Climbing Down the Assumption Ladder: Using Curiosity to Transform Conflict
Conflict is rarely just about what happened—it’s about the meaning we assign to what happened. In real time, we observe behavior, interpret intent, construct a story, and then react to that story as if it were fact.
In this interactive, workshop-style session, participants will work directly with the Assumption Ladder as a practical tool to slow down and unpack this process. Through hands-on exercises, guided reflection, and mediation scenarios, participants will practice distinguishing observations from interpretations, assumptions, and judgments—and see how quickly conflict shifts when curiosity replaces certainty.
Rather than simply discussing the model, participants will use it to explore how mediators can intervene at each step of the ladder to de-escalate tension, surface underlying interests, reframe narratives, and open space for more productive dialogue.
Attendees will leave with a clear, usable framework and practical questioning strategies they can immediately apply in mediation practice to move parties from reactive storytelling to thoughtful exploration.
What changes when we stop treating our story as fact—and start getting curious about what else might be true?
