The Winter 2012 quarter of
ACResolution Magazine has a very nice series of articles addressing how
mediators' various professional backgrounds affect their conflict resolution work.
The issue offers a refreshingly
pragmatic view point, in my opinion. In the past few years, LinkedIn and
other professional discussion groups have reflected some serious "crisis
of faith" amongst alternative dispute resolution (ADR) practitioners, as
we weigh the relative merits of competing mediator styles, and struggle to
define ourselves within this very
broad and indefinite system of processes and techniques called
ADR.
To me, much of this chatter calls to
mind the admonition that we mind our own row, not that of our neighbors.
Not only do we not need to comment on and critique the different ways our
neighbors have of doing things, we also do not need to judge ourselves against
our neighbors. What I appreciated about this ACResolution issue is that
it neatly eschews the whole discourse of whose way is better, by simply
recognizing that we ADR professionals are all uniquely shaped by our
backgrounds and experiences.
