Little Book of Cool Tools for Hot Topics

Book excerpt: Some subjects seem too hot for a group to discuss sanely. Not necessarily. The Little Book of "Cool Tools for Hot Topics" -- Group Tools to Facilitate Meetings When Things Are Hot shows how to help people hear each other when they feel like shouting; how to focus on the issues at stake rather than having a war of personalities; how to employ actual practices for better understanding (interviews, small-group discussions, role-reversal presentations); and how to move a group toward making a decision that all can honestly support. Lead author Ron Kraybill is a professor of Conflict Studies in the Conflict Transformation Program at Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Virginia. During the years of the South African political transition, he trained local, regional, and national leadership in negotiation and mediation skills and served as a training advisor to the National Peace Accord. Cool Tools is rich in anecdotes and practical how-to for any group faced with tension-filled decision-making.