- Leadership
- Team Building
- Team Cohesion
- Conflict Prevention
- Conflict Resolution
- Peacemaking
Over a ten-year period, Dr. Schmidt trained in empathy-centered conflict resolution, mediation, and the principles of team cohesion under the late Dr. Marshall Rosenberg (through the Center for Non-Violent Communication). Dr. Rosenberg, PhD was the creator of Nonviolent Communication (also known as Compassionate Communication or NVC) training, which operates in over 60 countries. Rosenberg was considered among the world’s innovators in developing collaborative systems and in preventing/resolving conflict in extreme and war-torn conflict zones, forged in regions such as Rwanda, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Congo, Iraq, and South Africa, as well as with organizations in need of dispute resolution.
Dr. Schmidt realized that these methods were ideally suited to individuals, teams, units, and groups that operated in extreme, remote, or isolated environments. Extreme operating environments can be described as: 1) those conditions where the environmental conditions are harsh or extreme (e.g., space, wilderness) or 2) where the surroundings are not extreme, but the human is subjected to extreme performance demands in a non-hostile physical environment (corporate, athletics, etc.). Both conditions stretch the limits of human tolerance or performance, based on their difficulty. Because they are so difficult, fewer numbers of individuals are able to operate in such ways. In all such cases, the limiting factor to success is often the manner in which individuals can emotionally thrive and how such dynamics impact groups.
Dr. Schmidt has evolved these empathy-centric methods to support individuals in extreme or challenging performance environments, to build strong cohesive teams, to facilitate collaboration, and to facilitate recovery after challenging or tragic experiences. For individuals, the implementation of this approach can be life changing, as it results in a greater sense of clarity, a sense of peacefulness, a greater capacity to hear others, an expanded capacity for deep empathy, and a greater capacity to recognize the humanity in others. This capability naturally leads to courses of action that are more heavily based on the principle of shared needs, which leads to true collaboration rather than compromise. This ‘language of empathy’ can become the foundational strength of individuals and the glue that binds strong teams together.
Dr. Schmidt has also engaged these precepts and practices in his concepts of community-cohesion and civilization building. As the co-editor of Building a Space-Faring Civilization, Dr. Schmidt and his team have envisioned what it would take to build a civilization where none exists, such as on the Moon and Mars. What will we bring with us from our Earth civilization that has best served us? What will we seek not to bring forward into space of those things that no longer serve us or enrich our lives? What are the features, aptitudes, and capabilities that will be needed by individuals and groups? How will we optimize working together in collaboration, rather than compromise? What are the ideal attributes an individual might seek to develop so they can rise to their highest level of personal capability in joining such a civilization? How will we train and prepare others, so that this approach to shared needs can be used to bring people from variable and diverse backgrounds together?
Of course, these same concepts and questions apply to building communities and enhancing our existing civilization on Earth. Both are among the lifelong pursuits of Dr. Schmidt.
Our Expedition Team at the Continental Divide, Geoversity Life-Changers Expedition Across the Jungles of Panama, From the Pacific Coast to the Atlantic Coast, Dr. Michael A Schmidt, Sovaris Aerospace