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Appreciative Inquiry Newsletter Issue 2,
August 1998.
From Anne Radford (editor@aipractitioner.com)
THANK YOU to everyone who has sent words of encouragement and
appreciation, and feedback to us. Thanks also for forwarding the newsletter. The
distribution list has grown a lot since the first issue.
As a result of the feedback, we are experimenting with a format for the examples. Examples
describe the issue, who was involved, the process, outcomes and what made it special.
Information about me
At the moment, I’m finding so much inspiration for my work from artists.
The four year old in me scampers around looking at the visual feast on offer: Escher who
begins with a fish that becomes a bird that becomes a .... Or Mondrian who starts with a
tree with full branches and moves to a few simple lines. Wonderful images as I work with
people who are sifting the best of the past and developing something new and deeper from
it.
It is also a wonderful balance to all the analytical training I had at universities and
business school in the States and England. And the Harvard Business Review has discovered
the power of stories! See
* "Strategic Stories: How 3M is Rewriting Business Planning" HBR May-June 1998.
Or the article on managers who need to embrace ambiguity and improvisation.
* "Interpretive Management: What General Managers can Learn from Design." HBR
March-April 1998.
Recently, I’ve been working with:
* partnerships and consultancies helping them grow their businesses by focusing on their
best work and the systems they need to support that
* working in Belfast, as part of an international facilitation team, to support groups
from Eastern Europe go beyond their conflict and develop their communities
* several different types of organisations helping them create a way to work together on a
project that made the best of their rich and varied skills.
Combining spirit and analysis is one of the many things I enjoy about Ai.
I hope you enjoy both in the newsletter.
Anne
CONTENTS OF THIS NEWSLETTER
1. Interview with Bliss Browne, President, Imagine
Chicago
Key activities of the umbrella organization
A communication link
Essence of the umbrella group
Three important tests for partnerships
2. COUNTRY EXAMPLES:
2.1 England: BBC/strategic planning
2.2 Germany: Automotive/client relations
2.3 Mauritania: Community development: AI /PRA
2.4 USA:
Local government/marketing strategy
Local government/transitions and continuity
Private school/strategic planning
3 EVENTS
3.1 TRAINING in Ai or using Ai approach
3.1.1 Australia Introduction to Ai
3.1.2 England AMED/Intro. to Ai,
Institute of Mgmt/Manager as an Effective Coach
3.2 CONFERENCES
3.2.1 Australia Institute of Management
3.2.2 Spirituality conferences around the world
3.3 INITIATIVES
3.3.1 SCOTLAND Scotland needs an Umbrella!
Initiative by Scottish Enterprise
What works in Scotland? Scotland’s Future event
’Scots of the Future’ event for teachers and schools
Imagine Scotland: September meeting
Dreams too big for others?
4 PUBLICATION in USA
Table of Contents of "Lessons from the Field: Applying
Appreciative Inquiry" edited by Sue Hammond
5. WEB SITES
5.1 New GEM website
5.2 United Religions Initiative
6. RESEARCH/PhD Thesis
Engendered leadership teams in Catholic High Schools
1. INTERVIEW WITH BLISS BROWNE
Interview with Bliss Browne, President, Imagine Chicago and Coral Cawthorn, an Attorney
who has joined Imagine Chicago from private practice. The interview took place in London.
Bliss and Coral were in London as a follow-up to their work with British Airways in
Chicago. Last April, IMAGINE CHICAGO organized for BA an intergenerational, cross-cultural
conference in Chicago which partnered 340 top BA executives with 400 children from the
Chicago Children’s Choir at the Field Museum for a day of music and innovative
education.
The conference was designed to inspire executives and improve their coaching abilities. As
a lasting legacy, the children and executives created "inspiration exhibits"
from objects brought by the executives from their 83 countries of origin. The exhibits
will tour the Chicago schools and be part of the permanent collection of the Field Museum.
Bliss and Coral’s trip to London was to do a conference evaluation and to follow up
on preliminary discussion about Imagine London, Imagine Scotland, and Imagine Denmark.
We asked Bliss to reflect on the work of IMAGINE CHICAGO as an umbrella organization
itself for several reasons. We are looking at London initiatives and the role of umbrella
organizations, and there are other ’Imagine’ projects around the world with
their umbrella organizations.
So, we wanted to know the learnings and insights from Imagine Chicago.
Key activities of the umbrella organization
Anne: What are the key activities of the umbrella organization?
Bliss: Since 1993 we have been focusing on three activities:
a) Dialogue across generational, geographical and cultural boundaries
b) Providing structured frameworks and curriculum materials for communities to visualise
their future, and participate in and be responsible for their own development
c) Helping networks form.
We are also now in the process of developing communications materials about the work
A communication link
We are a communication link between: different communities in Chicago working at different
levels of scope, Chicago and other similar initiatives in the States and elsewhere.
* We are taking what we have learned here and applying it to other situations such as the
work we did with the International Sales Executives of British Airways.
* We are now developing a web site, a video, and a set of case studies which explain what
has been done and hopefully encourage others to build similar connections in their own
cities.
Essence of the umbrella group
Anne: What is the essence or spirit of the umbrella group?
Bliss: We do everything through partnerships with existing organizations, developing
programs that help the organizations accomplish their own mission while building
connections and community capacity.
* We are as inclusive as possible. We want everyone to take part who wants to. Everyone
who wants to be involved will be encouraged to be involved.
* We expect the world from everyone whether they are someone from a housing association or
a senior executive in a large business.
* We believe and know that everyone has a distinct and unique contribution to make.
* We discriminate in favor of who shows up. We don’t chase people to be involved, we
go with the people who are there.
* We tap into talent by hand picking people who have particular talent and interest. For
example, we recently asked one of the best video editors in Chicago to help us prepare a
video about Imagine Chicago. He was delighted to help. Sometimes people don’t ask
important or busy people to get involved because they assume they can’t.
* We ask everyone to get involved, and know that if we can give them a way to make a
distinctive contribution, they will enjoy and benefit from their involvement.
* We look for the people who have dreams too big for others to handle.
Three important tests for partnerships
One of the things we are discovering is that you can build very effective partnerships if
the programs you create together meet three tests:
* They are developmental for the individuals involvedÑpeople learn things and enjoy
learning them.
* They are developmental for the organizationÑthey help each organization accomplish
their own institutional mission better.
* And they build city-wide connections that don’t happen readily otherwise.
2. COUNTRY EXAMPLES:
2.1 ENGLAND Paul Lynch
(CPLynch@compuserve.com)
ISSUE: Strategic planning
CLIENT: BBC Regional Broadcasting
PEOPLE INVOLVED/PROCESS used: Ai was part of a three-day workshop. Used Ai to start the
process of thinking about strategic planning.
OUTCOMES: Five groups created their own possibility propositions.
We did not have time to attempt the production of one proposition.
SPECIAL MOMENTS for you/your client: seeing the workshop’s energy on the third day
accelerating and proceedings finishing earlier than expected.
WHAT MADE IT SUCCESSFUL for you/your client: The key, as ever, is the careful crafting of
the questions, and this produced some challenging debate with the four directors
responsible for the programme.
* The group of managers and directors was amongst the most gifted groups I have worked
with, but individual members’ focus was generally short term -measured in days rather
than years. This may be a function of their journalistic backgrounds, and the pervasive
urgency of news and programme production.
* The public broadcasting values for which the BBC is renowned internationally, integrity,
accuracy, etc etc., also played a huge underlying influence.
* The values were often alluded to in discussions and there was concern that those
traditional values (not always explicitly defined but participants assumed they were
understood) should not be eroded, or worse, abandoned. These were underlying influences
which were pervasive, and not always overt.
2.2 GERMANY
ISSUE: Strengthening the client orientation and the team spirit of the Customer Service
Team (as part of the Sales Department)
CLIENT: Automotive Supplier
PEOPLE INVOLVED/PROCESS used:
* Interviews with selected clients about excellent Client Service including Benchmarking
with World Class Suppliers.
10 domestic and 3 international clients.
* Interviews with account managers as clients of the Customer Service Team
* Interviews with the Customer Service Team.
* Results of these interviews fed back to the Customer Service Team
* Customer Service Team wrote an article for a fictitious newspaper on a World Class
Client Service in the supplier industry
* Workshop on their customer service in 1999.
* Evaluation will be done in about 6 months time.
OUTCOMES:
- Developing a reachable vision for 1999.
- People moved closer to each other and with a much greater willingness to support each
other.
- Awareness that active communication to the client is essential and they need to have
more systems to support that
- Frustration at a certain point, because they stretched themselves too far with one
possibility statement and they realised that they will not be able to achieve it on their
own.
SPECIAL MOMENTS for you/your client:
After the interviews it was obvious to the client that a change has happened, he said:
"what have you done with them, they are lit up like a star". One account manager
said he was very frustrated, and only wanted to come and say one sentence and then leave.
We talked for four hours.
WHAT MADE IT SUCCESSFUL for you/your client:
Great things came out of the interviews, which will be very helpful for the future. They
became aware that they had moved in the right direction.
2.3 MAURITANIA
Mary Pecaut (maryaj@bouti.u-net.com)
ISSUE: Community Development-Combining AI and PRA
(Participatory Rural Appraisal)
CLIENT: An extremely poor community in Mauritania, West Africa,where villagers are
dependent on food aid for survival. People had given up their nomadic way of lifeÑvillage
has existed for only 16 years. Visit had been set up by World Vision.
PROCESS: In the first meeting, villagers mapped out their community in the sand and
highlighted everything important to village life
LEARNINGS: Combination of PRA and AI is better than PRA only.
* Ai and PRA complement and enhance one another. PRA provided tangible tools that helped
the community recognize their assets/resources. Ai helped promote pride and create
enthusiasm for the future, and reinforced important role of story-telling in their
society.
* In a village using PRA and Ai, villagers developed a provocative proposition "to
ensure potable water for their children’s children." They were fully engaged in
every aspect of the project-conception to evaluation. They formed a committee to assess
the quality of the water, and to investigate ways of maintaining the well. The well became
one aspect of an even larger goal. In villages where PRA had been used without AI, once
the well was completed, that was the end of the activity.
* Ai was able to go beyond caste, gender, age and challenge attitudes inherent in cultural
norms and beliefs. By the end of the week, men and women
-were talking to each other individually and sharing discussions of the dayattended the
same meeting each sitting on different sides of the room.
Also,
- women spoke out
- a woman from a caste of the blacksmith caste (near the bottom of the hierarchy but with
a role in society that allows for ’unusual’ behaviour) spoke out and voiced the
opinion of the women’s group
SPECIAL MOMENTS: After the village Chief had used the word ’Problem’ five times
in a short introduction, we pointed out to the villagers their amazing achievements in the
face of such adversity. The mood changedÑthey relaxed and tapped each other on the knees
recalling memories of when the community had worked well together and their
’peak’ experiences.
OBSERVATION: When using Ai among impoverished people where resources are limited and may
be dependent on outsiders (Govt, PVO etc.) community needs to be able to implement at
least one of the provocative propositions immediately. Otherwise, you risk plummeting the
community even lower that they were before.
2.4 USA Three examples
EXAMPLE 1 Laverne Dees Webb (LaverneW@aol.com)
ISSUE: Developing a Marketing Strategy
CLIENT: Local government.
People involved: a Deputy City Manager, managers, supervisors interested city employees,
OD Staff and other local organizations
PROCESS:
A one-half day workshop for managers and supervisors. A second one for interested city
employees and other local organizations. The city agreed to pay my travel and per diem
expenses.
OUTCOMES: For client-Great interest and enthusiasm
For me-Paid follow-on work, described in Example 2.
EXAMPLE 2 Laverne Dees Webb (LaverneW@aol.com)
ISSUE: Transitions and continuity
CLIENT: Local government.
PEOPLE/PROCESS involved: One half-day Introduction to Appreciative Inquiry workshop for
the new City Manager, and Department Directors.
Second half-day intro workshop for a mixed group of managers, supervisors, City Council
members, and union representatives.
A two-day Train the Trainer workshop for 15 city employees inc. department managers,
supervisors, secretaries, union reps, and OD staff.
WORKSHOP FORMAT:
Introduction to AI, Experience AI interview process, AI logic and theory Design interview
protocol, Learn and practice AI interview skills
Conduct AI interviews in field, Assess experience, Present and analyze interview data
Develop "Report of Findings" for departments interviewed
OUTCOMES from the training (some months later):
The City reports that people continue to seek new ways to include an AI approach in their
work: Ai is used to train employees to use new technology; Ai is used in employee
orientation.
They also report hearing this question a lot, "Why don’t we look at what’s
going right?"
EXAMPLE 3 Stephanie K. Nestlerode and Gary B. Jackson
(skn@divide.net)
ISSUE: Strategic planning in a school involving parents, students, board, faculty and
administration
CLIENT: a private Montessori School in the Western United States, frustrated and fatigued
by their strategic planning efforts and their decision-making processes, and intrigued by
the notion of creating the future based on a collage of the bests from the past.
PROCESS: We forged a Creative Learning Partnership with stakeholders groups (parents,
board, faculty and administration) that recognized both their diversity and their unity
for creating a nurturing environment for the children. The board, administration, and
faculty were involved over several months with two full-day off-sites. Parents and
students were involved in focus groups.
OUTCOMES:
* Participants achieved consensus on two items that had been the source of conflict for
four years: a mission statement, and a new administrative structure better designed to
meet the needs of a growing school
* Participants conducted action planning based on the four life-giving forces. These plans
included items that prior to AI would have seemed both unnecessary and risky i.e. greater
parental contact and sharing of information regarding each child.
SPECIAL MOMENTS for you/your client:
* Participants identified four life-giving forces: the Montessori philosophy, a spirit of
community, innovation, and the children who thrive at the school
* A significant moment came when participants saw the connections among these four
elements utilizing an interrelationship digraph. The connections explained relationships
not previously understood.
* Our most special moment was the final check-out circle when every single participant
(even the most initially sceptical) spoke to the power of the process.
WHAT MADE IT SUCCESSFUL for you/your client:
* We invested time to create a container that allowed each voice to be heard and
respected. We practised dialogic principles to radically improve the quality of
conversation.
* The power of deep listening with curiosity was transforming.
As a result, amazing shifts in thinking occurred based on an ability to see more of the
’whole.’ These openings of possibility generated excitement and kept up the
momentum through action planning. It also began a healing process among the stakeholders.
3 EVENTS
3.1 TRAINING
3.1.1 AUSTRALIA: One day seminar on Appreciative Inquiry
Date: 21 September 1998 Time: 9am to 3pm
Where: Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia
Who: Liz Mellish and Neil Cranston will be running the workshop.
Contact Neil Cranston on n.cranston@qut.edu.au
3.1.2 ENGLAND Two events
A. "The Manager as an Effective Coach" one day course run by Anne Radford for
the Institute of Management. The 4D cycle is applied to coaching.
Date: Friday 2 October 1998
Location: Savoy Court, The Strand, Central London
Contact: Institute of Management Tel 01536-207373 Quote Course no. 096
B. AMED is running a two day workshop+follow-up day
on Appreciative Inquiry in central London beginning in September.
AMED ran three very successful Taster sessions on Ai earlier this year and is responding
to requests for a more in-depth session. (You will get a lot from the workshop even if you
were unable to attend the Taster sessions.)
Dates: 22 and 23 September + 24 November 1998
Venue: AMED, 14-15 Belgrave Square, London SW1
Price: AMED members £300+VAT, non-members £400+VAT
A limited number of bursaries are available for public sector and charitable
organisations.
Workshop leaders: Tricia Lustig, LASA Development UK Ltd
(tricia@lasa.demon.co.uk)and Anne Radford (editor@aipractitioner.com)
They ran the Taster sessions.
Contact: Helen Trussler, AMED, tel 0171-235-3505 fax 0171-235-3565 or
amed.office@management.org.uk
3.2 CONFERENCES
3.2.1 AUSTRALIA
Institute of Management Consultants conference "Leading
Practices in partnering with clients" (contact imc@imc.org.au).
Date: 17-20 September 1998
Location: Coolum Queensland
Liz Mellish is leading a session on Managing people through Change - an Appreciative
Consultation approach.
3.2.2 Spirituality conferences (PatrickUN@aol.com)
CANADA/GUATEMALA/INDIA/MEXICO/PHILIPPINES/USA
Patrick McNamara has a list of conferences that are taking place from 1998 to 2001
3.3 INITIATIVES
3.3.1 SCOTLAND Scotland needs an Umbrella!
Margaret Wright (100067.2577@compuserve.com)
In Issue 1 Pt1, I said that AI excited me because it focused on the best that has happened
and can happen in the future. I promised to say more on Scotland’s Future-so I am
summarising a number of different ’happenings’ that have become intertwined.
’There are no coincidences!’
Initiative by Scottish Enterprise
Scotland’s Future-a Strategic Dialogue is an initiative by Scottish Enterprise to
bring together individuals and organisations across Scotland to discuss the challenges and
opportunities facing the Scottish Economy and the action needed to address them. Its
purpose is to establish a ’dialogue across generational, geographical and cultural
boundaries’ and ’help networks form’ mentioned in Bliss’s article.
Interview questions include:
"Turning to the present and looking at Scotland, what do you see as our greatest
asset and opportunities?" and
"If we think about the year 2010 and assuming that things have worked out well, what
does the successful Scotland look like then?"
What works in Scotland? Scotland’s Future event
Geof Cox, a colleague, ran an AI event in Edinburgh in May, linked to Scotland’s
Future. Eighty people from a wide variety of backgrounds looked at themes like innovation,
creativity and learning as well as inclusive and environmentally sustainable economies.
The outcomes of the day will be released soon.
’Scots of the Future’ event for teachers and schools
Another event is planned with teachers and educationalists to identify the factors which
would successfully engage the ’Scots of the Future’-young people, schools and
colleges in this dialogue. This event will again use an AI approach and is planned for
September.
Imagine Scotland: September meeting
Enter another weave in the tapestry! Some of those involved in the above events ask
themselves: What if Imagine Scotland was born? Who might be the interested parties? Of
course Bliss Browne, Imagine Chicago needs to be there! It will come as no surprise to
learn that on 22 June eleven people plus Bliss Browne and Coral Cawthorn of Imagine
Chicago sat round the table in Edinburgh to do just that. Consideration is being given to
how the ’Initial Energy Group’ for Imagine Scotland might be broadened to
include everyone who wants to be involved. We will meet again in September perhaps tapping
into talent by hand-picking people who have particular talents and interests’ or
maybe just ’discriminating in favour of who shows up.’
Dreams too big for others?
So if in Bliss’s words, you have dreams too big for others to handle, are prepared to
give to the world, live and/or work in ScotlandÑ please get in touch!
With all these activities and the interest which is there maybe what we need is an
umbrella? And for anyone who knows Scotland’s weather there is no maybe!
4 PUBLICATIONS
4.1 "Lessons from the Field: Applying Appreciative Inquiry" edited by Sue
Hammond. Orders taken from 1 August, and will be shipped in August. Order line is
888-316-9544. US price is $22.00. (SueHammond@aol.com)
Other places to place your order:
Lia Bosch in Canada, phone 403-286-2050
Liz Mellish in Australia (info@mellish.com.au).
Anne Radford in England (editor@aipractitioner.com)
"Lessons from the Field" Table of Contents:
Forward: D. Cooperrider
* The Laguna Beach Education Foundation: Schoolpower: Using Ai and philanthropy to improve
public education: M. Pinto, M. Curran
* Strategic Planning: AI in a large-scale change at an Australian University: L. Mellish
* Creating A Healthy Hilltop Community: Co-ordinating hospital planning with the needs of
the community: P. Holman, A. Paulson, L. Nichols
* Imagine Chicago: A city comes together to imagine a future based on the best of the
past: B. Browne
* Imagine Dallas: Applying Imagine Chicago to another community: M. Foster
* Imagine South Carolina: A state-wide AI addressing issues of race and building
communities that work: C. Royal and A. Stewart
* The Banana Kelly Experience: Using AI with Young People: J. Hall
* Appreciative Planning & Action: Evolving a new strategy for empowering communities
in Nepal: M. Odell
* Getting Started: Writing an OD proposal: D. Cooperrider
* Introducing the AI Philosophy: A how-to for consultants new to the process:J. Kelm
* Frequently Asked Questions: What consultants want to know most about AI: C. Royal and S.
Hammond
* Lessons from using AI in a Planning Exercise: When the client insists on collecting
negative information from customers: M. Blair
* Do We Really Mean It? How we change Behavior after the Provocative Propositions are
written: J. Brittain
* Exit Interviews with an Appreciative Eye: L. Bosch
* Creating Opportunities for Learning AI: M. Curran and G. Work
* A Spiritual Path to Organizational Renewal: The Christian Spiritual Dimension of AI- an
essay, G. Banaga
* A Person Cross Cultural Exile in to AI-an essay: K. Murrell
* Resources: A current bibliography of AI: D. Dole
5. WEB SITES on Ai and related topics:
5.1 NEW WEB SITE Global Excellence in Management (GEM) Initiative Weatherhead School of
Management, Case Western Reserve University, Ohio, USA
NEW http://www.geminitiative.org
5.2 United Religions Initiative
http://www.united-religions.org
6. RESEARCH/PhD Thesis
Paul Wruck (stjames@eis.net.au)
Engendered leadership teams in co-educational Catholic High Schools
He will look at two teams in high school settings in Queensland, Australia.
He would appreciate guidance and advice, and any further readings on Ai.
Please send any examples or information to one of the following:
COUNTRY CONTACTS/CO-ORDINATORS
Walter Bruck/Germany Walter.Bruck@usa.net
Steve Cato/USA West Coast scato@worldnet.att.net
Bart Cox /South Africa stazia@wfc.org.za*
Joep de Jong/The Netherlands jlsjc@WORLDONLINE.NL
Muriel Finegold/USA East Coast Marafine@aol.com
Mette Jacobsgaard/Denmark 101572.622@compuserve.com
Bill Kinsey/Zimbabwe bkinsey@econ.vu.nl
Liz Mellish/Australia info@mellish.com.au**
Ravi Pradhan/Nepal Ravip@wlink.com.np
Hamdi Qenawi/Egypt hamdiq@iiedt2.gega.net
Anne Radford/England + Newsletter Co-ordinator editor@aipractitioner.com
Marge Schiller/USA East Coast MRSENTP@aol.com
Magdalena Steinmeyer/Mexico hgstein@ibm.net
Laverne Dees Webb/USA Iowa LaverneW@aol.com
Margaret Wright/Scotland 100067.2577@compuserve.com
* Bart Cox is taking over from Anastasia White who has been accepted at Case Western
Reserve University this Fall semester
** Please note this address change
If you want to SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE, write to me (editor@aipractitioner.com). There is no charge for the
newsletter.
Do forward the newsletter to as many people as you like, just keep the copyright
information intact.
I hope you have enjoyed this issue. Do let me have your feedback and comments. Issue 3
will be out in October 1998.
Anne Radford,
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