Beyond Intractability: A Free Knowledge Base on More Constructive Approaches to Destructive Conflict
Introduction:
Silke Hansen is an experienced mediator for the Community Relations Service. So it might
come as a surprise to hear about a very simple mistake she made in a tricky
situation. She talks about a very plain but important lesson she learned from
her error as she tells the story of intervening in a situation in which all of
the parties were not privy to her impending arrival.
This rough transcript provides a text alternative to audio. We apologize for occasional errors and unintelligible sections (which are marked with ???).
Simple Mistakes
Silke Hansen
Senior Conciliation Specialist, Community Relations Service
In this case I was invited to participate by a community
advocacy organization. I was to then meet with an institution where there were some
racial conflicts. And I was under the impression, I thought I'd asked, but I
might be wrong, that the institution knew I was going to be there. It turns out
that they did not know that I was coming. All they knew was that they were
getting hassled by this advocacy group, and all of a sudden, the Justice
Department was there as well. I didn't find out until afterwards. I thought the
meeting had gone pretty well. We were even looking towards mediation and they had expressed a willingness to mediate.
But it turns out later, they did not know I was going to be there and they
were furious that the Department of Justice had come on site without letting
them know first. It eventually worked out, but you know what? I ate crow. I
admit I was wrong. I said, you know, I made the assumption that you knew, and
that was unfounded. I am so sorry! But I still think that I have some things
that I can offer in this situation. It ultimately worked out OK. But I certainliy
learned a lesson that I make sure that all of the key parties know that
I am coming into a situation before I come. I don't leave that up to anyone
else but me to make sure they know that. I don't know in the overall scheme of things,
if that's a profound insight. But it's something you can overlook and then oops! I won't make that mistake again because I really learned my lesson.
No one is so foolish as to prefer to peace, war, in which, instead of sons burying their fathers, fathers bury their sons. -- Croesus
Other Resources from Beyond Intractability Reconcilliation in Bosnia How was peace acheived in Bosnia? Is the settlement working? Has reconciliation really been achieved?
The Beyond Intractability Knowledge Base Project Guy Burgess and Heidi Burgess, Co-Directors and Editors c/o Conflict Information Consortium(Formerly Conflict Research Consortium), University of Colorado Campus Box 580, Boulder, CO 80309 Phone: (303) 492-1635; Fax: (303) 492-2154; Contact
