Through Jazz, Bringing Mediation 'Fresh To Life'

The resumes of drummer Paul Cohen, guitarist Dave Koonse and bassist Putter Smith read like a who's who of jazz greats. The musicians have played with Bill Evans, Charles Mingus, Thelonius Monk, Art Blakey and Harry James, among others.

But this was no smoky late-night jam at the Jazz Bakery, and the audience wasn't a group of jazz aficionados.

The musicians were collaborating in a classroom at Pepperdine University School of Law before a group of neutrals, lawyers and judges attending the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution's summer skills conference.

Called "Improvisational Mediation," the course was created by Los Angeles mediator Jeffrey Krivis, who teaches it with help from his mediation partner Mariam Zadeh and attorney Brian Breiter.

The class has attracted students from across the country for a discussion of how to apply improvisational techniques to mediations.

Krivis, a student of both improvisation comedy and jazz guitar, lead the discussion, inventing mediation scenarios and improvised dialogues with the students, aimed at settling simulated cases.

Then he introduced the jazz trio for a demonstration of a different type of improvisation.

After the trio finished "Yesterdays," the class discussed the art and science of improvised jazz and how it applies to mediation.

Krivis pointed out to the class that, even though the musicians had played together only a few times before, they were all willing to cooperate with one another and to let the others take the lead. But, he noted, in mediation, like in jazz, sometimes selfishness comes into play.

"What if somebody who is really popular came in now [to join the trio], and he does have an ego?" Krivis asked the musicians.

"First of all, you try to make him look good - then you try to get rid of him," answered the bassist, Smith.

The operative phrase of the class was "yes, and" - the cornerstone of improvisation, because saying it accepts an improvised statement and starts adding to it.

"You're saying, 'Yes, and let me build on that'" with each successive solo, said Breiter, also an improvisation performer, who appears at comedy clubs throughout Los Angeles.

Cohen, the drummer, who is also a lawyer, said his attention to the improvised phrasing of other musicians has helped him detect what is needed to settle a case by listening to the litigants' voices.

"I hear a roughness or a fragility," Cohen said. "To a lot of people, that's irrelevant, but it's really important if you want to resolve it instead of going to court."

In jazz, every performance gives the song a new meaning, the musicians agreed.

"You think differently," Koonse, the guitarist, said. "You bring it fresh to life."

The class responded with enthusiasm.

"We didn't know [Krivis] was going to do the jazz stuff," said Irvine-based mediator and attorney Geraldine Jaffe. "It's extraordinary."

Another student even asked Krivis for an autograph of his 2006 book, also called "Improvisational Mediation," like the name of the course.

Krivis isn't the only person to have noticed similarities between jazz and mediation.

JAMS mediator and Northwestern University dispute resolution professor John Cooley takes up the topic in a recent article for the Journal of Dispute Resolution, called "Mediation, Improvisation, and All That Jazz."

In the article, Cooley concludes that "in order to be a masterful negotiator, mediator and/or mediation advocate one has to not only be a musician at heart, but also a jazz musician, an improvisational artist."

After a few more songs - a swinging, dissonant, "I've Been Working on the Railroad," and Dave Brubeck's signature tune, "Take Five" - the class adjourned.

Afterward, Krivis said that he has found his study of improvisation invaluable in conducting his own mediations.

"It's completely opened up new disciplines that have allowed me to grow," he said.

He was especially taken by Koonse's observation about bringing old songs "fresh to life."

Krivis said that mediators do that with disputes, the same way jazz musicians do it with standards.

"They don't know anything about mediation," he said of the musicians, "but they're using our words."

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Andy ,   Dunedin NZ	andypattersonnz@yahoo.co.uk      07/07/08
Really interesting article. Seems as though Krivis is very big in the field. Another prevalent figure in jazz and negotiation/mediation literature is Lakshmi Balachandra, who has written several articles for Negotiation Journal. I've been a jazz drummer for years now, and am currently a masters student in management (with LOTS of interest in negotiation etc). I can't believe there is so little literature on the topic, as the two disciplines/arts seem so to be so analogous with eachother! If anyone has found other literature, please email me. I'm very interested, and am beginning to write an article on it. Cheers, Andy Patterson Dunedin, New Zealand Add New Comment

geoff ball,   los altos ca	ghball@aol.com      07/02/08
jazz a metaphor
There have been several books on Jazz and management and jazz and facilitation. It's a great metaphor. Some jazz is playing off each other but really just taking turns doing riffs on a theme. Other jazz like when I saw choo choo valdez and mulgrew miller - both pianists playing deeply off each others contribution with twin grand pianos - it was one of the highlight experiences of my life. great collaboration in mediation, facilitation, conversation and life -- and jazz can bring that. geoff ball Add New Comment

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