Yes, and: Core Concerns, Internal Mindfulness, and External Mindfulness for Emotional Balance, Lie Detection, and Successful Negotiation

This article suggests that both parts of Leonard Riskin's latest article and parts of the argument on “core concerns” by Roger Fisher and Dan Shapiro may, with certain individuals in certain circumstances, not work. Indeed, focusing on core concerns may even produce less functional emotions and therefore decrease the chances of an optimal outcome. This article addresses the limitations inherent within the core concerns approach and suggests “external mindfulness” as a complementary skill to check when core concerns help and when other tools, including both internal and external mindfulness, may help as well as--or better than--the core concerns approach. We need external mindfulness to notice when core concerns--or at least the way in which we are tending to them--may not bring about either the emotional outcomes or negotiation outcomes we seek.