From time to time, I enjoy sharing a short observation that I hope you’ll find interesting.
For months, I saw new gopher mounds popping up in my lawn as one or more gophers made their way across the yard under the cover of night.
In an effort to stop the damage, I tried putting a garden hose down one of the gopher holes. Nothing happened. ChatGPT later assured me that attempts to flood the gopher tunnels would be ineffective.
ChatGPT suggested castor oil as another possible self-help remedy. It is supposed to be unpleasant to gophers so they leave the area on their own. I even tried smoking them out.
Poison was out of the question because, among other reasons, my wife said so. And she was right. We did not want our dog or other wildlife in the area exposed to poisoned gophers.
After a few months, my lawn was looking worse and worse, and not only because of the gophers, but also because of my own digging to gain access to their tunnels. And my wife’s Caddyshack jokes were getting old.
Ultimately, I relented and called a gopher professional to see if they could help. They came out the next day, set traps, and caught and removed four gophers within 24 hours. They caught another two gophers on their next visit.
Problem solved. For now anyway.
The lesson I took away was simple: there is tremendous value in knowing what you’re doing.
I lacked the knowledge, skill, and experience to effectively deal with a gopher problem. Even with ChatGPT’s guidance, I spent months getting nowhere. The gopher professional solved the problem in 24 hours.
My own knowledge, skill, and experience lie in mediating employment disputes.
Lawyers and clients can settle cases on their own. Of course they can. But in litigation, parties often spend months or years arguing over liability and damages, convinced the other side is being unreasonable. Sometimes they are right.
A good mediator does not have a magic solution. What a good mediator has is judgment, pattern recognition, and an understanding of how disputes stall and how they move.
A mediator does not take over the case. The lawyers know their evidence. The clients know what happened. But a mediator brings the ability to test assumptions, translate messages, manage risk, and help people make decisions under uncertainty.
That is what parties should want from a mediator. Not a miracle worker. Not a messenger. But someone who understands the terrain and knows how to help the parties move toward resolution.
There is real value in bringing in someone who does this work every day.
I am not the person to call for gophers.
But if the problem is a difficult employment case that needs to settle, I would welcome the opportunity to help.
