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Introduction: Frank Blechman, a private mediator and facilitator, suggests that facilitators should be open to play whatever role may be missing in the group dynamics. Often, Blechman plays a bad role model, to give the parties something to react against.

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Role Playing
Frank Blechman
Private Consultant. Formerly at the Institute of Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University
Interviewed by
Julian Portilla
2003
What I did as a professor was to try to push people past some of the existing techniques to a belief that they were entirely capable of creating new ones. That is certainly how I practice myself, is to look at situations and say what is missing here? What is it that I could add that might change the dynamic? Sometimes what I'm adding is a soothing quality or a third party perspective. But most of the time what I'm adding is actually a bad role model, which encourages other people then in counterpoint to behave better. I would like to think that what I've done certainly as a facilitator in public processes is to amplify the good intentions of the parties.
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