A Life Mostly Lived – A Mediator’s Haiku Memoir

Please enjoy these haikus from Dan Dana’s recent book A Life Mostly Lived, available on amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BKRT3ZXJ

Discovering Workplace Mediation
A Life-snippet

I’m new to this job:

resolving workplace conflicts

as a third party

–

like couples, perhaps?

let them talk it out, don’t quit

refrain from advice

–

they have sovereign choice

listen for peaceful gestures

“say more about that”

–

my job’s not to fix

this magic process does it

I simply convene

–

mediation works

(without special credentials)

if I just let it

Hear The Other Side

in comfy silos

we hear only our echoes

muting others’ sides

–

our firm opinions

rest on facts we choose to hear

not heard from your side

–

we do not convict

people we accuse of crimes

‘til we hear their side

–

when trapped in conflict

there is only one escape:

hear the other’s side

–

from ancient wisdom:

audi alteram partem*

“hear the other side”

* A Latin phrase originating in Greek drama, a maxim in English law, a truism in mediation

Daniel Dana

Holding the Ph.D. in psychology, Dan Dana served for several years as a professor of organizational behavior at the University of Hartford (Connecticut) Graduate School of Business, and has held faculty appointments at Syracuse University and several other institutions. (A former student once called him "Doctor Conflict," and the moniker stuck!) Dan…MORE