What motivations and/or life experiences led you to the field of conflict resolution?
It wasn't as though I woke up one day and said, "You know, I think I will go into the field of conflict resolution." It was through my experiences with intercultural communication and conflict, plus intercultural negotiation, both from living and working in Japan, that led me to this field. As an independent woman from New York with a very direct communication style, living in Japan posed a challenge in being able to communicate effectively and build relationships. I have an art background and studied art in Japan and the manner of teaching and learning is so different between Japan and New York. I had so much resistance for the first six months and was becoming very angry. One day I took a step back and realized that as long as I remained angry I prevented myself from more fully engaging in the culture, the people, and my art mentors, so I let go and gained so much more. 

In addition to teaching in and directing the M.S. program at Columbia University, you also have your own well-established practice, FYI Fisher Yoshida International. What is the relationship between your academic and professional practices? How do these experiences compliment one another?
They absolutely do complement one another and the third component to this puzzle was when I went back to school to get my doctorate. There is a wonderful synergy and exchange between engaging in scholarship, putting it into practice in the field, and then trying to educate others to do likewise. I think practice informs theory and theory informs practice; and the challenge of being able to educate others and bring them along on their own learning journey in a way that is meaningful, keeps me on my toes. I treat all audiences as learning partners. I am more familiar with what I can contribute as compared to what others can contribute and even then, I am also surprised because in these processes I learn so much. I am always asking myself the question, "How can I use this?" I have a deep belief that people mean well. They sometimes don't show it, but have a tremendous reservoir of untapped skills, talents and resilience, and it is a matter of creating opportunities for them to showcase and develop these abilities even further. That is where I come in.

At FYI Fisher Yoshida International one of the foundational influences is the use of Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM). Please explain the tenets of this approach and why it is an important component in your work.
CMM takes a communication perspective and this claim supports that we create our social worlds. How we relate to others, how we interact and "act into" situations and relationships is fateful and determines what comes next. We are constantly setting the stage for the next act and the quality is dependent on what comes before. We cannot control others directly; we can only try to develop ourselves. The better we become, the better we become in relationship to others, the better our relationships become as a whole, and the better our social worlds.

How has your experience as a long-term resident in Japan influenced your interest in and approach to intercultural communication and/or transformative learning?

Read the rest of the interview and more [here].