their hopes, expectations and underlying needs, which represent
their interests. Interest-based mediation aims at uncovering
the motivating force behind disputants’ stated positions. The
theory and practice here is that parries are better able to brainstorm
a range of settlement options that are complementary
and will advance their respective interests.
• People typically mediate and negotiate their differences with
the intention of producing better results than they might
otherwise obtain. If they are unaware of the results they risk
through unsuccessful negotiations, they may enter into an
agreement that they would be better off rejecting. On the
other hand, they may reject an agreement that they would be
better off accepting. This component of the interest-based
process supports the idea that disputants consider their best
alternative if negotiations break down before rejecting or
accepting a resolution. The acronym BATNA (Best Alternative
To a Negotiated Agreement) derives from this principle.
The CINERGY™ model does not necessarily aim at resolving the
client’s differences with another, as settlement of specific issues may
not be the objective for seeking coaching. In fact, a client’s desired
outcome may not be compatible with what the other person wants.
For instance, a person’s objective in coaching may be to gain assistance
in initiating a conversation with a friend with whom he or she is always
in conflict about ending their relationship. The model does, however,
help individuals explore what is important to them with respect to
what they want to achieve and why. It also assists clients to consider
their options for reaching their desired outcomes. The above components,
and others relating to interest-based processes, also have a place,
in the coaching model when clients are exploring issues in preparation
for mediation, negotiation or other ADR techniques.
Transformative Mediation
Concepts from Transformative Mediation referred to here are from
books by Robert A. Baruch Bush and Joseph P. Folger-The Promise
of Mediation: Responding to Conflict Through Empowerment and Recognition
and The Promise of Mediation: The Transformative Approach to
Conflict. 8 The following paragraph, from the latter text, reflects the
basic theory of Transformative Mediation, which is also inherent in
the CINERGY™ model:
This transformational potential stems from mediation’s capacity
to generate two important effects, empowerment and
recognition. In simplest terms, empowerment means the restoration
to individuals of a sense of their own value and
strength and their own capacity to handle life’s problems.
Recognition means the evocation in individuals of acknowledgement
and empathy for the situation and problems of
others. When both of these processes are held central in the
practice of mediation, parties are helped co use conflicts as
opportunities for moral growth, and the transformational
potential of mediation is realized.9
Here are some further principles from the transformative framework
of Bush and Folger that also apply in the CINERGY™ model:
• Human beings are fundamentally social and desire constructive
interaction. (This point of view underpins social constructionism,
a sociological theory of knowledge.)
• Conflict represents a relational crisis that destabilizes people.
As a result, they act and interact in ways that produce unproductive
and destructive dynamics.
• People in conflict have the capacity co change the quality of
their interactions and regenerate their relationships and
communication, in constructive ways.
• It is up to the people in conflict to identify and clarify their
goals. The outcomes are also their responsibility.
