We are all humanitarian negotiators now: 3 steps for planning your ‘please take social distancing seriously’ conversation
See if this sounds familiar. You have an older relative whom you believe to be at a serious health risk if they catch the coronavirus. You call, try to persuade them to take social distancing seriously.
But your arguments fail to resonate. You both get angry and hang up, locked in a stalemate.
The bad news is that these conversations are as important to get right as they are frustrating. The good news is that you – perhaps without realizing it – have stepped into a field that has already generated a great deal of useful wisdom.
You have become a humanitarian negotiator.
In my work at the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, a research and education center aimed at advancing the science and practice of humanitarian response, I researched emergency relief responders who – every day, all acro...