Disputes Involving “Who You Are” Rather Than “What You Want”
In his keynote address to the Section of Dispute Resolution of the American Bar Association, MIT Professor Lawrence Susskind urged that it was time for ADR professionals to get involved in the failure of meaningful discourse in American public life, and to assist people to talk to each other about deeply held beliefs. He focused on disputes that arise “when people describe who they are rather than what they want” and outlined an approach to dispute resolution that is distinct from the familiar Fisher/Ury interest-based model.
The underlying assumptions of interest-based facilitation — that the parties have interests, know their BATNAs, will seek maximum return without unnecessary delay, and will accept an agreement whose terms are better than no agreement – don’t work when people’s values, or their very identities, at at stake. Abortion or same-sex marriage are not interests, or even principles; they define who some people are. When these defining values are encroached upon or attacked, what facilitation model applies? Read more »
