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Title: What are you doing??????????????
Review: This book helped me clarify just what I'm doing as a mediator. The authors show that one's worldview necessarily affects how one mediates. Unawareness of one's assumptions creates the potential to do great harm as a mediator. Our assumption that it's our job to make a settlement happen requires us to behave in a way that is neither neutral nor helpful to the parties. It's too easy to use our litigation tools (such as evaluation, analysis, and persuasion) against both parties in order to further our own agendas. By gaining clarity about what our agenda is, and about what's beyond our jurisdiction, we reduce the harm we do to the parties; and we create more opportunity for the parties to take greater responsibility. The approach described in this book supports parties as they tend to grow from weakness to strength and from selfishness to compassion. I'm grateful to the authors.
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