At its core, the “peace world” needs a common language.
Without a shared way to talk about conflict, misunderstandings, assumptions, and mixed intentions quickly take over. Conversations become reactive, superficial, and difficult to resolve. PeaceDNA is designed to provide that shared language: a simple framework with clear elements and definitions that anyone can use to guide conflict toward peaceful resolution.
Think of it as Conflict Resolution 101—simple, practical, and repeatable.
This post explains both the form and the method of PeaceDNA:
- The form is the map — the foundational model showing conflict resolution in its simplest and most universal structure. It reveals how the pieces connect.
- The method is the route — the step-by-step process, including practical skills such as FOUL Buster, Kanji Listening, and Rephrasing for “Yes,” that help people move through conflict in real time.
PeaceDNA follows a simple three-step process. Each step functions like a checkpoint: you do not move forward until the current step is complete, and you continue maintaining it throughout the process.
- Conditions
- POV Positions
- Remedy
The process is guided by six Guiding Questions (GQs), which help determine what to ask, observe, and clarify at every stage.
Step 1: Conditions
The first requirement in PeaceDNA is establishing Conditions — the foundation that makes peaceful dialogue possible. Without these Conditions, the process cannot move forward.
Even when they seem obvious, they must still be stated clearly. In practice, they are not always obvious, and breaking them is always a deal-breaker.
The two PeaceDNA Conditions are:
- No FOULs — no insults, threats, hostility, or harmful intent
- Participate honestly
PeaceDNA begins with Conditions through Guiding Question #1:
“Are you ready and willing to solve this conflict peacefully?”
This question determines whether both people are willing to operate within the Conditions, especially the “No FOULs” requirement.
In mediation, it is important to receive an out-loud “yes” before moving forward. If there is no agreement, or if the Conditions are violated later, the PeaceDNA process stops until the Conditions are restored and acknowledged again.
Getting a spoken “yes” matters.
Once both people have verbally agreed, the mediator has a powerful reference point:
“We agreed to keep this respectful, honest, and engaged.”
That agreement creates accountability and allows the mediator to restore the Conditions when necessary by asking:
“Do you still agree to respect the Conditions?”
Conditions are not a one-time step. They remain active throughout the entire process.
Step 2: POV Positions
Once Conditions are established, each person’s Point of View (POV) is explored fully and without interruption — one person at a time.
This step uses Guiding Questions #2, #3, and #4 to uncover the three building blocks of every POV:
- Facts — what happened in the external world
- Feelings — what was experienced emotionally or physically
- Opinions — the beliefs, expectations, interpretations, assumptions, or meanings attached to the Facts and Feelings
Together, these three elements form a complete POV.
When people speak their full POV out loud, two important things happen:
- The listener gains understanding, opening the door to empathy.
- The speaker often discovers new connections or blind spots in their own thinking, which can soften rigid positions.
Empathy is central to this stage of PeaceDNA.
Empathy does not require agreement or approval. It simply means caring enough to understand another person’s experience. Conflict resolution often begins when people are willing to “wear another person’s shoes” long enough to understand why they see things the way they do.
That deeper understanding usually emerges during GQ #4 — Opinions.
Empathy eventually leads to compassion, which later becomes visible through actions taken during Remedy. In PeaceDNA, empathy is the feeling of understanding; compassion is the action taken because of that understanding.
Even agreeing to respectfully disagree can be an act of compassion.
During this stage, mediators use a technique called Rephrasing for “Yes.” After each person speaks, the mediator reflects the POV back using different words while still including all three POV elements: Facts, Feelings, and Opinions.
This serves two important purposes:
- It helps each person feel genuinely heard and understood.
- It sometimes reveals new perspectives or connections that were previously unseen.
Only when both sides feel understood does the process move forward.
Step 3: Remedy
Once both POVs have been fully expressed and understood, the process moves into Remedy.
This final step uses two remaining Guiding Questions:
- GQ #5: “What do you want now to solve this conflict peacefully?”
- GQ #6: “What will you do now to solve this conflict peacefully?”
GQ #5 brings desired outcomes into the open. The answers must be realistic and actionable — not impossible wishes such as “Go back in time and change the past.”
Both sides must express what peaceful resolution would look like for them.
GQ #6 then shifts the conversation from wants to commitments. Instead of focusing on what each person hopes the other will do, it asks what they themselves are willing to do to help resolve the conflict.
By the end of this stage:
- Each side understands what the other wants.
- Each side has stated what they are personally willing to do.
If both sides are willing to meet the reasonable needs of the other, the remaining step is simply follow-through.
However, Remedy is not always possible.
If FOUL behavior escalates, it may be better to pause the process, walk away, disengage, or seek another peaceful alternative rather than continue escalating conflict.
If Remedy fails because one or both people are unwilling to cooperate, the process should return first to Conditions, and then back through POV Positions.
When peaceful agreement still cannot be reached, other peaceful options may be necessary, including:
- Mediation
- Legal action
- Authority intervention (parents, supervisors, law enforcement, etc.)
- Public protest
- Respectful disengagement
And sometimes the best possible outcome is simply:
“Can we agree to respectfully disagree?”
Closing Thoughts on the Model
PeaceDNA is intentionally simple:
- Three steps
- Six Guiding Questions
- Clear boundaries
- Repeatable skills
The model provides the map of conflict resolution, while the method provides the instructions for how to move through it safely and effectively.
Together, they create a structured path for transforming conflict into understanding, cooperation, and, when possible, agreement.
In the next post, we’ll explore the three core PeaceDNA skill sets in depth:
- FOUL Buster
- Rephrasing for “Yes”
- Kanji Listening
The next topic: FOUL Buster.