Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Barry Clemson on February 16, 2011 at 8:44am

We are relentlessly schooled in the mindset that "real men" deal with conflict via violence. A very large fraction of our TV, movies, novels, plays and music feature what Walter Wink calls the Myth of Redemptive Violence, i.e., that violence not only solves problems but that it provides good resolutions to problems. Even the church gets into the act by cheerleading for wars. As part of this mindset, nonviolence is equated with cowardly submission to evil. Our imaginations are thoroughly schooled in violence and most of us have difficulty imagining nonviolent approaches working. This mindset also keeps people form seeking ADR. We need to re-educate the imagination to include nonviolence as powerful.

Permalink Reply by John C. Turley on February 16, 2011 at 10:57am

As I relate the Tipping Point to ADR and Creighton University, we have our fair share of Connectors, Mavens and Salespeople in place.  We need more recruits to sustain our new religion and to guarantee its survival and propagation.  What will it take for ADR to reach the tipping point whereby the discipline takes off and stickiness further propels ADR into society's mainstream?  In addition to my previous comments on "stickiness,"  I contend that the Connectors, Mavens and Salespeople must continue to do what they do best to sustain the value of ADR as compared to the conventional means for settling disputes.  It is further important to appreciate where we stand in the lifecycle management of the ADR profession.  We are the early adapters and the evangelists of the practice.  It will take more time, perseverance, education,investment, and the emergence of successive generations of ADR practicioners to take up the cause.  At the present time, perhaps we are truly the evangelists representing our various alma maters(Creighton and Pepperdine) to spread the word and to realize traction as a preliminary stage to stickiness.  Gaining traction for ADR describes the present state of the profession as we strive to realize stickiness, our ultimate goal.

Value is an important concept within the ADR profession.  How is it measured?  Is it a question of saving time, resources or money or all three combined?  As compared to which alternatives or other options?  The argument can be made that ADR scores highly in each separate category, as well as combined.  The value of ADR needs to be publicized more by the Connectors, Mavens and Salespeople and students of the art.  It is important to present ADR's value to the people who can make a difference and who care about the role of ADR in society.  ADR further must address the question,  "So what?"   By this last point, I mean that even when the value of ADR is established, the shakers and movers for social change must be aware of its value and importance.  For example, ADR saved the disputants $30,000 in the XYZ case when compared to settling the dispute through traditional means.  The point must be made to show the quantifiable impact of a $30,000 savings to society, the people who care, and those who are in a position to influence change.  The present economic conditions may provide the fuel for disputants to appreciate the cost savings value of ADR.  Again, ADR is not necessarily top of mind when a dispute surfaces and resolution is neccesary.

So, it will take more time and energy to move from traction to stickiness and all points in between.  The good thing is that we are part of a progressive movement to bring about constructive and valuable change in the way things are presently done and how disputes are traditionally resolved.  We may never realize stickiness;however, I am certain that we will reach a point where we can lay the "so what?" question to rest by saying instead "Look what we have accomplished."

JCT