the importance of choosing carefully how words are used, by whom and where, and review non-verbal elements that can undermine their efforts.
There are many ways that body language can undermine someone’s efforts to resolve a dispute. One of the suggestions I frequently make to managers and supervisors is to always hold those discussion where everyone is sitting in a straight backed chair. Nothing robs a manager’s credibility quicker than the parties in conflict sitting in the manager’s office in “visitor chairs”, and the manager is in a chair where he ca swivel and look away or lean back. Nothing creates a more powerful message of “I am not as involved in this as you” or even worse “I am really being patient here so let’s hurry it up”.
We at CDC Integrated Services are ready to answer questions or to meet for more detailed discussions. Visit us here to find your answers.
