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January 2010 Newsletter: Improvement
through appreciation New Year is a time of renewal; for many people it’s the time for New Year’s resolutions when we think about what’s wrong with how we have been living and pledge to do something about it. There’s nothing wrong with that, as far as it goes, but focusing on what’s wrong to the exclusion of what’s right isn’t a very effective way of building a better future. Most of us are so used to making resolutions and breaking them again, it’s a minor miracle if they last beyond January. When that happens we have a tendency to set them aside until next year.
So New Year’s resolutions are not a strong tool for change, and they are limited in only usually involving us as individuals. If we want to make change in our relationships, our families, or our organisations we need something more powerful.
Fortunately, there are more effective ways of introducing positive change into our lives, and one gaining popularity in organisational development is known as appreciative inquiry. It is based on the simple premise that if you inquire into problems or difficulties you will keep finding more of the same, whereas if you try to appreciate what is best about your situation and the way you are acting you will discover yet more of what is good. You can easily see how focusing on the positive in this way will help to build your confidence and can be very empowering when it comes to improving performance.
In the words of its originators, appreciative inquiry asks us to pay special attention to "the best of the past and present" in order to "ignite the collective imagination of what might be." It is about seeing what others may not see. It's about heightening our awareness of the value, strength, and potential of ourselves and others and overcoming the limits we impose, often unconsciously, on our own capacities. Appreciation not only draws our eye toward life, but stirs our feelings, excites our curiosity, and provides inspiration to the envisioning mind.
Do you remember the old joke about bees: they are too heavy and create too much drag to fly, their wings are too small to provide the lift and propulsion they need and yet not only do they fly, they operate in squadrons and systems that maintain many forms of life on the planet. A flying bee is a miracle to be embraced not a problem to be solved. Appreciative inquiry takes this approach to understanding and improving life in organisations and we can do it too in our personal relationships and families.
By asking positive questions, we can generate new images of the future. These powerful images of ourselves, our organizations, and the world inspire action and innovation. Give it a try. An appreciative inquiry has only a few ground rules: it must be appreciative (an exploration into the positive), it needs to be applicable (appropriate and potentially useful to the situation you want to impact), it often works better if it is provocative (radical and exciting, dealing with situations that may have been left alone, neglected or not usually approached), and it works better if it is a collaboration (you have somebody else on board to help you to understand what is really happening).
Your inquiry is a particular way of asking questions and envisioning the future that fosters positive relationships. By doing this you are enhancing the organisation or family’s ability to work together and change. A good way to go about it is to work through a cycle of four areas or processes. First, identify what is working well (there are normally many areas where things are effective but are going unnoticed) then second, dream up new ways in which things can go even better in the future. Identify what has to happen to make things better than they are already, and then plan and prioritise how you can introduce these changes. Finally, get interested parties to give the new ways a try.
It works precisely because you focus on building upon what is already in place rather than trying to fix what is missing or broken. Nobody is blamed and there is no emphasising what has been going wrong. Instead, you acknowledge the contribution of individuals, which increases trust and alignment. Your appreciative inquiry focuses on how you can create more of the occasional exceptional performance; the one you want to bring more of into your lives.
You can find many references and exercises on the web to help you explore appreciative inquiry. Here’s a promising one from Nick Heap: “Do you want to build a stronger relationship with your current partner? Find some uninterrupted time together, take turns asking and answering the following questions, and watch the sparks fly!” http://www.nickheap.co.uk/articles.asp?ART_ID=281.
As ever, let us know what you get out of giving these ideas a try out.
All the best for 2010.
Brinley & Kate .................................................................................................
See the extra chapter "Ultimate Confidence: The Power To Get Any Result You Want" available exclusively through www.yourmostconfidentself.com.
For additional resources visit: www.yourmostconfidentself.com
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