Appreciative Inquiry

Appreciative Inquiry
and
Learning to
Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive
Presented by Tenny Poole
A Positive Revolution…
•  Apprecia(ve Inquiry •  Gallop Strengths Orienta(on •  Posi(ve Psychology •  Posi(ve Leadership © Positive Talent Strategies
Paired Interviews: 16  minutes total 5me Interview someone you don’t know well. Then let them interview you. © Positive Talent Strategies
3 Interview Ques(ons 1.  Describe a peak experience in your career: a time when you felt
most alive, most engaged, and really proud of yourself, your work
and your contribution to your organization and/or the world. What
were all the conditions that led to this being such a high point?
Consider: the people (yourself included); the project or task; the
outcome; the organization; the environment (professional,
emotional, and physical); etc
2.  Imagine that it is 3 years from today and you reflect that your
organization has become the place of your dreams, a place
where great performance happens, a place where you are able to
be your best. It is a great place to work and great things are
happening. Describe it in detail. What is new and different?
What is it like to be there?
4 © Positive Talent Strategies
What is Apprecia(ve Inquiry? Apprecia(ve Inquiry is… –  A philosophy and approach for positive change
–  A process for high engagement planning and
transformation
–  A leadership approach for the 21st century
Inclusive,
Cooperative, Inspiring, Uplifting…
© Corpora(on for Posi(ve Change The founda(onal premise….. •  Human systems – people, teams, families, organiza(ons, communi(es – move in the direc(on of what they study. •  We learn, grow and develop in the areas that we ask ques(ons about and talk about on a regular basis. •  What we study and discuss grows. © Corpora(on for Posi(ve Change
The Case of BP PROCARE 79% Customer Satisfaction
•  Desire to improve…
•  Focus Groups with customers about
things that they were dissatisfied
with
•  Shared the information
•  The bottom drops out...
© Corpora(on for Posi(ve Change The Apprecia(ve Alterna(ve Outstanding Customer Satisfaction
•  Interviews with Satisfied Customers
•  Generative Benchmarking
•  8 months - 95% fully satisfied
© Corpora(on for Posi(ve Change Might the methods we use determine what we find????? “Panning for gold vs. digging for dirt.”
David Epston: Narrative Ideas --
10 © Positive Talent Strategies
Examples of Posi5ve Change Nutrimental of Brazil
Resolve the stagnation of the business
Becomes: “What is the world calling us
to become”
Avon of Mexico
Fix negative culture towards women
Becomes: Creating an organization with
great gender equity
Lovelace Health Systems
Fix Nursing Turnover
Becomes: A passion for nursing
© Positive Talent Strategies
Gallop StrengthFinders
•  Based on 40 years of Gallop Research with over
2 million people interviewed
•  Studied excellence
•  Identified 34 themes or patterns of human talent
(giftedness)
•  Released a book “Now Discover Your Strengths”
where they lay out ways to build a strengthbased organization – copy write 2001
© Positive Talent Strategies
Focusing on Strengths
“If you focus on people’s weaknesses, they lose confidence.” –  Strength based programs boost an organiza(on’s overall engagement and produc(vity. “Awareness of one’s strengths and the subsequent increase in self-­‐confidence it produces might have longer term implica(ons as well.” –  People with higher self confidence ended up with higher income levels –  Their income levels increase at an en(rely different rate than those with lower self-­‐confidence © Positive Talent Strategies
Other implications of strength focus
From the Gallop research •  The group with low self-­‐confidence reported THREE (mes as many health problems 25 years later. •  25 years later the group with high self-­‐evalua(ons reported having fewer health problems than they did 25 years before. •  “people who are aware of their strengths and build self-­‐
confidence at a young age may reap a ‘cumula(ve advantage’ that con(nues to grow over a life(me.” 15 © Positive Talent Strategies
Gallop Key Findings About Leadership •  “The most effec5ve leaders are always inves5ng in strengths.” •  “The most effec5ve leaders surround themselves with the right people and then maximize their team.” •  “The most effec5ve leaders understand their followers needs.” © Positive Talent Strategies
Did you know?
A study on Performance Management conducted by the Corporate
Leadership Council found:
A Levers as Drivers (those having > 25% increase in performance)
  An emphasis (in formal review) on performance strengths
B Levers as Drivers (those between 10 – 24.9% increase)
  An emphasis on personality strengths
  A culture of innovation
C Levers as Drivers (those between 0 – 9.9% increase)
  Differential treatment of best and worst performers
D Levers as Drivers (negative impact on performance)
  Use of rank ordering
  Emphasis on personality weaknesses
  Emphasis on performance weaknesses
© Positive Talent Strategies
Posi5ve Psychology © Positive Talent Strategies
18 Positivity
Positivity feels good
– 
Awakens your motivation for change to want more
positive feeling.
Joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, pride,
amusement, inspiration, awe, love
Positivity changes how your mind works
–  Changes the scope and boundaries of your mind – it
widens the span of possibilities that you see
© Positive Talent Strategies
Positivity
Positivity puts the brakes on negativity •  It works like a reset button
•  Positivity is the secret to becoming resilient
You can increase your positivity
– 
Negativity = Life draining
– 
Positivity = Life giving
© Positive Talent Strategies
Positivity
•  When you see more, more ideas come to mind, more
actions become possible. Research has indicated that the
broader the scope of their visual attention, the more
creative they became on the verbal task.
•  Managers with greater positivity were more accurate and
careful in making their decisions, and were more effective
interpersonally.
•  Managers with greater positivity infect their work groups
with great positivity as well, which in turn produces better
coordination among team members and reduces the effort
needed to get their work done.
© Positive Talent Strategies
Positivity and Teams Teams from higher performing companies
  demonstrated high connectivity to one another
  A high use of inquiry – showed curiosity
  Cast their attention outward as much as inward.
Teams from lower performing companies
  had far lower connectivity
  asked almost no questions
  showed almost no outward focus
Lasoda Ratio
22 © Positive Talent Strategies
Posi(vity Summary •  When we are in a state of posi(ve emo(ons: –  We are able to be the best versions of ourselves –  We connect be`er with others –  We are more crea(ve –  We are more resilient –  Our organiza(ons perform at a higher level –  Our conversa(ons are more posi(ve and we are more curious 23 © Positive Talent Strategies
Apprecia(ve and Posi(ve Behaviors •  Strength Spoang –  Looking for the posi(ve -­‐ what is working •  Growing posi(ve emo(ons –  Gra(tude, awe, inspira(on •  Focus on what you want more of –  What you focus on is what grows •  Change the conversa(ons by using posi(ve ques(ons •  Flipping or reframing –  Prac(ce 24 © Positive Talent Strategies
Apprecia(ve Leadership •  Inquiry – ask powerfully posi(ve ques(ons •  Illumina(on – bring out the best of people and situa(ons •  Inclusion – consciously invite people to engage •  Inspira(on – awaken the crea(ve spirit to move them to ac(on •  Integrity – make choices for the good of the whole *From Apprecia(ve Leadership, by Diana Whitney, Ph.D., Amanda Trosten-­‐Bloom, Kae Raeder 25 © Positive Talent Strategies
Quote from Tom White, CEO of GTE If you combine a nega8ve culture with all the challenges we face today, it could be easy to convince ourselves that we have too many problems to overcome -­‐ to slip into a paralyzing sense of hopelessness…Don’t get me wrong, I’m not advoca8ng mindless happy talk….We can’t ignore problems-­‐we just need to approach them from the other side. (GTE’s apprecia5ve change process won the ASTD award in 1997 for best organiza5on change program in the US) © Positive Talent Strategies
Table Exercise •  At your table iden(fy 2 or 3 challenges, issues or problems that people at your table are experiencing in their organiza(on. •  Work as a group to do “ The Flip”. –  What do you want more of? –  What exists now that can be a star(ng point that we can build on? 27 © Positive Talent Strategies
Addi(onal resources Apprecia5ve Leadership Workshop – September 18 (1/2 day), 19, 20 (1/2 day) Costa Mesa Using inspira(onal leadership to discover a personalized approach to apprecia(ve leadership. Gain more experience in using Apprecia(ve Inquiry and the 4 D Model. Build morale and increase performance through posi(ve leadership. Let’s help leaders develop the inspira(onal side of leadership? Come check it out. Founda5ons of Apprecia5ve Inquiry -­‐ (4 days) August 6-­‐9, 2013 -­‐ Costa Mesa For people who want to learn more about apprecia(ve Inquiry and change or who want to become apprecia(ve prac((oners. © Positive Talent Strategies