Tim Hicks – författare

Our abilities to learn and remember are at the core of consciousness, cognition, and identity, and are based on the fundamental brain capacity to encode and store perceptual experience in abiding neural structures. These neural structures are the mechanisms by which we know, think about, create beliefs about, and understand the world in which we live. This includes the social world in which we experience conflict with others; our conflicts are largely about differences in what we know, think, believe, and understand. A number of characteristics of the neural encoding function are at the root of and help to explain conflict in our social relations and why some conflicts are difficult to prevent and resolve.Embodied Conflict presents the neural encoding function in layman’s terms, outlining seven key characteristics and exploring their implications for communication, relationship, and conflict resolution. In doing so, Embodied Conflict situates the field of conflict resolution within the long arc of human history and asks whether and how conflict resolution practice can take another step forward by considering the neural experience of parties in conflict. The book includes many case examples and offers some suggestions for how conflict resolution practitioner training might be expanded to include this theoretical framework and its implications for practice.

Our abilities to learn and remember are at the core of consciousness, cognition, and identity, and are based on the fundamental brain capacity to encode and store perceptual experience in abiding neural structures. These neural structures are the mechanisms by which we know, think about, create beliefs about, and understand the world in which we live. This includes the social world in which we experience conflict with others; our conflicts are largely about differences in what we know, think, believe, and understand. A number of characteristics of the neural encoding function are at the root of and help to explain conflict in our social relations and why some conflicts are difficult to prevent and resolve.Embodied Conflict presents the neural encoding function in layman’s terms, outlining seven key characteristics and exploring their implications for communication, relationship, and conflict resolution. In doing so, Embodied Conflict situates the field of conflict resolution within the long arc of human history and asks whether and how conflict resolution practice can take another step forward by considering the neural experience of parties in conflict. The book includes many case examples and offers some suggestions for how conflict resolution practitioner training might be expanded to include this theoretical framework and its implications for practice.

Confrontation may be one way of settling environmental disputes but is there another, perhaps better, way? Stern and Hicks say yes—through the process of collaboration. They give executives the practical skills to create and sustain collaborations with environmentalists of all kinds, and environmentalists another way to work with corporations, not as foes but as partners. The book is unique in that it does not demand governmental intervention but puts faith in the disputants themselves to reach amicable, mutually agreeable solutions. Stern and Hicks give practical, tested advice from other dispute resolution professionals, as well as from their own experience, and organize it in a way that enables decision makers and leaders on both sides to understand and cope with the difficulties they will encounter during the course of a collaboration. Well written and illustrated with real world case studies, the book will come as a welcome relief to corporate decision makers, and as an eye-opening, hope-creating surprise for environmentalists of all persuasions.Stern and Hicks focus on two key issues: whether to collaborate and how to collaborate. They present five in-depth case studies to highlight the challenges and strategies throughout their book. Among the latter are strategies for gaining internal support for proposed collaborations, and ways to identify and enlist the participation of key parties and other organizations with interest in the negotiations. Chapter 5 looks at ways to develop constructive partnerships by drafting ground rules. Chapter 6 shows how to develop a strategic plan for collaborations. In Chapter 7 the authors analyze some of the many process challenges that parties in collaborative negotiations may face and present methods for dealing with them. Chapter 8 evaluates substantive challenges that may arise during the course of a collaboration; Chapter 9 stresses the importance and methods of documenting agreements once reached. Chapter 10 gives strategies for enlisting the help of outside organizations, including government and media, and Chapter 11, how and when to get help from mediators and technical experts. The book concludes with methods to evaluate a collaboration and a discussion of the importance of ongoing evaluation throughout the collaborative process.