Working as a Collaborative Learning Community : Exploring Appreciative Inquiry

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Working as a Collaborative Learning Community
Exploring Appreciative Inquiry

• Frank J. Barrett, PhD
• Appreciative Inquiry Partners
• Fbarrett_at_cruzio.com
• 831-656-2328

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Appreciative Inquiry A Positive Approach to
Organizational Learning and Transformation

• Discovering our strengths

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Time to Re-think Human Organization and Change

• Global Context of Change
• Guiding Images of the Future
• End of Apartheid
• Power of Conversation
• No Limits to Cooperationvalue nets,
  complimentary partnerships, combining competition
  and cooperation
• A Positive Revolution in Change Research
• Positive Psychology Movement
• Whole System Excellenceagility, speed,
  accelerated learning, execution and follow
  through reality of SCALE
• Sustainable Design Sustainability as the 21st
  Century Business Opportunity?

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Peter Druckeran interview we did with him on his
book The Next Society

• The task of leadership is to create an alignment
  of strengths, making our weaknesses irrelevant.

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Could it BeCatalyzing Change Might Be All About
Strengths?

• Why would strength connected to strengthcreate
  change?
• Its often been said that strengths perform, but
  how about the idea that strengths do more than
  perform, they transform?
• What would it mean to create
  an entire
  change theory around strengths?

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Aims and Objectives

• What is appreciative inquiry? What are the
  research influences and theories?
• Discover strengths and share best practices
  with each other
• Immediate takeaways for you as a leader,
  teacher, parent, etc.

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Appreciative Inquiry 4-D Cycle
Discovery What gives life? (The best of what
is) Appreciating
Destiny How to empower, learn, and
adjust/improvise? Sustaining
Dream What might be? (What is the world calling
for) Envisioning Results
Affirmative Topic Choice
Design What should be--the ideal? Co-constructi
ng

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AI 4-D Summit Process

• Discovery
• Positive Core
• Opportunity Context

• Destiny
• On-going Support
• Sustainable Learning
• Improvisation

• Dream
• Future We Want
• Highest Aspirations

BC Schools working as a collaborative learning
community

• Design
• Co creating the ideal

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Six Principles of Appreciative Inquiry

• Constructionist Principle The way we know is
  fateful words create worlds.
• Principle of Simultaneity Change begins at the
  moment you ask the question.
• Poetic Principle Organizations are an open book.
• Anticipatory Principle Deep change change in
  active images of the future.
• Positive Principle The more positive the
  question, the greater and longer-lasting the
  change.
• Narrative Principle Storytelling connects people
  and transfer values.

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Opening Inquiry

• Questions for Discovery 1.individual reflection
  first
• 2.Conversation (pairs)
• Page 6

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Starting Appreciative Interview(dialogue in
pairs)

• A--gtB (25 min)
• B--gtA (25 min)
• Spirit of discovery
• Take brief notes
• At the end.. summary thanks

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?
Where Do Positive Images and Stories Come From?
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For Us It Began to Raise New Awareness the
Deficit Theory of ChangeAnd How Pervasive.

• Identify problem
• Conduct root cause analysis
• Brainstorm solutionsand analyze
• Develop action plans/intervention

• most schools, companies, families and
  organizations function on an unwritten rule
• Lets fix whats wrong and let the strengths
  take care of themselves
• --Gallop Poll

Metaphor Organizations are problems to be solved
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Problem Solving
Appreciative Inquiry

• Identify Problem
• Conduct Root Cause Analysis
• Brainstorm Solutions Analyze
• Develop Action Plans
• Metaphor Organizations are problems to be solved

• Appreciate What is (What gives life?)
• Imagine What Might Be
• Determine What Should Be
• Create What Will Be
• Metaphor Organizations are a solution/mystery
  to be embraced.

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Two Kinds of Learning

• Problem solving

• Generative learning

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The unintended consequences of deficit based
development

• Conservative, limiting approach to inquiry
• Learned hopelessness people learn to live with
  diminished expectations
• Overlearned deficiency expectation we assume
  something must be wrong somewhere
• Deftness with problem solving draws attention to
  breakdowns

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Problem with problem solving

• Language of mystique develops
• Managers develop self worth as problem solvers
• Fragmented view of the world managers become
  experts in smaller parts of the system
• Culture of defensive posturing Its not my
  problem
• Skilled incompetence looking good better than
  being good
• Defensiveness discourages experimentation
• Vocabulary of human deficit

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Deficit Based Change Unintended Consequences

• Much lamented fragmented responses
• Slow Puts attention on yesterdays causes
• No new positive images of future
• Visionless voice... fatigue
• Weakened fabric of relationships
  defensivenessnegative culture
• out of sync with the embedded economy of speed,
  partnerships, alliances, e-commerce

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Deficit Language at GTE
YES MEN
MISSED COMMITMENTS
Gap Analysis
Repeat Reports
BURNOUT
REORGANIZATION
TURF BATTLES
Critical Thinking
New Circuit Failure Rate
UNFAVORABLE
Down Time
WARNING
SILOS
CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS
TROUBLE REPORT
Spell Check
DEBUG
RISK
PERFORMANCE REVIEW
BLOCKED CALLS
Red Tape
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Words Are Tools

• To a hammer everything is a nail!

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Appreciative Inquiry is a Shift

• No problem can be solved from the same level of
  consciousness that created it. We must learn to
  see the world anew.
• There are only two ways to live your life. One
  is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is
  as though everything is a miracle.
• Albert Einstein

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Exercise 2 Sense making

• Roles on p 9 discussion leader, timekeeper,
  recorder, reporter
• Introduce your partner
• Share highlights from Q 1, 2, and 3
• Assign recorder to make two lists (p 11)
• Listen for high point patterns
• List 5 highest opportunities for innovation
• Prepare 2 minute report out 1205

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Many Disciplines
Positive Images of Future ---gt Enhance learning

• Positive HealthPlacebo, etc.
• Pygmalion We are Made and Imagined In Each
  Others Eyes
• What Good are Positive Emotions? Inspiration,
  Hope, Joy
• Imbalanced Inner Dialogue
• Rise and Fall of Cultures
• Affirmative Capacity?

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Quick conversation

• What areaspygmalion, inner dialogue, what good
  are positive emotions, rise and fall of
  cultures, affirmative capabilityare most
  interesting to you?
• Other research? An experience for your life?

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Exercise 3 Topics

• Form district groups (or school groups)
• Roles on p 9 discussion leader, timekeeper,
  recorder, reporter
• P 12 share one or two key stories from Q 4 and 5
• Identify root factors strengths, values,
  capacities that make possible collaborative
  learning communities.
• Two lists
• Record a headline for each story
• List root causes of success (see p 13)
• Prepare 2 minute report out

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Discovery What gives life? (The best of what
is) Appreciating
Destiny How to empower, learn, and
adjust/improvise? Sustaining
Dream What might be? (What is the world calling
for) Envisioning Results
Collaborative learning In BC schools
Design What should be--the ideal? Co-constructi
ng

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Positive Topic Choice

• Human systems move in the direction of what we
  deeply and persistently ask questions about
• Transformational topics are possible in any
  situation, and will generate more positive
  changeevery time.
• The skill of framing and re-framing

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Best Way to Build High Engagement and Enthusiasm?

• Do an organization survey of low morale?
• Magnify and learn from moment of highest
  engagement enthusiasm?

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Welcome to Day 2

• Topic choice and the art of the question
• The Large Group Summit
• Dream and Design exploring your topics
• Improvisation
• Applying appreciative inquiry to your schools and
  school districts

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Deficit Problems Affirmative Topics
Deficit Issues Sexual Harassment Mid-mgmt.
Turnover Fear of Job Loss Low Morale Turfism/Silos
Delayed Orders Customer Complaints Lack of
Training Missed Commitments
Affirmative Topics Positive Cross-Gender Working
Relationships Creating Outstanding
Leadership Braggingly Happy customers the
Perfect Event
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Topic Creation Examples
Transformational Cooperation Healthy
Multi-racial Relationships Revolutionary Customer
Response Magnetic Work Environment Outstanding
Arrival Experiences Business as an Agent of World
Benefit Courageous Acts of Goodness Empowering
Enlightened Leadership
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Topic Choice

• Human systems move in the direction of what they
  most frequently and persistently ask questions
  about.
• What you study, GROWS

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Genius is Creating the Question

• What would the universe look like if I were
  riding on the end of a light beam at the speed of
  light?
• ---Albert Einstein

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The Art of the Question in Leadership and Change

• Whats the biggest problem here?
• Why did I have to be born in such a troubled
  family?
• Why do you blow it so often?
• Why do we still have those problems?

• What possibilities exist that we have not yet
  considered?
• Whats the smallest change that could make the
  biggest impact?
• What solutions would haveus both win?

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Power of positive question

• What do you want to learn more about?
• What do you want to see more of?
• What topic, if it were alive and present, would
  have a powerful impact on the health and vitality
  of your command?

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Three kinds of questions

• Neutral questions how are communications around
  here?
• Diagnostic questions Where are communications
  breaking down?
• Unconditionally positive questions We really
  want to learn more about holistic communication,
  can you tell me when communication has been
  strong and inclusive here?

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An experience from your lifea moment of Wonder

• Turn to person next to youinvite them to share a
  moment, a story, a meaningful experience of
  wonder

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What New Questions?

• From a Study Customer Dissatisfaction and
  Complaints

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Magnetic Connections

• Preface
• In the physical world, all matter is held
  together by the pull between opposite electric
  charges. Likewise, successful companies are
  magnetic-- people connect in new and innovative
  ways suppliers and customers are pulled together
  and become seamless edge-to-edge organizations.
  Communities of interest form and are pulled
  together by shared values. Knowledge networks
  form as catalysts for innovation and creativity.

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Magnetic Connections (continued)

• A. Think of a time when you felt magnetically
  connected to your client, your colleagues, and
  your community connected in a way that the
  force was so strong that it could not be broken.
  What was that experience? What did it feel like?
• B. As you look into the future, describe how you
  see us connected to our customers and our
  colleagues in ways that are so strong that we
  are seen as inseparable business partners.

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Allstate Insurance

• Revolutionary Partnerships
• The mark of a revolutionary partnership is doing
  things radically different together. Not only
  different, but quicker, with a common focus,
  leveraging each others diverse strength. Also,
  establishing new ways of doing business that are
  based on trust, mutual respect and a shared
  vision.
• Think of a time when you were part of a
  revolutionary partnership, a time in your life
  at work, or in your personal or community life,
  when you not only met the other person(s) half
  way, but met and exceeded needs on both sides.
  Describe the situation in detail.
• What made it feel radically different?
• Who was involved?
• How did you interact differently?
• What were the outcomes and benefits you
  experienced?

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Engagement and Positive Energy

• Preface
• Organizations work best when they are vibrant,
  alive and fun. You know, when the "joint is
  jumping!" You can sense that the spirit of the
  organization is vital and healthy and that people
  feel pride in their work. Everyone builds on
  each other's successes, a positive can do
  attitude is infectious and the glow of success is
  shared. What's more, this positive energy is
  appreciated and celebrated so it deepens and
  lasts.

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Engagement Energy

• A. Tell me about a time when you experienced
  positive energy that was infectious. What was
  the situation? What created the positive energy?
  How did it feel to be a part of it? What did
  you learn?
• B. If positive energy were the flame of the
  organization, how would you spark it? How would
  you fuel it to keep it burning bright?

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• There is no such thing as a Neutral question!

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GroupsCrafting the Questionreturn

• Choose one of your Topics? the Ai question (s) 3
  PARTS
• I. Positive Prefaceit is a topic intro.
  
• A question to evoke a story from persons history
  
  
• A question to evoke/help give voice to their best
  images of future
• return...

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We Live in the Worlds Our Questions Create

• Be patient and try to love the questions
  themselves. Live the questions now. Perhaps you
  will then gradually, without noticing it, live
  along some distant day into the answer.
• Rainer Maria Rilke

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Power of positive question

• What do you want to learn more about?
• What do you want to see more of?
• What topic, if it were alive and present, would
  have a powerful impact on the health and vitality
  of your school?

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Question about leadership and empowerment

• Good leadership empowers people by supporting
  their growth and development. This often means
  seeing peoples potential and capacity even more
  clearly than they see themselves. Can you think
  of a time when someone provided an environment
  that allowed you or others to learn, to
  experiment, to take risks? What was going on?
• What was it about the leader that you value most
  in this story? Describe his / her qualities.

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Second question

• Can you think of a time when you supported
  someone elses growth and development, when you
  saw this persons potential and supported them to
  go beyond their previous limits?

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The AI Organization Summit Method
Increasing positive capacity through large
group methods
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4 Common Approaches to Change

• Top Down Strategies
• Bottom Up Strategies
• Representative Cross-Section Strategies
• Pilot Strategies
• Back Room

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Typical Results

• Less Informed and Ultimately Less Effective
  Change Efforts
• A Few Try to Convince Many That Change is Needed
• Partial Responsibility Mindset
• Change Occurs Sequentially
• Change is Perceived as a Disruption of Real Work

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Typical Results (cont)

• Pace of Change is Too Slow
• Substantial Change in Part or Modest Change in an
  Entire Organization
• Breakdown at Implementation

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Dream Design The AI Organization Summit

• Whole System in the Room
• Task is Clear...
• Future Focus Continuity Search
• Self-Management and Dialogue
• Narrative Rich Inter-generational
• From Common Ground to Inspired Action
• 3-Day event/100 to 1000 Participants
• Uncommon Action/Follow Through

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Why Does Experience of Wholeness

• Bring out the best in human beings?
• Propel innovation?
• New life?
• Eclipse old patterns?
• So easy?

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Inspired and passionate leadership transforming
the way people live and conduct their lives

• Making a difference
• Exceeding our own and
• customers expectations
• Pride of working for Nokia

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Roadway Express 65 Ai Summits Energized,
Unified

• Recently Featured in Fast Company and Forbes.
• Stock Prices rise--14 to 41 per share
• From 300 to Zero Grievances, e.g. Akron Terminal
• Powerful Product Innovations, e.g. Manhattan
  Project
• New Culture of Leadership
• Powerful Learning Partnerships Alcoa, Boeing,
  Cisco, Harley-Davidson, US Navy.
• Roadway Has Done 65 Appreciative Inquiry Summits
• 10,000 People Engaged

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AI 4-D Cycle

• Discovery
• Opportunity Call
• Positive Core
• History

• Destiny
• Self-initiated Actions
• Collective Programs
• Innovation Structures

• Dream
• Purpose
• Vision

Igniting Leadership at All Levels Navy Summit

• Design
• Principles Propositions
• Ideal Organizational Designs

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Question for GroupsWhat Might A School Summit
Look Like?

• If anything imaginable were possible, what would
  the nature of a summit look like if it were
  designed in every way to succeed and create a
  collaborative learning culture?
• Reports at_____oclock

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Valuable Applications of Appreciative Inquiry

• AI Summit Method Quality Growth Strategy
  Benchmarking Leadership Merger Summit Org
  Design.
• Leading Quality Improvement Initiatives
• Labor-management Partnerships
• Transformation of Measurement Systems
• Operational Excellence Optimal Margins Service
  Delivery
• Mergers Alliances
• Knowledge Magnification The AI Plus
  Collaboration and Best Practices Software
• Action Learning Leadership Development

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Actionable project

• Where can you apply AI? What project do you have
  in mind?
• What system? Boundaries?
• Format? Large group? Small group? Leadership
  coaching? Strategic planning? Meeting formats?
  Performance appraisal?

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Reference

• Barrett, F and R. Fry. (2005). Appreciative
  Inquiry A Positive Approach to Building
  Cooperative Capacity. Taos, New Mexico Taos
  Institute Press.

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Website For Sharing AI Tools Appreciative
Inquiry Commons

• http//ai.cwru.edu
• Bibliographies, Tools, Articles
• Case Western Reserve University

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Future Learning Opportunity

• Appreciative Inquiry A Workshop for Leaders and
  Consultants Engaged in Organization
  Transformation
• With Frank Barrett and David Cooperrider
• June 18-21, 2007
• Carmel, California
• For information contact
• Jodi Hayes at Meeting Solutions 831-625-3606
  email JodiHayes1_at_cs.com
• (or Frank Barrett at 831-656-2328
  fbarrett_at_cruzio.com)