Opening day

I admit it. I’m a homer. I like my hometown professional baseball team, the Milwaukee Brewers. Today is the opening game of the 2012 season. After a first place finish in our division last year, hopes are high for another exciting and successful season. But even if they don’t win it all (and the Brewers never have), it is still good clean entertainment, usually outdoors.

What does this have to do with dispute resolution? I have written about conflict in sports before, (at least twice). It can be a good model for how we should handle conflict in the workplace and society in general. During the off season, we saw the controversy about Ryan Braun’s positive blood test for steroids. It was finally resolved through arbitration. Agree with the decision or not, it has the benefits of finality and closure. And it showed the importance of having some kind of relatively quick decision making procedure to resolve the dispute.

Conflict can be constructive. Even if we don’t get everything we want or hope for, engaging in a civilized discussion or game with your opponent ultimately puts the dispute behind you and lets you get on with your life. If we don’t win today’s game, there are 161 more to go. And then there is next season. In the meantime, enjoy the game and the opportunity for growth that civilized conflict provides. Baseball is one of the most civilized sports. No slap shots, slam dunks, sacks or kicks. Just some base hits and the opportunity to make it “home.” So enjoy the game and play ball!

The Mother of All Mediations

Thomas Friedman, the New York Times columnist, recently opined that what Iraq needs, now that U.S. and coalition forces are finally scheduled to pull out, is a “big, tough mediator” to help its various religious and ethnic groups live together without blowing each other up. (See article.) It might actually take a platoon of big tough mediators, but it is nice to see such a vote of confidence for the Mediation profession from a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and journalist.  There are organizations devoted to providing mediators for governments, businesses and non-governmental organizations around the world. For example, see IMI.  Regardless of who provides the mediators, they certainly have their work cut out for them. But it seems to be a worthwhile endeavor.  The Mother of All Mediations sounds much more civilized than the Mother of All Battles.