Over the years, in
running workshops and sessions on AI, people have said to me “I agree
so much with the approach of AI. It’s lovely to be so positive.” At
this point, I usually feel a ‘but’ coming on. They continue, “But,
it’s unrealistic to think AI can apply in conflict situations. This
approach wouldn’t work in my organisation. It just couldn’t be used
when teams aren’t getting along or when people fall out with each
other.” The more I heard this, the more I wanted to bring together
examples of where AI had been used in conflict situations and where
the theoretical underpinnings had been applied to get results.
What role does conflict play in Appreciative
Inquiry? In this article, a long-time AI
Practitioner reports on her increased focus on how conflicting
opinions are handled in conversations in organizations. Enabling
people to speak up, making choices about which topics to pursue and
which ones to leave for another time as well as listening to
controversial views can all be part of reframing conflict from
negative to positive. Sue Hammond highlights not only the value of
naming the elephants but dancing with them as well: in other words,
recognizing that undiscussables exist, finding a way to talk about
them and framing the conversation as a celebration.
Restorative Harnessing
of the Energy of Conflict
by Shelagh Goldie
Restorative Justice has
its roots in New Zealand’s Maori tribal communities, whose traditional
way of problem solving involves families and communities in a
collective decision making process. Having traditionally been confined
to the Criminal Justice sector, it is now increasingly being applied
to areas including schools, the workplace and community groups. Such
approaches fill the gaps previously unreachable by disciplinary
procedures and legislation.
Constructing Ourselves, Constructing
the Other: The Challenge of Reconciliation in South Africa
by Anastasia White and Teddy Nemeroff
This article describes an ongoing
Reconciliation Initiative undertaken in partnership between the
Institute for Democracy in South Africa and the Gauteng Council of
Churches. This Initiative launched in May 2004 now has six regional
dialogues at local level, each focusing on a different aspect of
reconciliation. The project is grounded in social constructionist
principles and merges the Appreciative Inquiry and Sustained Dialogue
methodologies. This article explores how these theoretical groundings
and merging of methodologies are working to tackle the question of
reconciliation from a positive approach. The central hypothesis is
that history can be a “positive possibility” and through a series of
Sustained Dialogues our constructions
of self and the other can be a process of remembering ourselves into
new ways of being.
Using Appreciative
Inquiry with Journalists
by Robin Shohet and Ben Fuchs
Robin Shohet and Ben
Fuchs ran sessions for journalists on journalism, trauma and
spirituality, and on trauma and forgiveness. These sessions provided a
space for journalists
to feel safe to talk about the traumas they had witnessed in conflict
situations. In their
discussions, they highlighted the power of approaching their work with
an accepting or
forgiving mind. This in turn enabled them to discuss even more deeply
their work with
colleagues.
Dialogue and Action: A
Call to Build Community Developing Solutions for Respecting Diversity
and Creating
Harmony in Bristol Township, Pennsylvania
by Steven N. Pyser
Important issues of
respecting diversity, race relations and tolerance spawned significant
community and governmental concerns because of racial tensions at
Harry S. Truman High School in Bristol Township, Pennsylvania. This
article describes a strength based approach to change delivered on May
17, 2005 that transformed conflict into a constructive and positive
result.
Appreciative Inquiry and Diversity: The
Path to Relational Eloquence
By Ilene C. Wasserman
This article describes practices that foster new
ways of engaging deeply embedded
historical differences such as race, gender, class, sexual orientation
and faith affiliation that
acknowledge each other and create new forms of relating. The
principles of Appreciative
Inquiry along with the theoretical framework and practical tools of
the Coordinated Management of Meaning were used to guide reflective
conversations with groups exploring such differences in dialogue to
identify these practices. The inquiry and reflection itself had a
heliotropic or generative impact.
Beyond Conflict to
healing, forgiveness and growth
by Anne Radford
Healing and growth
can seem elusive when conflict has been going on for a long time;
forgiveness and growth unlikely when attitudes have hardened or
memories of traumas are
still very real. Yet where people have been able to have different
conversations they have
gone beyond conflict.
