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Recommended Readings

  • Recommended Reading

    The creative problem solving skills of arts and science students—The two cultures debate revisited

    Williamson, P. K.

    Research, carried out mainly in the period between the 1960s and 1980s, reported significant differences in the thinking styles of science and arts students. At this time university and school teaching was highly specialized and concern was expressed in the ongoing ‘two cultures’ debate (Snow, 1959).

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  • Recommended Reading

    The Consensus Building Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Reaching Agreement

    Susskind, L. E., McKearnen, S. & Thomas-Lamar, J.

    This handbook on group decision-making for those wanting to operate in a consensus fashion stresses the advantages of informal, common sense approaches to working together. It describes how any group can put these approaches into practice, and relates numerous examples of situations in which such approaches have been applied.

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  • Recommended Reading

    Breaking the impasse: Consensual approaches to resolving public disputes

    Susskind, L. & Cruikshank, J. L.

    Drawing on his experience in the MIT-Harvard Public Disputes Program, a leading mediator and his co-author provide the first jargon-free guide to consensual strategies for resolving public disputes--indispensable to citizen activists and to business and government leaders.

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  • Recommended Reading

    The Skill Set of the Successful Collaborator

    O’Leary, R., Choi, Y. & Gerard, C. M.

    In this article, the authors focus on members of the U.S. Senior Executive Service who choose collaboration as a management strategy to increase performance and, in particular, their views of the skill set of a successful collaborator. Based on the current literature on collaboration and networks, these executives might be expected to identify strategic thinking and strategic management as the most important skills.

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  • Recommended Reading

    Leading Across Boundaries: Creating Collaborative Agencies in a Networked World

    Linden, R. M.

    Linden illustrates the importance of collaboration, but drives further into issues of networks to teach us valuable lessons about core interests, trust, leadership, and success. This book is a resource for practitioners who seek to produce more value from effective collaboration.

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  • Recommended Reading

    Respect: An Exploration

    Lawrence-Lightfoot, S.

    Professor Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot is a sociologist and Professor of Education at Harvard University. She is the author of many works on education and related matters and is a recipient of various academic awards, including the prestigious MacArthur Prize. This latest contribution brings together various themes found in her other works. It is written for an educated audience of nonspecialists and would therefore be helpful in undergraduate ethics courses, especially as she always connects abstract principles to concrete people, stories, and actions.

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  • Recommended Reading

    Facilitator’s Guide to Participatory Decision-Making

    Kaner, S.

    The third edition of this ground-breaking book continues to advance its mission to support groups to do their best thinking. It demonstrates that meetings can be much more than merely an occasion for solving a problem or creating a plan. Every well-facilitated meeting is also an opportunity to stretch and develop the perspectives of the individual members, thereby building the strength and capacity of the group as a whole.

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  • Recommended Reading

    Collaborating: Finding common ground for multiparty problems

    Gray, B.

    Veteran mediator Barbara Gray presents an innovative approach to successfully mediating multi-party disputes. A superb resource for managers, public officials and others working to solve complex problems such as labor disputes, disposal of toxic wastes, racial integration, and the use of biotechnology.

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  • Recommended Reading

    UNCG guide to collaborative competencies

    Emerson, K. & Smutko, L.S.

    In 2011, the University Network for Collaborative Governance and PCI jointly published this guide to help build collaborative competencies within the private, public and civic sectors. Co-authored by the University of Wyoming's Dr. Steven Smutko and the University of Arizona's Kirk Emerson, the 28 page UNCG Guide to Collaborative Competencies is intended primarily for use by public officials and managers who are seeking to improve their own or their staff's collaborative competence through continuing education and training.

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