In his bestselling book, Thinking Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 2011) notes that our brains contain two systems of thought: System 1 which “… operates automatically and quickly, with little or no effort and no sense of voluntary control” (Id. at 20) and System [Read More]
Are you a risk taker? Or, are you a risk averter? According to a recent article in the New York Times (Rats That Tend to Gamble Help Reveal Science of Risk by Pam Belluck, March 24, 2016 at page A21), the answer lies in a specific type of neuron or [Read More]
A few weeks ago, I discussed the paradox of Avoidance and Engagement as discussed by Bernard Mayer in his book, The Conflict Paradox (ABA and Jossey-Bass, 2015). I cited the use of mediation as an example of this paradox. Parties engage in mediation to avoid further litigation or prolonging the [Read More]
As a mediator, I have often had a party tell me that she will not settle on the terms proffered because, “It is all about principle!” I take this with a grain or two of salt because I have learned that if the other party becomes sufficiently generous in the [Read More]
In 2006, the American Bar Association issued an ethical opinion- ABA Formal Ethics Op. 06-439 entitled A Lawyer’s Obligation of Truthfulness When Representing a Client in Negotiation: Application to Caucused Negotiation. At issue was whether an attorney has to be as truthful in a caucused mediation as she is obliged [Read More]
In last week’s blog, I mentioned one paradox (competition and cooperation) discussed by Bernard Mayer in his book, The Conflict Paradox (ABA and Jossey-Bass, 2015). A second one is avoidance and engagement. Like the first paradox, on superficial glance, avoidance and engagement appear to be polar opposites. But, upon deeper [Read More]
In any negotiation training class, the concepts of “distributive “bargaining and “integrative” bargaining are invariably discussed. The former is viewed as a form of “competitive” bargaining in which for every gain that one party makes, the other party loses. It is a “zero sum” game in which a “fixed” pie [Read More]
I never really thought about Implicit Bias being the flip side of Diversity or of Diversity being the antidote to Implicit Bias until I read two articles recently. One was in the December 2015 issue of the American Bar Journal (ABA) entitled “Battling Bias” by Stephanie Francis Ward discussing a [Read More]
