The Mediator's Trap
摘要
Why do negotiations fail when mediators believe they will succeed? And, why do negotiations succeed when mediators believe they will fail? A major cause is improper assessment by mediators. In the expected success—actual failure case, the mediator thinks the barriers to conflict resolution are tactical when they are actually strategic. In the expected failure—actual success case, the mediator thinks the barriers are strategic when they are actually tactical. I call this type of miscalculation “the Mediator's Trap”. This chapter demonstrates that confusion between tactical and strategic barriers can lead to the Mediator's Trap in any type of negotiation.