Cycles of Creativity The story of one Mediation program

Abstract

This essay summarizes reflections offered at the 2014 Edward Kennedy Institute Mediation Conference. Using as an example her community mediation program in Philadelphia, the author outlines the how the cycle of creativity affected the program (and the wider community mediation field) over time—starting with identifying a problem, then experimenting with exciting ideas, improvising, then formalizing, sustaining, and institutionalizing.
The author observes that both creativity and formalizing are essential, yet are necessarily in tension. After offering several ways mediators and programs can encourage creativity through co-mediation, mentoring, interacting with other fields, and risking improvisation, the essay concludes that the excitement of creative energy can propel a program and its offshoots for a long time afterward. However, creativity is ephemeral and at its heart, mediation is less about fostering creative approaches than about helping parties “be real.” For the next creative cycle, mediators need to be “real” about the causes of community conflicts, and co-create pathways to conflict resolution that people in those communities find effective.