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Is Your Glass Half-empty or Half-full?
One of two in a series on Appreciative Inquiry
By Michael Murphy Ph.D. and Cari Slater
At some point in our lives, we’ve all heard the words, “Focus on the positive.” This age
old saying may have more power than many of us give it credit for.
In fact, over the past two decades, many notable businesses, educational institutions and
even government programs including branches of the service, the American Red Cross and the
United Nations have used this very concept to create powerful change within their organizations.
The idea of positive thinking can be found at the core of the theory of Appreciative
Inquiry. According to its co-creator David L. Cooperrider along with Diana Whitney, president
of Corporation for Positive Change, “Appreciative Inquiry is about the search for the best in people,
their organizations, and the relevant world around them.” By focusing our energies on the positive
characteristics we possess, rather than our weaknesses, we can unleash the power of positive
thinking versus that of deficit thinking.
Far too often, organizations’ daily rituals are centered on the negative. They constitute
deficit thinking that may include such things as a SWOT analysis with 50 percent of the process
working on weaknesses and threats. Many businesses and individuals spend a large percentage
of time trying to fix what is broken instead of leveraging the positive energy that everyone and
every organization possess. It is important to recognize the pitfalls of an organization. However,
in many cases, too much time, effort, and energy is spent focusing on what they are not good at.
According to Whitney, “Organizations, people, relationships, and teams move in the
direction of what they study. So, if we study the problems we’ll become wizards of problems,
experts of problems.” Whitney goes on to say that instead of always asking what the problems
are, we need to ask, “What do we want more of?”
Sue Hammond, author of The Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry, has illustrated this idea
in the following table.
Traditional Organizational Development Process
Appreciative Inquiry Model
Define the problem
Fix what’s broken
Focus on decay
Search for solutions that already exist
Amplify what is working
Focus on life giving forces
What problems are you having?
What is working well around here?
In order for appreciative inquiry (AI) to work, companies must pull away from the widely
used, “top-down” forms of change. When a company enlists the AI method, they must employ
the entire system, not just upper management.
As mentioned earlier, many well-known companies have used AI as a change method.
John Deere Harvester Works, the second largest John Deere factory in the world, used AI to help
turn around the performance of a key manufacturing unit. In this example, an AI Summit
approach was used. A summit allows for the involvement of all employees, which means more
diversity and less hierarchy. This in turn gives each person a chance to be heard and learn new
ways to look at the task at hand.
Following the summit, many of the participants said, that for the first time in over 20
years, they felt hope for the future. Several teams worked on and successfully completed priority
projects within a month; one of which produced a return of three million dollars in savings, with
millions more projected from expanded market share. Those who participated said one of the
most significant outcomes was the transformed relationships that had occurred between
management and labor, and giving a feeling of validation to those involved.
Given the dynamic acceleration of change that is present in the world today, it is vital for
organizations to spend time and effort building quality people and solutions. Giving time and
effort towards a strength-based organization will open up the door to taking a positive approach.
This is accomplished by building on the best practices and supporting an infrastructure that will
make it happen. In some cases little change is needed, but in others, a dramatic overhaul in the
way people and organizations view change will be needed in order to fully embrace this method.
Next week we will take a closer look at the four main phases involved in the AI method.
We will also examine how this process can be used at an individual level and how it might be
applied to both a person’s professional and personal lives. Even if an organization does not
follow this process, an employee or manager can build their own appreciative core in how they
function within their daily routines.
Until then have an appreciative day!