The Resolution Blog

The Resolution Blog is my mini-journal about alternative dispute and conflict resolution. It...

* provides you with regular updates about developments in the conflict resolution field

* lets you know whenever any new Web pages appear on All-Things-Conflict- Resolution-and-ADR.com telling you about new content, finds or recommendations.

* keeps you up-to-date with other postings or news from the site.

* points out some special areas of interest that you might otherwise miss.

To subscribe to the Resolution Blog (no e-mail necessary), right-click on the orange RSS button (see bottom buttons to the left) and then paste the URL into your RSS reader. Or click on the My Yahoo! button or My MSN or Add To Google button if you keep a personalized home page there.

If you are not sure what RSS and blogging is all about, click on "What's an RSS Feed?"

Once you start, you will be amazed at what RSS can do.

It's fun . . .so enjoy!

Apr 10, 2009, All-Things-Conflict-Resolution-and-ADR Has Suffered a Crash

We have suffered series of computer calamities which make it impossible to publish the bi-monthly entries. We will be back as soon as possible.

In the meantime,here is one more resource. Last month U.S. umemployment reached its highest level in 25 years. A new website called OddJobNation.com designed to help people "turn their pink slips into golden tickets," uses Craigslist postings and some exclusive want ads that provide available quick work.

Some of the jobs are really off beat like being a Fake Employee (providing bodies to p.r. agency so clients will think it is busy) for $10/hour; Balloon Popper (clothed men sicking on balloons to pop them while being videotaped) for $50/hour; or Human Chickpea (dressing up as a giant chickpea and passing out free samples) for $15/hour plus free hummus are some examples.

Click below for more.

Click for more info

Mar 25, 2009, Entrepreneur's Weekend

I've just come from an incredible experience and before returning to my everyday life I thought I'd try to capture and share it with you. This weekend I attended the first Cape Cod Entrepreneur's Weekend, although Boot Camp might have been a more apt name.

I was a part of a team that over the weekend came together behind a visionary idea of one of our members, learned the basics about start ups, marketing plans, business plans, and financing then came together to create a business plan which we presented to a panel of 4 judges who vetted our presentations and choose the winners. We received support from a wonderful group of mentors who freely donated their time and expertise.

During the weekend I

• Learned a ton about marketing, financing and business plans;


• Bonded with my team and made new, life long friends;


• Connected with a lot of interesting and informative people who live on Cape Cod;


• Got very little sleep;


• Barely saw my son;


• Oh, yeah, my team Won the Competition!

My team's idea, Gazillionaire, The Cash Club for Kids, Changing the World's Economy . . . One Child at a Time. If you are a parent, grandparent or just someone concerned about the financial illiteracy of our kids, you may want to lend an ear. You can stay tuned to this blog to learn more.

At $40 per person this was the best bargain on Cape Cod. Not only did they educate us, they fed us well. It was the place to be on the Cape this weekend. The energy and creative juices really sparked. I found out this weekend how much I didn't know that could have made a real difference at some of the more difficult turns my business has taken over the years. 4 teams presented business plans across a diverse menu of topics and opportunities. Each did an outstanding job.

According to President Obama, we are going to have to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps to get ourselves out of this recession. It is at places like the Entrepreneur's Weekend where that is most likely going to happen and where the seeds and saplings of our resurgence will be planted.

Given the success of this first outing, more are planned. Whether you have an idea for a new venture or have skills you could contribute to making someone else's dream come true, give yourself the gift of making time in your life to participate. This is a great example of making lemonade out of lemons rather than focusing on sour grapes (to mix metaphors). You can check out the full story at the link below.

If you want to find out more or follow along as things develop, check things out at the Cape Cod Chamber site, ecapechamber.com, and/or join Cape Cod Entrepreneurs Group on LinkedIn, the professional social networking site.

Click for more info

Mar 17, 2009,

We are all in this together!

In that spirit, Family Mediation of Cape Cod is offering payment plans to clients needing our services. Please contact us for additional information.

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Mar 17, 2009,

Helpful Recession Tip

Check out halfoff.com for links to sites for a broad range of discounts from police auctions to designer discounts to really cheap computer links and many more.

Click for more info

Mar 17, 2009,

Mediation in the News

The LST 325 is a military vessel and tourist attraction in Evansville Indiana. Seems a major dispute has developed between the Executive Director and the ship's captain who have been at odds for some time. Now others are taking sides.

The Board of Directors sided with the Director and fired the captain. But then the crew, who are all dedicated volunteers, sided with the captain and walked out. Seems the LST is under contract to Evansville until 2015, but feeling is running high that the dispute threatens the viability of the ship continuing as a tourist attraction.

Enter Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel, who recently held a press conference to introduce the members of a special mediation team he has set up to attempt to resolve the conflict so that everyone doesn't lose out.

Always nice to see Mediation in the News.

Click for more info

Mar 17, 2009,

More On Fighting Fair

Keeping Money Stress From Being an Excuse To Commence Firing

Money issues are one of the top reasons for conflict. In a difficult economy, especially at tax time, tensions may be higher than ever. Before stress takes an unnecessary toll on your relationships keep these points in mind:

1. Never Assume.


2. Don't Randomly Blame Or Use Tension As An Excuse To Pull Out The Kitchen Sink.


3. Never Forget There Is Also A Person On The Other Side Of The Conversation.


4. Don't Worry About What You Cannot Deal With Before You Know, For Sure, What "It" Is.


5. Dodging A Bullet Doesn't Mean It's Okay To Be Irresponsible.

For the full post, see below.

Click for more info

Mar 17, 2009,

From the Resolution Blog, We Are All In This Together Edition

From a member of one of my LinkedIn Groups.

"This story is about a man who sold hotdogs by the roadside. He was illiterate and had health problems. But, he sold lots of hotdogs. He was smart enough to offer promotions to increase his sales and his sales and profit went up. His product orders kept increasing and he hired staff to help him meet demand. He started offering home delivery. Eventually he got himself a bigger and better stove. Then his son, who had recently graduated from College, joined his father. His son asked, "Dad, aren't you aware of the great recession that is coming our way?" The father replied, "No, but tell me about it."

The son said, "[T]he international situation is terrible. The domestic situation is even worse. We should be prepared for the coming bad times." The man thought that since his son had been to college, read the papers, listened to the radio and watched TV, he ought to know and his advice should not be taken lightly. So starting the next day, the father cut down his raw material orders, took down the colorful signboard, removed all the special schemes he was offering to the customers and was no longer so enthusiastic. He laid off his staff.. Very soon, fewer and fewer people came to his hotdog stand. And his sales went down rapidly, the same with his profits.

The father said to his son, "[S]on, you were right". "We are in the middle of a recession. I am glad you warned me ahead of time." This is another example of a self fulfilling prophecy.

Click for more info

Mar 17, 2009,

Want to Know Who is to Blame For the Recession, Besides AIG?

"25 People to Blame For the Financial Crisis."

published by Time Magazine.

The top five include:

1. Bill Clinton for signing such financial deregulation laws as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, (repealing a cornerstone of Depression era regulation), The Commodity Futures Modernization Act, which exempted credit-default swaps from regulation, and The Community Reinvestment Act, which put added pressure on banks to lend in low-income neighborhoods.


2. George Bush for embracing a governing philosophy of deregulation. That trickled down to federal oversight agencies, which in turn eased off on banks and mortgage brokers.


3. Stan O'Neil, Merrill Lynch's celebrated CEO for nearly six years ending in 2007, for guiding the brokerage giant away from fee based businesses like asset management into the much headier world of creating collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), which were largely made of subprime mortgage bonds. O'Neal allowed Merrill to load up on the bonds and keep them on its books. By June 2006, Merrill had amassed $41 billion in subprime CDOs and mortgage bonds, according to Fortune. As the subprime market unwound, Merrill went into crisis, and Bank of America swooped in to buy it.


4. Wen Jiabao, "if cheap credit was the crack cocaine of this financial crisis - and it was - then China was one of its primary dealers. China is now the largest creditor to the U.S. government, holding an estimated $1.7 trillion in dollar-denominated debt."


5. David Lereah, the chief economist at the National Association of Realtors for not only issued rosy forecasts long after there was any reason to be rosy. But also for regularly trumpeting the infallibility of housing as an investment in interviews, on TV and in his 2005 book, Are You Missing the Real Estate Boom?. Lereah says he grew concerned about the direction of the market in 2006, but consider his January 2007 statement: "It appears we have established a bottom."

The best part is you can vote on each contender's guilt and establish a level of culpability. You might also want to check out the voting for the most guilty. This could become a new recession game.

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Mar 11, 2009, Fighting Fair -- Do You or Don't You?

Fighting Fair -- Here are 15 things you can do to ensure a fair fight

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Mar 10, 2009, Conflict resolution tips to lower your blood pressure and build your spirit.

Conflict Resolution Tips -- Misunderstandings and disagreements are inevitable and conflict healthy.

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Feb 28, 2009, Tough Times Don’t Last But Tough People Do Edition

Take the Resilience Test -- a quiz to test what you know about resilience, and to offer a few tips on bolstering your share of this essential human strength.

For example did you know that the following strengths make up resilience?

1. Independence: Keeping emotional and physical distance from sources of trauma.


2. Relationships: The ability to attract, connect with, and form meaningful attachments to others.


3. Insight: Asking yourself hard questions -- about your strengths and weaknesses, for example, or about the role you play in your own problems -- and giving yourself honest answers.


4. Initiative: Taking charge of your problems.


5. Morality/spirituality: A firm sense of values and one's own self-worth.


6. Creativity: Giving meaning to your troubling experiences and painful feelings.


7. Humor: Finding the comic in the tragic.

Click for more info

Feb 28, 2009,

Businesses Born in a Recession

Target, UnitedHealth, Cargill, Supervalu - all were born in recessions

From the Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal - by John Vomhof Jr. Staff Writer

"The business section is filled with bad news. These are difficult times, no doubt. But tough times also can breed innovation and entrepreneurship."

"Hundreds of Minnesota companies were born in recessions, just like the one we're in now. In fact, 10 of the state's 19 Fortune 500 firms - including UnitedHealth Group, Target Corp. and Supervalu Inc. - were founded during economic downturns. Agriculture and energy cooperative CHS Inc. was even founded during the Great Depression of the 1930s."

"Past economic downturns also gave birth to privately held giants Cargill Inc. and Carlson Cos. Inc., as well as the state's largest contractor (Mortenson Construction) and largest real estate developer (Ryan Cos. US Inc.)."

"As the old adage says, 'Necessity is the mother of invention,' " said Julian Schuster, dean of the Hamline University Graduate School of Management in St. Paul. "Usually in the tough times, we feel the necessity for change or to do something about the crisis. There's a sense of urgency to do something."If the old adage is true, then this is exactly the right time to reinvent concepts and be innovative."

That's why a recession actually can be a better time for entrepreneurship than a boom time, Schuster said."In regular times, we look at best practices to see what someone else is doing that is working, and then we try a little incremental improvement," he said. "In times of the profound downturn, which we are experiencing now, that is neither advisable nor possible. What we need to do is to look for 'next practices' - bold, innovative steps forward."

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Feb 28, 2009,

7 Ways to Keep Your Spirit Up in a Down Economy

From Michael Hyatt, President & CEO, Thomas Nelson Publishers:

1. Turn Off The News Media. -- Turn off the TV. Turn off the radio. They are no longer reporting on the problem; they are the problem. I personally learned the value of this during the sniper attacks when I was living in suburban Washington D.C. The constant assault of bad news really impacts your feeling of well being.


2. Connect With God.


3. Read Inspirational Books.


4. Hang Around Positive People.


5. Exercise Regularly.


6. Get More Rest.


7. Go To Church.

He explains his seven suggestion more on his blog.

Click for more info

Feb 21, 2009, Deadswitch New Web Service Allows Users To Have Last Word

The Deadswitch New Web Service Allows Users To Have Last Word -- from beyond the grave.

Are you someone who likes to always have the last word? For just $19.95 a year, Deathswitch promises to "bridge mortality" and allow users to communicate important information after death with surviving family members, friends, colleagues, and others.

• expressing final wishes;


• disclosing "unspeakable secrets"; and,


• having the "last word in an argument".

Click for more info

Feb 21, 2009, Resources for Love and Forgiveness

Love and Forgiveness play an important healing role in society. Recent research about love and forgiveness has moved from infancy to adolescence, and it now documents:

• the mental and physical health benefits of forgiveness and benevolent, altruistic love;


• their success in healing family, work, political and social relationships;


• their role in conflict resolution and reconciliation, even in the toughest circumstances;


• their application for criminal justice and political conflict;


• the concrete steps people must take to move from anger and revenge to love and forgiveness;


• their central role in all major religions.

Click for more info

Feb 21, 2009, Attributing Blame — From The Baseball Diamond To The War On Terror

Attributing Blame — From The Baseball Diamond To The War On Terror is a primer on the practice and its underlying cause -- Fundamental Attribution Error.

“Whenever we witness something harmful or unexpected, we humans look to make attributions of causation, responsibility, and blame. Social psychologists have been studying the way we make those attributions for the last half century. Part of that research, known as attribution theory, focuses on how we draw inferences about how much control people exert over their behavior: the more control they appear to exert, the more we hold them responsible or blameworthy for the consequences of their actions. To assess control, we draw inferences about, among other things, whether the person acted volitionally or intentionally and about the person’s motivation. When we think an injurer acted intentionally and maliciously we attribute blame — which is accompanied by a desire to punish the injurer and to compensate the victim.”

You can read the whole story at this link.

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Feb 20, 2009, Boston Legal Conflict Resolution with a “Punisher Trailer"

If you missed this episode check out how Denny Crane handles conflict.

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Feb 20, 2009, Consumers Display Negotiating Nerve

Is the title of this article about how consumers nationwide are taking advantage of the recession by negotiating better deals on all kinds of stuff, from flat-screen TVs to cosmetic surgery to the rent on their apartments.It seems that more consumers are negotiating with companies to lower prices on goods they would have never considered bargaining for before -- from cable prices to high speed Internet to rent. Check out the article for more tips.

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Feb 20, 2009, Don't Buckle in Layoff

This timely Wall Street Journal article includes this advice:

“Negotiate Your Severance. While not required to do so by law, many employers offer severance packages to laid-off employees. The package's size is usually based on the employee's length of service -- some are entitled to two weeks of pay, while more seasoned employees may receive as much as a year's worth.

If you've been working at your company for only a year or two, there are ways to wring a little more pay from your employer. First, ask that any unused vacation days get tacked on to your final paycheck. (You can also try to do this with sick days, but it's often a long shot.) If you have a stellar record with the company, it's also worth asking for more severance pay or an extension of your health coverage.”

Click for more info

Feb 20, 2009, Charles Bronson’s Paul Kiersey (from the popular Deathwish movie series) on Effective Conflict Resolution

With rules like

• “Drop what you are doing and face the conflict head on.”


• “Calmly inquire into the nature of the conflict”


• “Decisively state your position. Let the other party know where you stand.”


• “If negotiations fail the conflict may escalate quickly – be prepared.”

Click for more info

Feb 14, 2009, ADR has gained widespread acceptance among the general population and the legal

ADR is generally classified into, at least, four subtypes

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Feb 14, 2009, Live sand dollars are covered with many short, moveable spines

In 2008, scientists showed that sand dollar larvae can clone themselves

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Feb 14, 2009, Did you know that sand dollars look like fuzzy cookies?

This Sand Dollar was developed by taking an impression of an actual Sand Dollar.

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Feb 13, 2009, Welcome to the Sea Creatures Designs and Jewelry Gallery featuring unique design

They make terrific gifts or keepsakes.

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Feb 11, 2009, The Workforce Training Fund is a grant program for employers to train their work

We can help you with your application for any of our programs.

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Feb 9, 2009, Parenting Plans - Practical information, tips, tools and resources

Parenting Plans - What you need to know to be an informed consumer

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Jan 31, 2009, The Good Ship Whydah's Untimely End

The Whydah is the only pirate ship found off the Cape Cod coast.

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Jan 31, 2009, Sea Creature Designs and Jewelry

Jeff does really wondrous work. His sea creature designs in pewter are sold all along the Atlantic coast.

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Jan 31, 2009, Chatham Souvenir Keychain

The Chatham Light Keychain has proven to be an enduring favorite.

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Jan 31, 2009, Welcome to the Chatham Art and Souvenir Gallery

It is my hope that it will provide a showcase for Chatham art and memorabilia.

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Jan 21, 2009, Interaction, Relationship, Then Transaction

Those of us that live in small towns or close knit communities know the value of working with people we know, like, and trust. Now folks who occupy the online equivalent, though social networking sites, are finding out the same thing .

Liz Strauss, a Twitter member has written "25 Traits Of Twitter Folks I Admire"

Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users' updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters.

She's noted certain values and actions exhibited by people who care about having relationships and conversation before transactions easy to spot. They are disciplines we all might want to cultivate including:

"These folks

1. Keep Their Promises.


2. Don't Seek To Be The Center Of Any Universe.


3. Find Great Conversations And Get To Know The People There.


4. Realize That Every Venue Has It's Own Culture And Rules.


5. Do Their Own Talking And Their Own Listening.


6. Talk Mostly About The Accomplishments Of Others.


7. Ask Intriguing Questions That Invite Others To Join The Conversation.


8. Don't Worry When Folks Don't Respond To Something They Say.


9. Have Time For New Friends, Talk To Them, Listen To Them, Read Their Sites And Bios, Ask Them Questions - Avoid Assumptions.


10. Have A Different Conversation With Every Individual And Every Business.


11. Take Embarrassing Or Private Conversations Offline.


12. Are Inclusive And Encourage Folks Who Exclude People To Exclude Themselves.


13. Shout Out Good News, Help In Emergencies, And Celebrate With Everyone.


14. Say Please, Thank You, And You're Welcome, And Mean Them.


15. Are Incredibly Curious About What Works, What Doesn't Work, Seek Feedback Often, And Look To Improve What They Do.


16. Study The Industry And Trends, Watch How Things Occur, Share Information About Those Freely, But Never Break A Trust.


17. Offer Advice When People Ask. Help Whenever They Can.


18. Aren't "Shameless." Ask For Help In Ways That Folks Are Proud To Pitch In.


19. Are Constantly Connecting People And Ideas In Business Conversations That Are Helpful, Not Hypeful.


20. Get Paid To Strategize Business, Build Tactical Plans, But Won't "Monetize" Relationships.


21. Ignore The Trolls.


22. Can Be Transparent Without Being Naked … Most Of Us Look And Behave Best In Public With Our Clothes On.


23. Listen To The Hive Mind, But Think Their Own Thoughts.


24. Send Back Channel "Hellos" To Friends When There's No Time To Talk.


25. Understand That The Internet Is Public And Has No Eraser.

Relationships are what is changing things. This makes a business experience worth looking forward to and turns a transaction into a relationship. While different online, there are folks who make the distance and facelessness disappear. I respect and admire them."

Click for more info

Jan 21, 2009, Alice's Restaurant Revisited

Just for fun.

If you are of a certain age, Alice's Restaurant is near and dear to your heart. Now you can view it online, share it with your kids, and try to explain what it meant in its time.

Click for more info

Jan 21, 2009, The Benefits of Bartering

In these tough economic times, don't overlook “The Benefits of Barter” from my favorite blogger Victoria Pynchon.

"In her ground-breaking legal memoir Alchemy of Race and Rights (Harvard Univ. Press 1992) Columbia Law School Professor Patricia Williams talks about lessons learned in a local "barter circle."

'Once upon a time some neighbors of mine included me in their circle of barter. They were in the habit of exchanging eggs and driving lessons, hand-knit sweaters and computer programming, plumbing and calligraphy. I accepted the generosity of their inclusion with gratitude. At first, I felt that, as a lawyer, I had nothing to contribute.

What I came to realize was that my value to the group was not calculated by the physical items I brought to it. These people included me because they wanted me to be part of their circle, they valued my participation apart from the material things I could offer. Cradled in this community whose currency was a relational ethic, my stock in myself soared. My value depended on glorious intangibility, the eloquent invisibility of my just being part of the collective; and in direct response I grew spacious and happy and gentle.'

. What could Professor Williams' barter circle possibly have to do with settling a $200 million unfair competition lawsuit? A lot, actually. If you look closely you'll find the phrase "currency [of] relational ethic" -- meaning the intangible value of relations as an exchange means.

We've become so used to valuing everything in monetary terms, we forget that money is a representation of value rather than value itself. When negotiating we all benefit from reminding ourselves that money is simply one medium of exchange.

Integrative or interest-based negotiations, the kind mediation promotes, flourishes whenever the parties are able to identify tangible goods or services as well as the intangible benefits (apologies, recognition, respect, etc.) that might be available to sweeten a monetary exchange.

An example from contemporary business -- AT&T used interest-based negotiation tactics and bartering in its 1999 fight with Comcast Corporation for the acquisition of MediaOne Group. All parties were at impasse until AT&T offered to provide Comcast with surplus AT&T cable systems that would fill Comcast's critical need for additional subscribers -- 2 million. In exchange, Comcast withdrew its $48 billion bid for MediaOne, leaving AT&T as the only potential purchaser.

Interest-based negotiations such as the AT&T-Comcast deal go beyond evaluating the strength of the parties' "positions" (or muscle) by engaging them in a mutual exploration and assessment of everyone's needs and resources -- a process that can create new business opportunities or relationships that increase the value of Business A without decreasing the value of Business B. On many occasions, this type of bargaining not only makes good business sense, it is the only negotiation technique that permits businesses or individual to resolve their conflict."

Click for more info

Jan 21, 2009, Wonder Why Your Not Depressed About the Bad Economic News?

These days, economic bad news is everywhere!

Why aren't we all sunk in the gloom of depression over diminished 401k's, shrinking stock portfolios, and the like? How do we continue to manage to get up each morning and cope with traffic, homework, dinner, deadlines and the other minutiae of daily life?

Because the news affects everyone!

Research in psychology and economics suggests that when only your salary is cut, or when only you make a foolish investment, or when only you lose your job, you become considerably less satisfied with your life. But when everyone from autoworkers to Wall Street financiers becomes worse off, your life satisfaction remains pretty much the same

The economists David Hemenway and Sara Solnick demonstrated in a study at Harvard, many people would prefer to receive an annual salary of $50,000 when others are making $25,000 than to earn $100,000 a year when others are making $200,000.

Similarly, Daniel Zizzo and Andrew Oswald, economists in Britain, conducted a study that showed that people would give up money if doing so would cause someone else to give up a slightly larger sum. That is, we will make ourselves poorer in order to make someone else poorer, too.

Findings like these reveal an all-too-human truth. We care more about social comparison, status and rank than about the absolute value of our bank accounts or reputations.

Andrew Clark, an economist in France, has recently shown that being laid off hurts less if you live in a community with a high unemployment rate. What's more, if you are unemployed, you will, on average, be happier if your spouse is unemployed, too.

So in a world where practically all of us have seen our retirement savings and home values plummet, it's no wonder that we all feel surprisingly O.K.

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Jan 17, 2009, Understanding the Need to Set Boundaries To Resolve Conflict

Everything you wanted to know about setting boundaries and never thought to ask.

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Jan 13, 2009, Who Isn’t Sick Of The Automated Customer Service Systems?

This was too good to pass up. When I saw it I knew I wanted to share it right away. It has made the words “customer service” into an oxymoron. Well someone if trying to do something about it. Click below for a list of companies with instructions for by-passing their automated customer service programs. Best of all the list keeps growing!

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Jan 7, 2009, Conflict Resolution Jobs

Have you ever considered a career in conflict resolution?

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Dec 30, 2008, What is This

Why this is on the website

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Dec 30, 2008, Contact Me Right Away

I want to take advantage of your 10 for 20% offer.

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Dec 24, 2008, The Financial Crisis' Silver Lining

from Harvard Business Publications.

Perhaps the good times are in fact dead. And certainly someone thinking of forming the umpteenth "Web 2.0-widget-to-grab-audience-and-find-advertisers" ought to pause to think whether they really have some kind of defined competitive advantage that can translate into a sustainable business.

But real customers continue to face real problems. And as always, innovators who figure out different ways to solve those problems--and make money doing so--will have opportunities to create new growth businesses. In fact, the creative destruction unleashed by a crisis always opens up opportunities for innovation.

The company launched in May, and has already distributed $10 million in loans. It has suffered very few defaults. The current credit crisis and hesitancy of many banks to loan to even the best-run small businesses creates substantial opportunity for On Deck to extend its model.

Click for more info

Dec 24, 2008, The Financial Crisis' Silver Lining

from Harvard Business Publications.

Perhaps the good times are in fact dead. And certainly someone thinking of forming the umpteenth "Web 2.0-widget-to-grab-audience-and-find-advertisers" ought to pause to think whether they really have some kind of defined competitive advantage that can translate into a sustainable business.

But real customers continue to face real problems. And as always, innovators who figure out different ways to solve those problems--and make money doing so--will have opportunities to create new growth businesses. In fact, the creative destruction unleashed by a crisis always opens up opportunities for innovation.

The company launched in May, and has already distributed $10 million in loans. It has suffered very few defaults. The current credit crisis and hesitancy of many banks to loan to even the best-run small businesses creates substantial opportunity for On Deck to extend its model.

Click for more info

Dec 24, 2008, Negotiating Hard Times: 10 Tips for Delivering Bad News

Ten Battle Tested Rules for Communicating Well in Hard Times by Henry Fawell (@henryfawell).

Excerpt below:

1. Tell the truth. Warren Buffett said it best: "It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it."


2. Don't just respond to crises - plan for them. Forward-thinking companies identify their vulnerabilities ahead of time and plan accordingly.


3. Define your audience. Identify the audience that matters to you and build your communications strategy around it.


4. Keep it simple. Develop a simple yet compelling message that your audience understands.


5. Mind your own ranks. Keeping [employees/others] informed during challenging times demonstrates leadership, maintains morale and minimizes confusion.


6. Be sympathetic. Organizations that demonstrate concern for their stakeholders and the public generally weather a crisis well.


7. Bring in reinforcements. A public statement from a respected industry leader or local figure can help isolate your critics.


8. Don't take it personally. If a news outlet's coverage is inaccurate or misleading, let it know. But don't lose your composure just because reporters ask hard questions and report hard facts.


9. Fill the vacuum. Take charge and define [the crisis] on your terms.


10. Look beyond the crisis. Organizations that identify them and communicate effectively with their stakeholders will be better positioned to succeed when the fog of crisis finally clears.

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Dec 5, 2008, Remember the Slogan Make Love Not War?

Turns out that both these primal urges may not be the polar opposites we think. In a new book Sex and War by research biologist Malcom Potts and journalist Thomas Hayden, argue that sex and war may be more closely related than previously believed. They posit that as humans evolved from lower primates violent behavior became ineradicably connected to sex and reproduction. Put another way, successful hunters got more sex than unsuccessful hunters. This can also explain why sports and rock stars get groupies and nerds don't.

Turns out women are the key to ending the cycle. In societies where women have control over how many kids they bear, the birthrate falls. The authors observe that as competition to survive lessens over time, the potential for peace increases.

To learn more about the book go to

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Dec 3, 2008, Elder Law Mediation Resources - Links to help you make an informed choice

Where To Go To Get the Information and Support You Need

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Dec 3, 2008, Getting to Yes - Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In

Why you must read this book.

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Nov 22, 2008, Understanding negotiator conflict resolution styles.

Do you have a predictable style to resolve conflict?

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Nov 22, 2008, Understanding the role of emotions in conflict resolution

Resolving the Conflict of Emotions in Negotiation

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Nov 22, 2008, Understanding BATNA's role in conflict resolution

Everything you wanted to know about BATNA and never thought to ask.

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Nov 22, 2008, Negotiation – Understanding the role of negotiation in conflict resolution

Everything you wanted to know about negotiation and never thought to ask.

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