Group Chat Arbitration Phase 1

Step 1:

Let us start first with laying out and re-enunciating the issue at hand here. I am sure that all of us are fully aware of the malady here, but it is usually helpful if we restate the problem, as to give us better clarity:

There are some people like Mr. Ken S. and Ms. Janine whom are proponents of maintaining FFF as youth-led but all-inclusive. While others like Greta, Saoi, Ell and some other young people, are advocating for a change in FFF’s core structural and demographic functionings to being youth-led but also youth-exclusive. The dichotomy here is not surprising, each exponent cohort wishes for the operational way that they think is best for them; the youth for youth-exclusive membership, and the adults for all-inclusive (activist-led) management and operational style. There were benign attempts made at reconciling and mediating between both sides, but Greta repudiates those mediations as she believes that she is not in an authority and rightful position to such mediations and that the mediators are bereft of such rights to mediate in the first place. She also made the quixotic condition of involving most if not all young people in F4F at the mediation, which is impractical for obvious reasons.

And thereby, we are stuck in a veritable quagmire wherein we can’t resolve the problem due to a stalemate on any prospective, -and much needed- conciliatory talks on resolving the main issue at hand: Is it best for FFF be youth-led or youth-exclusive?

..

Now onto the problem-solving part..

How can this predicament be ironed out? And why should it ? Mayhap, the answer to both questions lie in the same box. Mayhap it is not so simple.. Perhaps it is much more intricately complex and multi-faceted with multiple elements, motives, rationales and variegated mental and logical foundational premises, which certainly seems to be the more likely case. 

Regarding the legal part, from what I understand is that because two people with a chasm in their views of how we should function and move forward are the holders of the legal rights for FFF International, we now have a situation very reminiscent of a genuine power struggle, which is, to put it charitably, highly perilous for us and generates imbalances and fratricidal resentment, bickering, bitterness etc. ; however the catch here is that Greta’s rights are held/registered by a trustee (TGTF), any decision that she would make that would entail making use of her possession of that right is likely to face some delays or hurdles, resulting in her powers being limited. While Ms. Janine’s right is not limited due to it not being entrusted to a trustee organisation and held directly and fully by her. If the reason for Greta to not suspend, or even abrogate, the trustee registration and reclaim her full right to the ™ (if that's how ™ s work anyway, I’m not a exactly well-versed in super legal matters, so I’m not sure how that would affect Greta’s powers shall she decide she would suspend the trustee registration. Clarification needed here.) is so cogent and powerful, then, there may be a strong argument or case to be contended that would undergird and vindicate her hesitancy to, even temporarily, suspend the trustee registration during any potential mediation/negotiations, but Greta must have a strong argument here, or else that would be filibustering the matter, which would compound and exacerbate the issue even further, sending us (and naturally, FFF by extension) careening down a vicious spiral that we have got no idea if we’ll even survive or not. We have to be fully aware of the consequences and ramifications of our inactions. Heavy as they might be, the cost of action must be weighed against the price of inaction.

“If we don't sacrifice for what we want (i.e. climate justice) what we want becomes the sacrifice.”

-Jay Shetty

It certainly seems we have to first resolve the issue that has been smouldering on in abeyance, and festering for absolutely aeons at this point, which will facilitate, and even encourage, any further intellectual discussions about profound changes in FFF, such as adopting an international federation charter, an international advisory federation board etc .. 

Truth to tell, it would be a lamentable act of self-sabotage to deny ourselves the chance to sit down and maturely thrash it all out and arrive at an amicable resolution that satisfies all parties and unites us all back into one coherent, indissoluble and united whole!

Let us not let our messy or prickly past ruin our amazing and exciting future.  

Let us ask ourselves who do these fratricidal quarrels, bickering, arguments or chasms serve? Who do they serve? us? Or our adversaries? 

Let us remember the old adage that “an enemy divided is more easily conquered”

And as the African Proverb reminds us “When there is no enemy within, the enemy outside can do us no harm”

And as Abraham Lincoln eloquently put it “A house divided against itself cannot stand”

Thus, it is becoming more obvious that any unattended or unaddressed divisions within any organisation or institution would represent a veritable ticking time bomb, and the longer that organisation/institution waits to resolve the rift or malady, the more feeble a chance it would have at diffusing this time bomb, which if explodes, may eventuate labefaction and trigger the demise of the org./institution concerned. 

Our nemesis is not the rotten dinosaur industry, but contraire to prevailing sentiment, it is rather us! And we are either gonna resolve it, or draw a veil over it and therefore fall into the “ostrich effect” regarding our most exigent and momentous issues. 

Here’s a link if you’re wondering “What in the world is the ostrich effect?” Want to Learn From Your Mistakes and Be More Successful? Science Says Avoid the Dreaded Ostrich Effect | Inc.com

---

Step 2:

The solution is of course not to exclude or distance Saoi and the others from F4F as this would only add fuel to the fire and not serve us well (as Ms. Janine was considering using her legal powers), but rather for Saoi and the others to state and question what they actually want, and for us to know their true intentions. This will only happen if they are talked to by someone who doesn't know them and who knows how to use the principles of homosapien science (aka psychology and emotional intelligence) to help them discover and find their true self. 

I am now ever more convinced that Saoi and the others who think like this are in deep insecurities and anxiety, which is only made worse by the ever-worsening situation of the climate and ecological crisis, and probably interacting with their own personal lives and past experiences, especially from their childhood. In other words, they are lost.They are hurt. They got lost and embroiled in a maze and now they can't get out of it. One of our objectives could be to help them liberate themselves from the unfair manacles and shackles that they imposed -whether consciously or unconsciously- on themselves. I am convinced that there are multiple keys that we need to find to diffuse that time bomb at F4F. One key may be with Cardinal Anders Arborelius; another key may lie in helping people like Saoi understand themselves, and find themselves. Perhaps there are other keys as well. But I think those are the major two ones, and if we get them, and we'll be able to diffuse that time bomb before it explodes, not just in Greta and Ms. Janine's faces, but in F4F's and even the entire environmental movement's face!

---

Step 3:

Identifying the key issues at play here is a great first step. Because as I've said before we can't solve any problem that we don't even recognise, see or acknowledge. 

Secondly, the issue of activist-led vs Youth-exclusive cannot and will not be solved until everyone is able to share their fears, concerns, desires, dreams, vision and goals with every concerned participant in the issue, and do so in a psychologically safe manner. 

This short but important article explains how to create that psychologically safe environment: 

How to Improve Psychological Safety

This will of course need trust between both parties; the adults lead by you and Ms. Janine, and the kids led by Saoi, Ell, and Greta as well as others. 

Thirdly, the lack of trust issue is, I believe, at the core of the root of all of our problems. Here's why. 

A lack of trust generates disputes and an atmosphere of mistrust and apprehension, which puts us (and our brains) into a stressful position, and engages our instinctual 'flight or fight response'. Therefore, this increases frustration, sows the seeds of hatred, foments indignation and bitterness, and makes friendly and authentic engagement in talks inaccessible to our options list. As Maya Angelou wisely said " Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and renders the present inaccessible." What we need to do, is to help the young people in F4F by tending to their needs, in other words, listen to them carefully, without judgement, and without any assumptions. As Stephen Covey puts it "The biggest communication problem is we do not listen to understand, we listen to reply." And by showing the young people (like Ell or Saoi) that we're willing to solicitously and earnestly listen and respond to them in a non-judgemental, empathetic and caring manner, (without making assumptions about them) we’d then showing them that we, genuinely wish to understand them, and are not here to shame or blame them. I talk more about this in the "The Power of Psychology in Organisations" document I shared before with you. You'll find that section on pages 2, 3 and 4 of the document.

If a human being doesn't feel listened to, then any talk of mediations is futile and will be fruitless, because trust is first needed as a prerequisite for such mediations to take place. It certainly seems that the reason Greta may be asking for having a large number of young assistants on her side in the mediations, is that she doesn't feel confident in herself and in her own abilities to handle the discussions within the mediation session, and she is afraid that she'll lose something (not sure what that is, but I think it could be useful to find out) and that fear could be conscious, but also may be subconscious, and if it is subconscious then our mission is actually easier. Because if it is conscious, and we're not very convincing to her, then it becomes much harder to dislodge that fear. But if that fear is of the subconscious kind, then by asking her questions, and by providing guidance for her to ask questions to herself, she can then be empowered to recognise and identify those subconscious fears, and thus bring them to her conscious brain level, enabling herself to tackle them.

Here’s a simple analogy: Our fears and concerns are like objects in the ocean; subconscious ones are submerged deep down underwater. Conscious fears are at the surface. And we (as in, our conscious brain) are in a helicopter 1 km above the sea surface, so we can only detect and see the conscious fears, because they are at the surface, but we can't see the subconscious ones, because they're very deep underwater. It is possible, as I've just said, to excavate or salvage our subconscious (underwater) fears from deep down the ocean floor and bring them up to the surface in order for us to see them, and therefore, be able to fight or handle them. This is highly important because we cannot fight something that we can't see, can we? Similarly, we can't "fight" or handle or address any of our fears until they're brought up to the surface of our mental/cognitive ocean so that we can then see and detect them, and only then will we be able to handle them properly. 

Anything less than that, and we'd be kidding ourselves with illusions of mediations. 

One of our main problems is that we try to accomplish things without first bothering to create the necessary and prerequisite conditions for them to happen! In this case, that's how we do it. The young people's fears, concerns and wishes must be listened to and tended to. Genuinely, earnestly and wholeheartedly. So that they can feel "psychologically safe" and able to then share more of their concerns, fears and experiences, and be more honest with the adults, so that we can understand them better and help them address their deep insecurities, fear and make them feel valued, and thus, cultivate a positive and safe environment for us all to thrive, learn and grow stronger together in.

This is how we generate trust in people who display mistrust and/or hostility towards us, so let’s be kind to unkind people, because they need it the most!

You said "Where forms of the mediation play a very big role in our intensive competing for influence and power", however, this wouldn't be the case in a psychologically safe environment of trust, compassion and understanding. And this only and only happens when everyone's fears and concerns are fully and solicitously listened to and not dismissed, belittled or ignored. More on that in pages 2,3, and 4 in the psychology document I sent before. 

Myriads of thanks!