Relationships Matter

Know What You Don’t Know…

A question we often hear at The Mandt System: Will your program be effective with the people we serve in our school,

04.14.23

Time is of the Essence

Last October, members of the Mandt Leadership traveled to Manchester, United Kingdom, to spend some time with members of our UK

03.16.23

Promoting a Safe & Inclusive Learning Environment

We talk a lot about how to create safe places for the people we serve, but I also want us to consider how to create those safe

02.15.23

Bridging Strategies & Tactics…

In order to create cultures of respectful conflict resolution, organizations and individuals will need to consider both

01.16.23

Time & Distance

I was recently reading an interview with a police chief about training his department had been providing to officers to help

01.02.23

Best Gift?

We are in the midst of the holiday season for 2022, nearing the end of the year, and people are beginning to look ahead to

12.26.22

Commitment to Efficiency and Flexibility

This week many of the Mandt System Faculty team will be meeting in Chicago to catch up, refresh Instructional skills and plan

12.19.22

Kids These Days…

Kids these days! How often have you ever heard or said that comment? Every generation I believe looks at

12.12.22

Trauma Informed Training for Schools

The Mandt System’s RCT (Relational/Conceptual/Technical) level training includes eLearning that focuses on trauma (Chapter 4)

12.05.22

Understanding Human Needs

In order to understand the management and resolution of human conflict, one must first understand human needs. Any de-escalation

11.28.22

Being ‘Right’ or Being Effective?

In almost every instructor level workshop I teach, I am asked the question about how to respond to staff who are resistant to

11.21.22

The Greatest Conflict Management Tool

Wouldn’t it be great if there were an ad that could promise to sell you the greatest conflict management tool? How much

11.14.22

Understanding the ‘Why’ of the Mandt System

Over the past few years many of you will have become aware of Simon Sinek and his book or the TED Talk “Start with Why”

11.07.22

Best Offense is a Good Defense

Any sports fan has heard that the best offense is a good defense. In fact, most professional sports analyst will tell you

10.31.22

Conflict Resolution in the Digital Age

I love to debate. It’s a bit of a sport to me. I’m always respectful, whether online, or in face to face interactions.

10.24.22

Team Centered Approach

The Mandt System is a team centered approach to de-escalation training with the ultimate goal being to reduce the potential of

10.17.22

Coping Skills

Making changes is hard, especially when those changes involve behaviors that have been used over a long period of time to cope

10.10.22

Conflict Resolution Activity

People are always looking for games or activities to help them with their conflict resolution skills. This one is simple,

10.03.22

Why Does Approach Matter?

When we talk about The Mandt System de-escalation training program we will often describe it as a ‘person centered, trauma

09.26.22

Location, Location, Location….

There is a saying in real estate that it is all about location, location, location. Though this is very true, it does

09.19.22

Trauma Informed Training

Building out from my blog of August this year, I wanted to share that The Mandt System in Chapter 4 focuses on trauma informed

09.12.22

Restorative Regeneration

In order to move forward, we must first often look back. Understanding where we’re coming from is a crucial part of developing

09.05.22

Time & Culture

Adjusting to a different culture can be hard. When I was in college, I spent a semester in Central America doing language and

08.29.22

Increase (+), Reduce (-)

I recently was wrapping up a vacation after a work trip to Australia. I was driving from Sydney up to Brisbane to catch a

08.22.22

The Primary Color Approach to Creating Safer Workplaces

We here at The Mandt System are often asked to describe our program approach and how it can or should be used by practitioners

08.15.22

Trauma Informed Schools

In a 2016 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH), data showed that one in five children in the United States have had two

08.08.22

Trauma Informed Support & PBS

I’m writing this blog to really encourage all of our Instructors to consider completing the eLearning centered around The

08.01.22

Conflict Resolution, Healthy Relationships, and Independence

Helping people to be as independent as possible is often one of the primary missions of various human service organizations.

07.25.22

Independence of Isolation

I was watching a video recently where the speaker was sharing about an individual who had grown up in an institution and because

07.18.22

Creating Positive, Healthy Workplace Culture

I have found myself talking more about what I do for work lately. Between getting everything ready for my trip to Australia to

07.11.22

What will you celebrate on 4th July?

So as a Brit, my colleagues often ask if my family and I celebrate the 4th of July. I usually make some joke

07.04.22

Crisis Prevention – Do’s & Don’ts

Recently I had the privilege of hanging out with some veterans at a cigar lounge while I was traveling. Men and women who

06.27.22

Dignity & Respect

Many of us that work for The Mandt System travel a great deal for our job. For the most part, this is an aspect of the job that

06.20.22

De-escalation Training and Strategic/Tactical Safety Planning

Creating the safest possible work environment requires a good deal of planning. This planning process requires strategic

06.13.22

Pain & 4 Walls of the House

Over the past few months, I have been experiencing what for me is the most intense physical pain I can remember. Reflecting on

06.06.22

PBIS & Violence in the Workplace

In The Mandt System we use Positive Behavior Supports and Interventions (PBIS) as a means to decrease violence in the

05.30.22

Kleenex, Hoover & Xerox!

What do Kleenex, Hoover & Xerox all share? There are times when a particular brand become so synonymous with the product

05.23.22

Positive Behavior Support – More Than Reinforcement

Recently in a talk I was having with some colleagues we were discussing the topic of social skills training and some of the

05.16.22

De-Escalation Training – It’s A Game Changer!

It’s always interesting to meet new Instructors that believe the training they are about to receive is very specific to

05.09.22

Creating A Safer Workplace

Australian criminologist John Braithwaite once wrote, “crime hurts, so justice should heal” (2004). This is a great

05.02.22

Using Humor

I have recently found myself observing a situation between two friends where one of them uses a lot of humor in his

04.25.22

Positive Behavior Supports

I had one of those nightmare events for a trainer this past week, I lost my voice. Thanks to the Massachusetts pollen, my

04.18.22

What About After Class?

Even after 47 years in the Learning & Development industry it is unusual for an organization using the Mandt System

04.11.22

Creating Engagement Through Positive Behavior Support

A while back I was talking to a friend who I have great respect for, and he mentioned a book that he felt I would

04.04.22

De-escalation Training Through Positive Relationships

There are so, so many people who believe that training they receive from The Mandt System will be some sort of magical answer to

03.28.22

Conflict Resolution and the Four Virtues of Stoicism

At the Mandt System, we believe that healthy conflict resolution grows from healthy relationships, values, and attitudes. Our

03.21.22

Positive Behavior Support for Ourselves

Since our workshop locations repeat every two years, I recently taught the last instructor workshop that I taught before COVID

03.14.22

Violence in the Workplace

People are always looking for ways to decrease violence in the workplace. Another way to think about that is how can we

03.07.22

Dignity & Respect

This past week I had a mechanic friend show me the correct way to use a 'Torque Wrench'. For those that don't know, a torque

02.28.22

Positive Behavior Support – Forgiveness Matters

On Thursday February the 10th 500,000 people convicted of low-level, not violent crimes in Utah had their records expunged

02.21.22

Conflict Resolution Techniques

One of the most significant challenges that people face in their work is managing conflict, which is not surprising considering

02.14.22

Healthy Conflict Resolution in the Workplace Begins with Ethical Leadership

One of the central tasks of leadership in an organization is to set the tone for how conflict will be managed. A culture of

02.07.22

Every Interaction Matters…

I was reading an article entitled, 'Positive Childhood Experiences May Buffer Against Health Effects Of Adverse Ones',

01.31.22

Creating A Safer Workplace

Who wouldn’t like to work in a safer workplace? No matter what your current position or employer, imagine feeling safer

01.24.22

Relational Limp Mode…

The holiday season can put significant stress on our relationships with the throwing together of people, emotions, food and

01.17.22

Positive Behavior Support Takes a Village

Over the years I have written about my son Tyler and being a parent of a child with unique needs. Many of the things

01.10.22

Difficult Questions…

I am often confronted by participants in Mandt System workshops with difficult questions and situations regarding a person

12.20.21

Using 2 Languages…

De-escalation training and Positive Behavior Support in everyday life The philosophy of The Mandt System since 1975 has been

12.13.21

Relational Rebar

Over the summer and Autumn this past year, my colleague Tim and I have both had new driveways poured and have shared and

12.06.21

Four Cigars…

Much of my adult life I had smoked cigarettes. I truly enjoyed smoking but knew I needed to stop due to the health

11.29.21

What we do…

Occasionally It’s useful to revisit the core purpose of our program. First and foremost, the Mandt System is a course in

11.22.21

9 Chapters… 1 Mission

For those of you who have been long-time Instructors of The Mandt System program, you are well aware of all the topics that are

11.15.21

On Being Thankful…

My wife recently taught her first Mandt System De-escalation Training workshop at the school where she works and asked me to

11.08.21

Mandt is Universal

We just got a new puppy in our house, an eight week old cocker spaniel we have named Hattie. Since it has been 15 years

11.01.21

Scenario Based Training

At the Mandt System, we believe that staff members have the right to a safe workplace. We also believe that all

10.25.21

Relationally Craving…

I was recently talking to a friend of mine in education and in the conversation, she made the following comment: “It’s like

10.18.21

Conflict Happens…

Has anyone seen those super cute onesies that have “Spit Happens” across the front? So cute! Well, maybe another slogan

10.11.21

Relationship In-Action

I have a neighbor who recently experienced the unexpected loss of a friend. Her reaction to this loss struck me as

10.04.21

Family Reunion

This past week The Mandt System faculty and leadership met together in Chicago to review the updates to the curriculum that we

09.27.21

Setting People Up For Success

Think about the best or most favorite job you have ever had. Now, also think about the worst or least favorite job you

09.20.21

Travel Pro’s Getting it Right

Have any of you been hearing about the significant upswing in “unruly” passengers aboard airplanes? I’ve read varying

09.13.21

Time

Much has been written over the centuries about time. Time impacts all things alive or dead. Song writers

09.06.21

Starting The New Season

So for many of us this this past week and the coming week see our Kids returning to school and college, and marks the transition

08.30.21

Telling The Story of Conflict

Throughout much of human history, storytelling has been one of the primary methods for passing information from generation to

08.23.21

When Everyone Accommodates

I am spending this week on vacation with my wife’s family. While I do enjoy interacting with them, the one thing I find the

08.16.21

Bullies in The Workplace

If you do much research at all you will find that one of the main causes of conflict in the workplace is bullying. We have

08.09.21

When You Are Not The GOAT

This week, if you follow the Olympics or not, you have seen numerous articles discussing Simone Biles decision to drop out of

08.02.21

3 Tips to Counterbalance ‘Sunken Cost Fallacy’

The Oxford Dictionary defines sunken-cost fallacy as ‘the phenomenon whereby a person is reluctant to abandon a strategy or

07.26.21

Elements of Positive Behavior Support

At The Mandt System, we strive to offer a holistic approach to supporting people, whether they be adults or children. Our

07.19.21

The Third Side

The Mandt System teaches strategies for resolving conflict utilizing positive behavior interventions and supports within the

07.12.21

The Perfect Student

What does the perfect elementary school student look like? This was a question posed by a new instructor during the teach back

07.05.21

Choosing Your Weather Pattern

In Chapter 1 of the Mandt System we discuss information from Hiam Ginott and how it is our personal approach that creates the

06.28.21

Effective Parenting Requires Healthy Communication

As parents of three teenage and young adult children my partner and I have naively believed we have got the parental consistency

06.21.21

Begin With The End in Mind

I recently was talking with a co-worker of mine about a meeting we had recently attended. He referred to my ability

06.14.21

Teaching While at Baseline…

My Godson, Elijah, is totally adorable. I mean, TOTALLY ADORABLE. This past weekend I was visiting Elijah’s family in

06.07.21

Remembering Those Who Served…

My grandfather served his country in the United States Navy on a Destroyer in the Pacific ocean during WW2. He survived a

05.31.21

Mandt System Certification Anniversary

One comment I hear frequently as I teach instructor level workshops is, “I wish I would have had this de-escalation training

05.24.21

Competition for the Greater Good…

How much workplace conflict arises from issues at the team level? When people talk about how to handle conflict in the

05.17.21

Why Language Matters

About 25 years ago the National Charity I worked with was approached to take over a smaller non profit that had run into

05.10.21

Positive Behavior Support & Workplace Conflict

Often when we are dealing with difficult behavior it has nothing to do with the people who are in care but rather with each

05.03.21

When Things Derail, Tips for Staying on Track

Have you ever had one of those really challenging workshops? You know the ones...the ones where everything that could go wrong,

04.26.21

Salamanders & Lizards

When I was about ten years old I spent a lot of time in the woods. I was fascinated by the wonders of nature and had a

04.19.21

Keeping A Positive Attitude

Have you ever seen a particular meeting, event, or assignment on your schedule and started thinking of ways that you can get out

04.12.21

Refining Our RADAR

In Mandt we talk about using our RADAR to be aware of what is going on around us. The first R in our RADAR stands for

04.05.21

Reinventing for New Times

This past week was the one year anniversary of the Covid19 pandemic initial impacting on the Mandt System programme of classes

03.29.21

Give a Smile

This week marks the one-year anniversary of the start to locking things down to stop the spread of COVID-19. As I sat

03.22.21

Optimism for Summer…

I just read that people who have received their full Covid-19 vaccinations may possibly plan small gatherings for the

03.15.21

Hierarchy, Status, & Aggression…

Human beings rely on group cooperation extensively as a means for survival. Whenever groups form, whether formal or

03.08.21

On The Road Again…

I never imagined when I started my first part time position as a direct support professional in 1993 that I would still be

03.01.21

Seek Out the Positives…

The pandemic seems to be affecting many people negatively. Many of us are expecting the worst, whether we expect the worst

02.22.21

Life’s Rituals, Taken Online

This past week, my family and I experienced our first virtual cremation service following the death of my mother-in-law a few

02.15.21

Tough Times, Good People…

Several years ago, when we received my son Tyler’s diagnosis for fragile x syndrome, we reached out to the National Fragile X

02.08.21

Approaching Valentines…

According to history.com, Valentine’s Day is a holiday celebrated each year on February 14 by the exchange of cards, flowers,

02.01.21

Intrinsic Motivation

In the Mandt System we begin our discussion of human motivation through the lens of Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

01.25.21

Failure to Communicate

Martin Luther King Jr. is quoted as saying, “People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other

01.18.21

Healthy Values

On a recent airplane ride I resumed listening to an audiobook I had started a while back. While some may find the title of the

01.11.21

New Year, New Thinking?

At the Mandt System we had our last ‘All Company’ meeting the week of Thanksgiving and our theme for that meeting was

01.04.21

Learning Forward

On Friday of this week will mark the start of 2021. It is probably fair to say many of us cannot wait to put 2020

12.28.20

Home for the Holidays

I’m not sure about anybody else, but the phrase “home for the holiday’s” has taken on a whole new meaning in

12.21.20

Healthy Aging

In 1938, George Vaillant began the Grant Study, a longitudinal study of adult development that would last more than 75

12.14.20

Shared Values

The pandemic has caused many changes in the way we conduct live workshops. As I was looking for a teamwork activity that would

12.07.20

It’s Holiday Season…

We are entering into the Holiday Season! This will be a Holiday Season like we have never seen before! We are still

11.30.20

Frustration in Communication

We all at one point or another have become frustrated while communicating. It’s one of the most common human

11.16.20

Putting Empathy Into Action

We talk a lot about being empathetic and trying to understand things from someone else’s perspective. But, that can sometimes

11.09.20

Filling the Gap

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our

11.02.20

Toxic Positivity

I recently read an article about teachers and toxic positivity. It gives the following definition, “Toxic positivity is

10.26.20

Thank You Program Participants…

Kudos to our trainers participating in face to face certification and/or recertification! When we resumed in person

10.19.20

Pandemic Perspectives

Because the Mandt System is a virtual company, all of our employees were already working remotely out of their homes long before

10.12.20

Aligning Passion and Purpose

On October 1, 2020 I celebrated the completion of my 19th year and the beginning of my 20th year with The Mandt System. What a

10.05.20

Teaching An Old Dog New Tricks…

I did a thing. I got contacts. I’m going to admit it. I was cocky about this experience. I’ve worn contact

09.28.20

Maslow & Bloom

A phrase that seems to be making its way around education circles is “Maslow before Bloom”. Maslow’s Hierarchy is a

09.21.20

Relationships Sustaining Us

In 2017 I wrote a blog about my wife starting her 18th year of teaching in a new school system and the struggles of

09.14.20

Who Are You?

Who Are You is an Album and its title song by The Who. It is also, however, what I would like to ask anyone reading this

09.07.20

Positive Acts of Trolling…

Is it still ‘Trolling’ if the anonymously posted comments are positive? In the current climate of turmoil,

08.31.20

Close Enough to Count

There is a statement I have heard all of my life that goes “close only counts in horseshoes and hand

08.24.20

Community in Crisis

This past week the midwest was hit hard by wind storms. Wind you ask? Yes, wind. No tornadoes. Not flash floods. Wind. The type

08.17.20

Investigating Behavior…

Reductionist explanations are often used to rationalize why a person behaves the way that they do. “They’re just doing

08.10.20

A Behavior Plan for Your Staff

I recently saw a meme of an individual with a disability carrying a huge stack of papers that read, “If my staff had behavior

08.03.20

The Anxiety Bush

I recently had a student in a train the trainer session who had high test anxiety. I’m sure we have all met someone with

07.27.20

Just because you can…

In our world of Behavior Management approaches there is an ongoing, some would say raging debate, concerning ‘use of force’

07.20.20

Thank You to the Worlds Calmers & Diffusers

Recently I have seen a meme floating around social media that shows two law enforcement officers smirking and the meme reads

07.13.20

Doing Things Differently…

We hope everyone had a chance to celebrate Independence Day 2020. Probably not in the same way you’ve celebrated in the past,

07.06.20

Difficult Conversations

2020 has been a strange year so far. The Covid 19 pandemic and high profile events of excessive force and systemic racism

06.29.20

Video Meeting Exhaustion

Video meetings seem to be part of what’s being called the new normal. Next week will be the first in person workshop I’ve

06.22.20

Which Side Showing?

Every morning we wake up we have a decision to make. Do we want to show the world a good side of ourselves or do we want

06.15.20

ALL People

If you follow The Mandt System at all, you know the underlying philosophy of the program is “All people have the right to be

06.08.20

Why Mandt is not a KIA…

When I say that Mandt is not a KIA, I am not referring to the South Korean Auto maker but to KIA the abbreviation of ‘Know It

06.01.20

Creative Graduations

Well, here we are. I had originally planned to write about graduations and parties and being with friends and family at the

05.25.20

There’s No Such Thing as “Sheeple”

Human beings are a social species. We are not the strongest or fastest creatures in the animal kingdom. What puts us

05.18.20

Unfollow, Don’t Unfriend (reprise)

I have seen several friends on Facebook expressing feelings of guilt for unfriending or unfollowing family members this

05.11.20

Are You OK?

So, many of us have been in quarantine for some time now. Are you OK? I have seen, read, and heard reports of some people

05.04.20

What can Covid-19 teach us about our relationships?

At the Mandt system we have taught for 45 years that ‘Building Healthy Relationships’ has to be at the foundation of

04.27.20

A Deeper Empathy

My guess is that you are spending a lot of time at home these days. Unless deemed essential, you, like me, are doing

04.20.20

Self Isolation

Here we are. Quarantine 2020. I’ve lost count of how many days I’ve been in self isolation. Actually, I’m not really sure

04.13.20

Living Through Life’s Questions…

“It is not the strongest species that survives, it is the most adaptable”. I’ve been thinking about this quote a bit

04.06.20

In this thing together…

For all the bad news out there right now, I am inspired by the ways that I have seen people pull together to help their

03.30.20

Social Distance Must not Equal…

Social Distance does not mean Social or Emotional Isolation. Welcome to a strange and unusual time. Hope everyone is

03.23.20

Care Virus 2020

With all the news and impact of the current Covid-19 infection it has been fascinating to observe how different countries and

03.16.20

Like-mindedness!!

Last week I once again attended a conference I have now not missed for over 8 years. The Midwest Symposium for

03.09.20

Roll With the Punches

Have you ever had one of those really challenging training events? You know the ones...the ones where everything that could go

03.02.20

Had an off day?

Sooner or later, if you work in the training profession ,or any profession, really; you will inevitably experience an off

02.24.20

Romantic Relationships & Sexuality

Writing this blog on Valentine’s Day reminded me of several recent workshops while talking about the needs of people in their

02.17.20