Apply Appreciative Inquiry for a Positive Life
What if you could change the world in a positive way?
I don’t mean a “I’m sick of work so I’ll change my job” way. I mean a way in which you find what’s really special and valuable about something, and help nurture and develop those parts. And by reinforcing what is beautiful and effective about the world, we can help it more courageously surmount the challenges it will inevitably face.
In this post you’ll learn to apply Appreciative Inquiry to your life. You’ll also find a hypnosis mp3 which will guide you through the Appreciative
Inquiry process as applied to your job and work environment.
The Problem with Problems
The common way that people seek to change things is through discovering problems, like in these examples:
“This computer software is slow, I’ll go buy the new version.”
“My shoes hurt, I’ll get some new ones.”
“The waiter is rude, I’ll talk to the manager.”
This way has worked for a long time. And it does work. These kinds of changes do occur, especially for such simple, impersonal problems as the first two.
But the third example above has the potential to hurt. Not just hurt feelings, but to incite defensiveness in the waiter and possibly the manager.
Notice that they all start out by pointing out something negative. Highlighting the negative makes change harder. It cuts down our confidence. It undermines our self-worth.
Instead of highlighting the negative, we would do better to highlight the positive and grow that positivity into new change. In the process, we are building confidence and creating self-worth. Appreciative Inquiry does just that.
Appreciative Inquiry is an organizational practice that seeks to evolve organizations and communities in positive, self-directed ways. It was developed by Dr. David Cooperrider at Case Western Reserve University. It has been applied to housing projects, poor African villages, multinational corporations, and government agencies with towering success.
Although it was created for businesses, governments, and local communities, it can be applied to any aspect of your life, including your relationships, your job, or even the interior design of your house.
The Appreciative Inquiry Process
There are four steps to Appreciative Inquiry:
1. Discover
2. Dream
3. Design
4. Destiny
I’ll explain the steps in more detail later.
An Overview
The way you see the world matters. Some people would go even further and say we create the world as we see it. If you look at a situation as a bunch of problems to be solved, that’s what you’ll see — problems. But if you start to see the good in that situation, if you start to see what’s great about it, and what good things that situation brings about, what do you see? You see opportunities. No matter how bad a situation is, there is something positive. Even the most impoverished, violent, drug-ridden housing project has something good in it. Maybe it’s generosity. Maybe it’s great, loving children. Maybe the drug dealers are great business men. Start looking for it and you will find it.
And once you find it, you will see a world not of despair but of hope. Hope and optimism that can be enhanced and channeled. Hope and optimism that can begin to erode away the so-called “problems”.
And the same goes for your job, your marriage, your life in general. You can complain all day about your suffering. I’m sure it’s real enough. But as soon as you start to find those beautiful little nuggets of goodness in your life, you can’t help but start to see the potential in it. That’s what Appreciative Inquiry is all about.
Because every group we’re a part of and every object we use is alive. Alive because it exists in constant interaction with humans. The groups you are in are constantly changing. When you begin to find what is unique and joyous about something, you begin to see what makes it alive. And you see that you are a part of that life, and you can become a part of its unfolding destiny. Your imagination shapes its life. You can’t help but anticipate the future possibilities.
Anything you apply this process to will come alive in your hands. Let’s see how it’s done.
The Steps Explained
After choosing your target, apply these steps. As an example, I’ll choose as a target the layout of the furniture in my room. I like to work with a paper and pencil to keep track of my ideas.
1. Discover
This is the Inquiry Step. In this step, you discover what really makes the system or organization great. Brainstorm a huge list. The more the better.
Questions to ask:
What does it do really well?
Are there any shining examples of something handled really well?
What attributes, however small, do you appreciate about it?
What is positive and unique about it?
Example:
My room gets plenty of light.
Nice air circulation.
I like my bed, it’s comfy.
I have great armoirs for my stuff.
I like sitting in my chairs and reading.
I have a nice area to entertain guests.
Air conditioning.
A specific example: I remember once my friends were over and we just sat on the floor and had such a good time. The space was perfect: we had that great big window, there was lots to do and the furniture was comfortable.
I’m starting off the inquiry with a positive focus, but everything I listed is true. This is very important, because it will set a mood of optimism and
hope, yet keep the process grounded in reality.
2. Dream
This is the step where you ask “What is the world calling us to become?”. You uncover the ideal future of the organization.
Questions to ask:
What would ideal, everyday activities look like?
How is the world better because of our organization?
What is our purpose?
What things, specifically, do we want to keep, no matter how much we change?
Example:
I imagine all the things that happen in my room. People coming to visit: I watch where they sit — near the window because it’s bright. I imagine what they need, and where they’ll look to find it — why not the armoir, though it’s closer to the window in my imagination. I conclude that I want to create a cheery haven for my friends to come hang out in. A place where they can be comfortable and feel welcome.
I also imagine sleeping. What I do before I go to bed. I’ll have to take off my watch. Where will it go? Oh, on a small table, next to the bed. And I’ll want to read, so there’s a lamp in reach — also on the table.
I’ve taken all of that optimism and reinforced the great things I discovered. I use all of the great things about my room to enhance the unfolding of the main purpose.
3. Design
Now that I’ve got a vision for what my room can become, I’ve got to pick the specific things that I want to change, add, or remove.
Questions to ask:
What concrete steps need to be taken to bring the organization closer to this dream?
What needs to be added, removed, or rearranged?
What should we do more of?
What can we do to support what we came up with in the Discovery stage?
Example:
I’ll begin by moving my chairs closer to the window, because people will enjoy sitting near the natural light. To enhance the light, I’ll tie the curtains open when I’m not sleeping.
I’ll move the armoir with the books and games near the seats, so that they’re within easy reach.
There’s a table that I can use as a nightstand. It’s perfect, so I’ll move it near the bed, and put a lamp on it, so that I can read at night.
The design is merely a plan to bring reality one step closer to the dream.
4. Destiny
In this step, I actually carry out my plan, and see the inevitability of the new, tremendous yet simple changes.
There are no questions to ask here. Just get to work!
Conclusion
I hope you can see from the above example how powerful this technique is. When used by yourself, it has the power to shift your thinking positively and inspire beautiful changes to whatever you apply it to. When used in a group, it can create powerful cohesion between the members, and totally reorganize how the group functions. This isn’t entirely obvious from the example, but imagine if a group of people decided to get joyous about what they did really well, then imagined where that could take them in the future, then decided consciously to facilitate those things they already do well. I think it’s clear just how much change can happen in such a dynamic group.
Hypnosis
As a special treat, I’ve created a hypnosis mp3 free for you to download. It will guide you through applying this process to your office/cubicle/work environment. I hope it brings you a renewed positive outlook. Have a paper and pencil handy before you play the mp3.
*NOTE* Do not listen to this mp3 while driving your car or doing else that requires your attention. This hypnosis can cause a deep trance which will impair your ability to focus on such activities.
Links to other sites
Appreciative Inquiry at Wikipedia
Appreciative Inquiry at Harvard
Let me know what you think about the mp3 and what you’ve applied Appreciative Inquiry to!
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