"There's gold in them thar hills!" using the alchemy of powerful questions to transform organizational dross into gold — ASN Events
  1. Schedule
  2. Afternoon Tea & Poster Session 1
  3. "There's gold in them thar hills!" using the alchemy of powerful questions to transform organizational dross into gold

"There's gold in them thar hills!" using the alchemy of powerful questions to transform organizational dross into gold (#701)

Robin Johnson 1 2 3 4
  1. Robin Learning Systems, La Crescenta, CA, United States
  2. Master of Applied Positive Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States of America
  3. MBA, Organizational Behavior, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, United States of America
  4. Work and Organizations, Spirituality and Meaning, Health, Education, International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA), Apple Valley , MN, United States of America

Background

The questions we ask govern what we look for, what we find, and what we may become. Human beings are hard-wired to look for the negative. Managers and leaders, being human, follow suit. However, myriad real-life organizational experiences reveal that looking for what is life-giving, energizing, and what is “going right” produces more innovations, positive outcomes, and constructive, long-lasting organizational change. The alchemy of powerful, positive questions can turn the seeking of problems into the seeking of strengths, transforming organizational dross into gold. The objective becomes learning how to look for and find the gold, then how to extract and refine it, thus creating workplaces that are more humane, ethical, and resilient – where people want to stay, instead of wanting to leave.

Aims

Attendees will learn the basic principles and practices of Appreciative Inquiry, which is the process of creating powerful, positive questions to discover already existing organizational assets, and then using those strengths to dream and design a better future. This includes the construction of “return and report” mechanisms to ensure that “discovery, dream, and design” discussions evolve into concrete “deliver and deploy” strategies.

Method

The Appreciative Inquiry process consists of five stages: 1) Define the issue, 2) Discover assets and strengths, 3) Dream a better future, 4) Design prototypes that link assets and strengths to that desired better future, and 5) Deliver/Deploy strategies to turn those prototypes into actual outcomes – the Destiny of the organization. 

Results

The principles and practices of Appreciative Inquiry have been used for almost four decades in a wide range of industries and organizations, from small family-owned businesses and community groups to the United Nations creating its 17 Global Goals. In myriad instances, this 5D process has created positive and long-lasting results.

Conclusion

By learning and applying Appreciative Inquiry principles and practices to everyday life, in and out of work, we can act as catalysts for long-lasting, positive organizational change.

 

  1. Whitney, D. D., & Trosten-Bloom, A. (2010). The power of appreciative inquiry: A practical guide to positive change. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
  2. Lawrence, D. H. The real act of discovery consists not in finding new lands but seeing with new eyes”–Marcel Proust “The sense of wonder, that is our sixth sense.
  3. Cooperrider, D. L. (2016). Mirror flourishing: The new business north star. Kosmos Journal for Global Transformation. https://www. kosmosjournal. org/article/mirror-flourishingthe-new-business-north-star.
  4. Cooperrider, D., & Srivastva, S. (2017). The Gift of New Eyes: Personal Reflections after 30 Years of Appreciative Inquiry in Organizational LifeAppreciative Inquiry in Organizational Life☆. In Research in organizational change and development. Emerald Publishing Limited.
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