In my experience, one of the most persistent sources of interpersonal conflict is the inability to own up to and correct mistakes. Our first impulse may be to conceal an error, or to deny it exists. We may try to shift the fault and blame it on the negligence of others. We may be paralyzed by embarrassment, shame or a sense of personal failure. Or, perhaps, we just don’t know what to do.
Dumb Little Man presents a remarkable story of one lawyer’s workplace error — missing a critical filing deadline, every attorney’s nightmare — and describes the courageous steps she took to make things right in “How to Recover from a (Big) Mistake at Work“. While avoiding mistakes in the first place is important, it’s a mark of character and rare ingenuity to fix one — making her the kind of lawyer I’d want to hire.
Michael Lang tells of a mediation session where he did not follow a step-by-step model, demonstrating that sometimes, a strict model does a disservice to the parties.
By Michael LangWhat makes a mediation super-hero? And who qualifies? Is it technique or style? Ask Ken Cloke and he will say you are the technique. Is it acquired or does it...
By Geoff SharpThis article originally published in The Scotsman.‘There must be different ways of doing this…” mused my taxi driver as we discussed the return to the use of strike action as...
By John Sturrock