Mediation Training or Capability Building?

The most widely used method for dealing with conflict currently is mediation or Alternative Dispute Resolution, as the legal profession prefers to call it.  Mediation has a long history, though it is often described as having its origins in the peace movements of the 60s and the Society of Friends programs grounded in Quaker principles in the 70s. and 80s.  More recently there has been a boom in training, accreditation, and the professionalisation of mediation practitioners.  The assumption here is that people ought to have skilled mediators rather than poor quality ones, all the more so since many are now paid to mediate. 

Without doubt there is a need for skilful mediators for people who are unable to deal constructively with their conflicts and do not have time to develop the required capability.  However, there is a danger that, in taking that stance, we may proliferate an incorrect and self-limiting belief that professionals are needed to sort out our conflicts, or at least the more difficult ones.  I prefer to take the view that we all need to be more effective at dealing constructively with conflict and avoid becoming overly dependent on this new rapidly expanding breed of ADR / mediation professionals.

Having had personal experience on the receiving end of a mediator with limited competence, I can attest to the damage that can be done by lack of skill.  However, while the experience confirmed for me the need for skilled mediators, it affirmed, even more so, the need for each of us to develop the capability needed to deal constructively with conflict. 

Mediation can potentially assist in the development of these skills though, more often than not, the emphasis is on the resolution of the dispute rather than the development of capability.  While mediation is very appropriate for a crisis situation (e.g. where a relationship has, or is in danger of breaking down), a more direct route and commitment is needed to develop the capability to prevent, resolve or transform conflict.

Mediation also tends to see conflict in interpersonal terms - between two or more parties who are interdependent, who blame and are angry with each other, and whose behaviour is causing a business or interpersonal problem (Dana - see book reviews).  This, I believe, is too simplistic a view of conflict and limits the range of thinking and options we might have for understanding and working with conflict.  A capability approach embraces e.g. intra-personal, cultural diversity, systemic and structural dimensions as well as interpersonal conflicts.  These deal with a more complex array of conflict and in turn offer greater perspectives and options for dealing with interpersonal conflict

Capability building is an alternative to mediation but it is likely that both will be needed for a long time to come and can be seen as complimentary.  True, building such capability is not a quick fix solution but many find that mediation is not either.  However, capability building does require a greater commitment over a longer period of time but the rewards and benefits are substantially greater.  Nor is the task too daunting. Visible and quick progress can be made when building behavioural capability.  Dealing with large scale or intractable conflict will obviously require more complex approaches. 

Tips for resolving and Transforming Conflict:

Awareness transforms: Keep a conflict diary - describe what happens, how it happens, and your reactions to it.   See if you can notice any patterns.  Notice the choices you have and make. 

Own your own feelings: You are the only one who can create your own feelings even though it may seem that others do.  Blaming others for how you feel gives them a lot of control over you and limits your choices.

Attend to needs and interests rather than positions and rights: The former tend to create movement and progress whereas the latter tend to create stasis and stuckness.

Focus on the future: - There will be time enough to deal with the past when you get to where you want to be.  Create pictures of how you would like things to be when the conflict is over.  Celebrate the shared vision before tackling the differences.