John Steinbach has combined the approaches of Appreciative Inquiry and Open Space into his dynamic and positive Opening Appreciative Space process. This process starts with Appreciative Inquiry; a positive approach to change that can be used by individuals, teams, organizations, and communities. Through an interview process that focuses on strengths and high-point experiences, Appreciative Inquiry helps participants discover and create a desired future.
I always like putting Appreciative Inquiry people on the spot by asking them: What do you do with the negative comments? There has to be, because that’s how we’re used to thinking.
John: You don’t fight it. I try to get that across in my presentation that part of what you’re doing if I sit down, and I’m doing an appreciative inquiry interview with somebody, and they’re just really negative we did a big effort in the zip code I live in, and it’s a wonderful place to live, and also, it has a lot of foreclosures, people will talk about crime; we’ve lost businesses, whatever. Some of the people just want to talk about that. That’s what they want to talk about. You don’t fight it, but what you can do is, you take it, and this is really, I think, a concept that people find so valuable if they start to use it, is any negative that a person has. If you think of a coin, the opposite side of that coin is a positive image that’s frustrated.
So they’re saying, "This part of town, the housing is just deteriorating, and we’re seeing more crime," and whatever it is, and you say, "It sounds like you’re really concerned about that. What is it that you want to see this neighborhood look like and feel like? Let’s talk about that. Have you seen some steps, either here or other places that help move toward that?"
You’re acknowledging, "Yeah, I understand that you don’t like this. Now, the opposite side of what you don’t like is what you want to see. Let’s talk about that." I think every group I’ve ever worked with; they can see how much more effective that is, because they’ve been involved in so many efforts that focus entirely on the negatives and the problems.
We’re not saying, "Deny the problems," we’re not saying, "Don’t allow them to surface," just asking people to try to skillfully flip it when they do surface, to say, "OK, I get that. Now what is it you want to see, and have you seen some of it, and how can we move to more of it?" "Your organization with low morale, we could’ve talked about why there was low morale until the cows came home. Instead…"
I acknowledge that up front from when we started the effort. I said, "I got called in to examine low morale. We’re not going to do that. The reason is I think if we examine low morale, we’re going to have lower morale when we’re done. We’re going to examine what there is that makes morale as high as it is, how to take it higher, and get those ideas flowing."
It’s a tricky thing. If you fight the negatives, they just gain energy, but if you accept them, and then help people look for what they want, in almost all cases they will cooperate with that.
Transcription and Podcast: Opening Appreciative Space
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