More on Mediating for Free
(or … Giving the milk away, Part Deux)
You might have seen my recent post, “Giving the milk away – was Mom right?” Well, a very good conversation occurred recently on MediationMensch, MediationChannel, and mediator blah…blah… regarding the prospects and challenges of making money mediating as outlined in Urška Velikonja’s “Making Peace and Making Money: Economic Analysis of the Market for Mediators in Private Practice.”
When I first sat down to write about this, and the fascinating conversations it’s sparked, I took a sweeping, detailed, rather long approach. I found it gratifying to see a study echoing comments I’ve made myself in posts such as the one referenced above, and this one. My reactions were similar to many readers’ to the questions and hypotheses posed, the anecdotal evidence shared … and I wanted to give my two cents.
But really, much of what needs to be said has been already. Important questions are being asked about whether mediation is meant to be a profession, what changes need to be made to training programs, whether there really is a lack of demand for mediation services or if we’re just not trying hard enough to promote our services. I encourage you to read the posts on my friends’ blogs, and the very well written comments, as well as at least a few of Veilkonja’s plain facts:
- “Of those who decide to become mediators, 80% cannot make a living solely as mediators … 15% keep busy, make a decent living…the top 5%…can gross…a million dollars per year.”
- Approximately 25,000 volunteer mediators are practicing in community mediation centers in the U.S. “A large percentage of disputes…are mediated in free public programs.” Meanwhile, only 10,000 mediators make $50k or more per year. And various government, corporate, labor, educational and legal agencies employ just 4,000.
- “Mediation remains a choice that is more often than not the result of a judicial or legislative mandate than of party choice…Mediators do not offer clients what they are looking for: a process where the prerequisite is not to be trusting, reasonable or logical, but a process where they can be angry and resentful … that works and … they will not be exploited.”
- “While … a “massive amount of…mediation work” is going on in organizations, little of it is compensated and purchased separately, and is instead part of a managerial or government job.”
I’d like to discuss two aspects of this paper, which related to my own experience: overoptimism bred by training programs, and the winner-take-all economy.
It’s all rainbows and lollipops.
A recurring theme in this paper is “entrant overoptimism.” A number of my cohorts in the 40 hour basic training I took last fall expected to jump in to their new, lucrative mediation careers the day they went home with their certificate. Or maybe the day after that. Some were between jobs, others were eager to transition from related careers like family law or psychotherapy. A considerable portion were far more optimistic than I, even with our trainers’ warnings and realistically bleak pictures of making it anything more than an avocation.
I vividly recall one trainer explaining that it took five years and $70k in debt before mediation fed the family. My most optimistic cohorts seemed unfazed by this. Some seemed not to have read books or blogs about the profession before arriving for training. They were unaware of the mini-sized market for mediators, the personal and professional challenges of attempting to mediate full time. I do not place so much responsibility as Veilkonja does on the trainers, but more on the students. We must enter such weighty endeavors with eyes open. Many people do more research before buying an iPod than some students had done before endeavoring to change their own and their families’ lives.
Still, the mere existence of the revolving door of training sessions, each churning out 20+ newly trained neophytes, could be contributing to “overoptimism.” I can see how some would assume that if ‘they’ are training so many new mediators, there must be work. Having gone to a music college, I see the flaw in this logic. But to my point … Is that overoptimism such a bad thing? Veilkonja seems to think so, citing the cost society incurs for individuals paying large sums for training, and foregoing other career options, deep in their fog of overoptimism. Perhaps many learn a hard lesson when they finish their training and hang their shingle, and no one bangs the door down. And perhaps this perceived cost to society is worth what we get for it: more people, in more professions, households and communities, skilled in and inspired to learn more about conflict management and mediation.
Winner-take-all
First a definition if, like me, you have not studied basic economic principles. Reward is relative and concentrated “in the hands of the few”. Pay is not proportionate to anything. “While those near the top win big, everyone else is far behind, and their reward bears little relationship to how close they were to winning.”
Compare this to human capital theory, which applies to most markets and “predicts that workers…will be paid in proportion to the value of their productive contributions…Pay is distributed based on talent…and on the willingness to expend effort…”
Having graduated from a music college and since transitioned into nonprofit work, these theories resonate with me. I see how they are at work in the world of mediation. Consider Kanye West as compared to – well, any of the thousands (yes, thousands) of bands in the Boston area alone. The disparity is obvious. It sometimes seems as though there is little or nothing between mega-star and hobbyist in the music world. Of course this is not entirely true. There are teachers (school and private lesson), recording engineers, composers, recording artists, software engineers, combinations of these, the list seems endless.
But. For a fair comparison between the winner-take-all markets of music and mediation, we must only consider music performers. As Veilkonja rightly points out, mediation is not a reproducible act. It is the performance of the act of mediating a case that is done by Ms. Mediator in her way that creates a name, a reputation. Veilkonja also rightly points out that once I could buy a CD of Pavarotti, the next best guy was doomed to obscurity. If I can get Pavarotti, what do I need with Jones? And so the top few mediators, the ones with the most work behind them and the strongest reputation, continue to be the most sought after. The mega-stars.
All of you who play guitar in the basement through their headphone amp, or load in to Boston bars on Friday nights after long work-weeks, you know of what I speak. All of you mediators working 100+ hours a week to mediate, coach, self-promote, and after at least five years barely make a living – or barely break even. You know of what I speak. There is very little between that mega-star and the amazing hobbyist. Talent is not the major factor.
I must thank Urska for putting this very real picture of the mediation world in my head.
To learn more about this theory, Veilkonja recommends The Winner-Take-All Society by Frank & Cook. I think this might be a popular book for all mediators interested in either exploring the challenges to making money, or in changing the profession.
And finally, if you’ve read all the way to here, thank you for considering my thoughts. Aren’t you glad I didn’t take the sweeping, detailed, long-winded approach I started with? 
The following is a selective listing of Boston area mediation, conflict resolution and negotiation trainings and events for the summer and early fall of 2008.
I’m developing a rhythm of posting upcoming Boston area mediation trainings and events in the middle of every month. I expect each post to focus on the upcoming six weeks.
