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Quality and Quantity
6 February 2009In the Mediation Mastery Model ™ I created for the success system, there are four quadrants. One very important quadrant is Technical Mastery. Technical Mastery relates to your skill, experience, and abilities as a mediator. It is important to work continuously on improving your skills and to have a philosophy of continuous learning and improvement. This mindset and approach is one defining characteristic that separates the top of the field from the rest.
I am reading a book by Gary Keller, The Millionaire Real Estate Agent, because an attorney real estate broker I know gave it to me. I was intrigued by an excerpt Keller included about quality and quantity:
David Bayles and Ted Orland in their enlightening book, Art and Fear, tell the story of the ceramics teacher who divided his class into two groups. One would be graded solely on the quality of their work and the other would be graded solely on the quantity of their work. He was very straightforward about his grading criteria. The group graded on quality would produce one pot, which needed to be perfect to get an A. The quantity group would have all their pots weighed. If they produced less, their grades would suffer. The results were quite revealing. The quality group spent much of their time planning the perfect pot, but when it came time to create it, they either made mistakes or their skills were too underdeveloped to fulfill their visions. On the other hand, the quantity group churned out pot after pot and, in the process, learned from their mistakes and perfected more advanced techniques. If you haven’t guessed the group that focused on quantity not only generated a greater quantity of work but also work of a superior quality.
Amazing!
As I think back over my experiences in the legal field, I see how the principle applies. At the first firm I worked at out of law school we spent over a month working on a brief. Five people and many drafts later we finally filed the brief. If I go back and read this brief — it is not a work of art. It was good, it was effective — it wasn’t perfect, nor was it “great.” By way of contrast I think about people at smaller firms working on smaller matters who were churning out briefs. Feedback is built into the system. A good adversary will attack weak arguments and judges rule on the merits. I can guarantee you that those who hone the skill of legal writing have drafted many briefs. These advocates have received a lot of feedback from superiors, adversaries, clients, and judges. The same is true for attorneys who work for the government and are in trial or court all the time. These attorneys will have superior examination and courtroom skills than those who rarely get the opportunity to examine witnesses or argue in court.
Likewise in the mediation field, mediators who spend time mediating in the court system (for low wages) often will have a huge advantage over those mediators with less experience.
It is important to spend time in the mediator’s chair. Yes, in the real world when the stakes are high you can ruin your reputation if you are not prepared or skilled. There are, however, opportunities to hone your craft. They may not be glamorous or fun, but think of it as your internship. You are paying your dues to become great.
Often, the requirements for entry into the field of mediation are too low. Your training and education are largely up to you. Take your training and development seriously. Seek out mentors and opportunities to get experience even if you work for low wages or for free. Yes, I believe mediators should be well compensated and that we provide a valuable service. But when doctors are residents and interns they are not paid well. We have to pay our dues.
How can you increase the quantity of your mediations so that you improve your quality?
Set a goal to increase the quantity of mediations you do by 10% and incrementally add opportunities. Find a more experienced mediator in your community who will let you shadow them. This is another way to improve your skill.
Never give up!
Be the best you can be.
Kristina
p.s. I’ve updated the mediation marketing secrets page and now offer a 100% digital version of the success system interviews with expert mediators: , check it out.
Posted in Keys to Inner Mastery, Keys to Technical Mastery, Coaching Corner
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