Accentuate the Positive with Appreciative Inquiry

Sara Orem current focus is on the development and use of positive methods including Appreciative Inquiry in coaching and group processes. Appreciative Coaching describes in detail the method Sara has developed for her coaching practice which serves women and men looking at self-started transitions. Sara Orem is the co-author of Appreciative Coaching: A Positive Process Read More …

Strength Based Approach to Lean and Six Sigma

David Shaked of Almond-Insight  discusses his book, Strength-Based Lean Six Sigma: Building Positive and Engaging Business Improvement. in a podcast last fall but it was actually the 2nd time David appeared on the podcast. The first time served as a great introduction to me on his Strength Based Approach to Lean and Six Sigma. In Read More …

Blend of Appreciative Inquiry and Lean

Ankit Patel, principal partner with The Lean Way Consulting firm while doing some work with the Cleveland Clinic, discovered Appreciative Inquiry and saw an opportunity to blend it with his work in Continuous Improvement. I had a podcast with Ankit and you can access the podcast and entire transcription: Blending Appreciative Inquiry with Lean. In Read More …

Leave the Customer Win Your Heart!

Stories are the best way to get our point across. In fact, we are schooled on how to tell stories and recently you are seeing more and more presentations handled in story fashion. An Ancient North American Proverb states, Tell me a fact, and I’ll learn. Tell me a truth, and I’ll believe. But tell Read More …

Do We Know How to Learn from Customers?

Any reader of the Business901 blog or twitter followers for any length of time has heard words echoing in this space such as… “The only competitive advantage you have is the rate at which you learn from your customers.” “Positioning your organization in your customer’s playground is the most important role marketing has.” Along with Read More …

You Create the Future by What You Reinforce Today

Yesterday, I blogged about, Selling Around The Triangle of Satisfaction, and how we tend to focus on competing interest. At the end of the post, I mention how continually working around the triangle as common interest surfaces increases buy-in. We could call it a Strength-Based approach, or we could just call it plain old positive Read More …