Elevators Versus Stairs

Gershon Ben Keren

Mon 28th Oct 2019

One of the questions that comes up from time to time, is whether it is safer to take the elevator, or use the stairs. Most people, when asking this question are looking for a simple, one-or-the-other answer, that applies to all situations i.e. a rule that can be universally applied. However, this isn’t possible, due to the contextual nature of violence e.g. it might be safer to take the elevator when staying at the Four Seasons Hotel in Manhattan, but safer to take the stairs when using a parking lot in the south side of Chicago, or vice versa, etc....Click To Read More

Win-Win Outcomes

Gershon Ben Keren

Mon 21st Oct 2019

The term “Win-Win” to describe outcomes that benefit all parties, is one that most people are aware of; and is used extensively to describe how it is possible for everyone to get a positive resolution from a conflict or dispute. However, the term is often misappropriated, and used somewhat differently to the way it was originally defined. By taking a look at how the term originated, and the outcome/resolution it was meant to describe, we can gain a better understanding of the different types of conflicts that exist, and the most effective ways to manage them. The term “Win-Win” was coined...Click To Read More

Unintended Consequences

Gershon Ben Keren

Mon 14th Oct 2019

The human condition likes to believe that we live in an ordered world, and that our actions and behaviors produce predictable outcomes, however sometimes the way we act and behave results in unintended consequences: these occur because we don’t fully understand how a chain of events will play out, and act “inappropriately” in a situation, or because we apply something that worked successfully in one context in another e.g. on 9/11 after the planes hit the Twin Towers, many people went up towards the roofs, rather than towards the ground, as in 1993 after a fire started on the 62^nd...Click To Read More

Enforcing Boundaries

Gershon Ben Keren

Mon 7th Oct 2019

Dealing with a verbally aggressive confrontation is socially awkward; if you don’t experience some feelings of embarrassment, self-consciousness and discomfort, then you’re probably quite experienced in dealing with such situations e.g. you’ve worked in a customer-facing role where you’ve had to deal with difficult individuals and/or you grew up in a neighborhood were aggressive confrontations were part of your daily life, etc. When I first started working door security in bars, pubs and clubs I tended to flip-flop between an apologetic, excuser and discounter of bad behavior, in order to avoid such confrontations, and an authoritarian tyrant who enforced every...Click To Read More