Do you believe that despite the complaints and problems
encountered in your organization, there is nonetheless
significant good work and results occurring? Do you want to
find a way to fan the flames of these positives so that they
engulf your entire organization? Let?s admit it ? sometimes our
problem-centered focus places too much attention on the
negative. Perhaps it?s time for a new approach. We can seek to
discover the excellence already present in our organizations ?
just as Michelangelo is reported to have said that he saw an
angel in the rock and carved to set it free.

Having a positive vision is the underlying premise of
Appreciative Inquiry. Appreciative Inquiry is a philosophy but
it is also practical since it suggests a particular method of
changing social systems. In its most basic form, an
appreciative inquiry is about asking questions about the best
of what is and what has been. The information is like a
discovery that lends itself to dreaming about the positive
future and finally, designing the action plan to make it
happen.

For example, a consultant or trainer is frequently in the
position of needing to understand the training needs of a
client company. Here are several potential questions that could
be used in appreciative interviews:

? Describe a time when you took part in professional
development that was especially energizing and enlivening. Who
was involved? What happened? Describe the event in detail.

? If you could imagine or transform the professional
development available in any way you wished, what one to three
things would you like to see happen to enhance its vitality and
effectiveness?

? What do you imagine your own role might be in helping to make
this happen? Who could work with you?

The resulting qualitative data would be most efficiently
analyzed by computer software such as text retrievers, code and
retrieve programs and conceptual network builders. Such software
programs would help draw valid meaning from the data by reducing
it, help to identify patterns through comparative analysis and
go beyond the narrative text to display the data in matrices.

Consider asking one or more appreciative questions at your next
staff meeting. Set it up properly by giving employees a little
background and reasoning for the approach. Let them know what
you plan to do with the information and invite interested
parties to get involved in the resulting action plan. You might
be surprised by the synergy that results!


About The Author:

Muqadas Javaid is founder of rolista.com - He
is internet marketing guru and expert in web portal development.
Find out more about the Website at: http://www.rolista.com