Appreciative approach: The positive gaze upon our humanity

Vânia Bueno Cury

I have always been critical, and most of the time I have been driven by the desire for perfection. Thus, wherever I was or whatever I was doing, I always sought what was missing. As a foundation for this behavior, there was the justification that pursuing the best was a virtue.

My intention was good, but my extreme effort left a trace of tiredness and loss, especially in my relationships.

This mental model followed me in everything I did, and I have to admit that it helped me follow the challenging path towards self-development, seeking beauty and ethics with much persistence. I was self-demanding and wanted to do everything flawlessly at school, work and in life. My intention was good, but my extreme effort left a trace of tiredness and loss, especially in my relationships. Long years of therapy, meditation, courses and reading did not enable me to deal with the frustration of facing up to “imperfect and uncontrollable reality”.

This struggle was always present in my work as a journalist and as a young entrepreneur, setting up a communication studio. I have worked on PR projects with good clients and an engaging team for twenty years. This setting fostered the growth of the business and its recognition in the market.

In 2007, all was going very well: business was prospering, I was in a happy second marriage, and I had good clients. However, a strong cry for change came from within my heart. It had taken me some months of searching and anxiety until I could understand the reason for that recurring tiredness at the end of the day and for that disenchantment I had never felt beforehand. One day the answer came, crystal clear: I no longer wanted to invest my time and energy in just selling products and services. I wanted to work in assisting people develop through good communication and contribute to transforming the world.

This new clarity of purpose gave me courage, enabling a deep practice of detachment

This new clarity of purpose gave me courage, enabling a deep practice of detachment: in three months I referred my clients to other professionals, I out-placed my employees, and I left for a journey with no destination. I just knew I needed to be free, to go back to study and to find a new meaning for my existence.

Through a careful and unexpected weaving of synchronicities, I left Brazil: I was the second Brazilian to participate in the MPOD – Master of Science in Positive Organizational Development and Change at Case Western Reserve University, the cradle of AI. Nine years after this adventure, I can now very joyfully say that it was the best decision I have ever made.

Ever since, I have been working to connect communication and human development at organizations and schools. To my surprise, I became a university professor and the classroom has been the place where I feel the happiest and the most fulfilled. In conversation circles, I have been sharing the power of dialogue, conflict transformation, systemic vision, and emotional intelligence – always under the inspiration of the appreciative approach. As each process continues, I confirm the power that AI has for generating positive energy to foster change in projects, companies and communities.

Since the very beginning of each graduation group, one innovative intervention in my viewpoint is the use of the “4D AI cycles” for creating agreements for living together. In doing so, students and I have been able to create and support a more inclusive, respectful and collaborative culture. This contributes a lot to our co-learning and maturing.

Nevertheless, what most impresses me in the methodology is the potential to move people and generate inner dialogues. I very often hear feedback from participants like: “This experience changed my life” or “I will never be the same”. This is certainly very gratifying.

I should also say that I am still working on my transformation. For instance, in a recent dialogue with a dear and wise Brazilian professor of mine, Lia Diskin, everything made even more sense. Professor Diskin made me understand that the shadow of perfectionism withdraws us from our own humanity because it is the denial of our human nature. It is this human nature that makes us fail and make mistakes. For me, more than the efficient 4Ds methodology, AI is an enlightened lens through which to see and understand life. It is the way of compassion towards oneself and others, and a possible path for dreaming and gratitude.¹

AI: Creating magic for South African entrepreneurs

Judy Janse van Rensburg

Working with entrepreneurs as part of a business incubation program in one of South Africa’s poorest provinces has lead me to believe that AI might have magical properties. Entrepreneurs are dreamers, and AI is all about dreaming and making those dreams come alive. The combination of the Anticipatory principle, the Heliotropic principle and the use of appreciative language can lead to extraordinary results. Had I not witnessed these experiences first hand, I might not have believed it.

The poor survival rate of entrepreneurs is well documented and the evidence of broken dreams is often reflected in high unemployment figures. Trying to start a business with little or no funding in a poor province takes a lot of guts and determination, and most business owners will tell you that there are many times they have felt like giving up.

Understanding what ‘gives life’ to a system can mean the difference between success and disaster.

AI gave hope to entrepreneurs as they focused on their positive core. Getting to know themselves as entrepreneurs empowered them to see new possibilities and take positive action. Understanding what “gives life” to a system can mean the difference between success and disaster. When entrepreneurs are aware of what gives them life, and when they are at their best, they can harness that knowledge and create magic. When they are able to review their best experiences of dealing with clients, they become inspired to make more effective and strategic sales calls.

Knowing when they feel most energised and alive allows entrepreneurs to focus on their areas of brilliance and delegate the rest. Rapid business expansion then becomes possible, and to those on the outside it almost appears magical. The key is to spend enough time and go really deep with the dream – when the dream is clear and articulated, willpower becomes irrelevant and motivation is available in an instant.

The Anticipatory principle has two major elements: imagination and the  creation of a picture of the future. I witnessed the amazing strength and power of possibility when one of the entrepreneurs I was coaching was determined to pitch her business for funding, despite having started chemotherapy two days prior to the pitch. She made a conscious decision to focus on life-giving activities for herself as well as her business, as she had a very clear picture of the future.

‘In what ways could I attract more of my ideal clients?’

Teaching entrepreneurs about the Heliotropic principle (what we focus on grows) enabled them to focus on creating and approaching their ideal clients, instead of focusing on “not having money/sales”. Adopting appreciative language with entrepreneurs seemed, at times, to have almost magical results. With one entrepreneur in particular we reframed “I need to get more clients” to “In what ways could I attract more of my ideal clients?” Instead of making 100 sales calls per week, focusing on short term “jobs”, this entrepreneur could apply his efforts more strategically and focus his attention on attracting long-term, ideal clients, which saw him grow his business exponentially within a very short space of time. AI could be key to empowering more entrepreneurs in Africa.

Dear Friends

I invoke you to “a mother’s cry … a mother’s celebration” … the memoir-book of my “transcendental pilgrimage from grief to grace”, being offered to the Human Universe on 24th September 2016 (my son Utkarsh’s Transcendence Day). The eBook will follow shortly. For print copy, please use the ISBN – 9781945926983 to find it at online marketplaces:

Each of us has a Hero’s Journey to make. We heed calls once in a while that take us far beyond what we know of ourselves. There are trials, tribulations, death, grief and a maze of emotions. The crippling is particularly severe when one loses a child … Yet, there is a transcendent light beyond grief, one that glows on our path and rekindles our faith. We are blessed with grace, before and after grief. We receive a way to let our “cry” invoke “celebration” of the life before death comes calling. We come to kindle Presence in the void of absence … Have you ever wondered what your way is of avowing the confluence of life and death! I invoke you to join my quest and discover your own truth. I invoke you to the story of my transcendental pilgrimage from annihilation to awakening. Come, sing with me my poem and prayer.

My family joins me in thanking AI Universe for sending us strength from around the world.

With love & light

Neena Verma

drneenaverma@gmail.com

The European Appreciative Inquiry Network is meeting in Greenwich, London, on the 19th-21st October at the LABAN dance centre

For more information on the schedule for this event and to book please go to the European AI Network website
After the success of the meeting in Hasselt the next European Appreciative Inquiry Network meeting will be hosted in London, in the historic maritime borough of Greenwich. The area is the home of Sarah Lewis, who will be hosting this event along with David Shaked, Anne Radford, Terri McNerney, Lesley Moore, Nick Moore, Steve Loraine, Ann Shacklady-Smith and Julie Barnes.

The Network of practitioners from across Europe gets together twice a year to share experiences, knowledge and skills and to offer mutual support on work and life. The get together (or Network meeting) is held in the spirit of Appreciative Inquiry, which creates a unique atmosphere and experience. At this event we are hoping to attract positive psychology practitioners as well, to enhance the mix!

Some of the particular benefits of attending this event will include
The opportunity to spend time learning through focused dialogue with many experienced practitioners (rather than time in lectures)
 Plenty of purposeful networking time allowing for structured yet highly relaxed interaction with experienced practitioners from all over Europe, through engagement in focused trips and visits
 An invitation to you to regenerate, to flourish and to connect in ways meaningful in your own context as we work with our themes of Regeneration, Flourishing and Connecting
 The opportunity to access a wealth of experience of, and skill in, applying Appreciative Inquiry (and Positive Psychology we hope) in different contexts and countries through interaction with an established community of Peers
 An opportunity to experience the exciting and creative coaching and learning process of the Meta-Saga, developed by one of our founder members
 An opportunity to experience the Open Space methodology, our core meeting process
 And, we really hope, the opportunity to be part of a joint event of Appreciative Inquiry and Positive Psychology Practitioners, linking the two fields and facilitating learning from each other

The Venue
The borough of Greenwich and the surrounding area has a long and rich history, taking in shipbuilding and navigation (Captain Cook fitted out two ships in neighbouring Deptford, the Resolution and the Discovery, to use on his voyages of exploration), science (Greenwich is home to the Royal Observatory, the base of Greenwich Mean Time) and royalty. After extensive regeneration following the decline of the London Docks the riverside portions of Greenwich have been reborn as artistic and tourist hubs.

Indeed, this stretch of the Thames is an amazing blurring of the old and the new, with the beautiful buildings of the Greenwich UNESCO World Heritage Site (Greenwich Palace – birthplace of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, and now the National Maritime Museum and the University of Greenwich – the Royal Observatory and Greenwich covered market) sitting just across the river from the skyscrapers of the new Docklands financial district, itself built on the wharfs and quays of the East India Docks, a self-contained city within the London docks and base of operations of the East India Company. There are even a few survivors of the intervening age of industry in the form of buildings like the riverside Greenwich Power Station and the London to Greenwich railway viaduct – the world’s first purpose built passenger railway line and still in use today.
The LABAN Centre in Deptford, a beautiful building and part of the Trinity LABAN Conservatoire Of Music And Dance, will be the venue for our event.

The Theme
Given these surroundings, so redolent of change and evolution, of finding new purposes for old strengths and always finding a use for the river – Greenwich’s gateway to the world – the hosting committee was inspired to base the event on the ideas of Flourishing Connections: Regeneration, Flow and Inspiration.
The hosts hope to attract newer practitioners of AI and positive psychology into this event to connect and so they will include an introductory Appreciative Inquiry session in the Open Space options.

Dates
The core dates for the event are from 3pm on the 19th to 3/4pm on the 21st of October (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday), with the Jedi Council meeting taking place after the closing ceremony on Friday 21st from 5-6:30pm.
Prices
Price for Members €240
Price for Non-Members €265
Limited to 30 places

For more information on the schedule for this event and to book please go to the European AI Network website

Editors:
Barbara van Kesteren
Ingeborg Koster-Kooger
Lysanne Beekhof

Theme:

Practice or preach?! Young practitioners co-creating AI of the future.
In our experience,  there are a variety of emphases across the AI spectrum, from using AI as a tool, a method to considering it a fundamental philosophy. We are curious about new thoughts and perspectives and would especially like to give voice to other young practitioners to co-construct AI of the future!

Focus of the issue:

Our peers. The new generation (30 or younger): young practitioners (students, recently graduated), renegades, children (<30) of experienced practitioners from the community with new or interesting projects, fresh perspectives (from exotic countries to modern organizational forms where an AI experiment project had been introduced: think of start-ups, network-organizations).

Questions for inspiration:

How do you use AI?

• Do you consider some practices as part of an orthodox or unorthodox AI approach?
• What is your latest AI discovery?
• What new ideas or tools do you recommend/want to share to other AI practitioners (e.g. using social media, creative forms such as graphic facilitation or new questions)?
• What is the most creative way in which you have practiced AI/seen AI being practiced or preached?

How can AI be made sustainable in the near and far future?

• Are there aspects of our modern world that call for adaptation within the AI community?
• How far can you go/do you want to go as a practitioner to keep it alive after you leave your client(s setting)?
• What would you focus on as new future paths for AI’s development (mixing methods, new definitions of appreciation, cross-cultural experiments with AI such as rebirthing in the west).
• What is your dream for AI for the future?

Starting a dialogue:

With which question do you want to close your contribution and start a new conversation?

Ways and forms to contribute:
All creative forms are more than welcome. Feel free to use emoji’s, pictures, graphic facilitation and notes etc.

Final written submissions will range from 500 to 2000 words. Art and diagrams should be high resolution and ready for publication. Poetry should be formatted for publication.

Making A Proposal / Draft:

Do you feel enthusiastic by the idea to contribute to this issue? Please contact us asap, and send a proposal of max. 300 words. By October 3 we would like to receive your first draft. If your draft is accepted, you should send your final work latest by November 7.

Send proposals to b.j.vkesteren@gmail.com

The november 2016 issue will focus on strength-based, appreciative & generative “Coaching for Transcendence”. We are particularly interested in stories, concepts, application & practices that take the philosophy and approach of both western as well as oriental practices & wisdom to facilitate “Coaching for Transcendence”.
Here it is important to emphasize what we understand by “Coaching for Transcendence”. For us it means going beyond the issue-based breakthrough Coaching to facilitate presence-based, essence-invoking, deep consciousness “Being level” transcendence. Such approach to Coaching helps the client (Coachee) experience her/his issue or context at personal &/or collective consciousness level, connecting with own core, nature, its elements, patterns and law. The individual is able to rise above and beyond her/his immediate context/issue, shifting from existential to essential. It is at this level of “Being” that an individual is able to hear her/himself in the “silence of now” , and the deep transcendental awareness begins to emerge where one was struggling to find just a solution to the immediate problem. The experience of oneself at this “deep being” level, helps one connect to the “Self at Core” , what is also understood as “Transcendental Self”.

Viktor Frankl says, “the true meaning of life is to be discovered in the world rather than within … I have termed this constitutive characteristic the self-transcendence of human existence … meaning being human always points, and is directed, to something or someone, other than oneself.”

In the same spirit, and the infinite spirit of Positive Psychology, Social Constructionism, Generative Metaphor, Taoism, Spiral Consciousness, Advaita, Zen, Sufism and all such strength-based, generative approaches … This issue of “aipractitioner” invites you to share your wisdom about “Coaching for Transcendence” in any or a combination of the following forms –

Concept
Revisiting core aspects and principles of AI &/or any other strengths-based philosophy/model ; proposing conceptual shifts & evolutionary paradigms that serve the purpose of “Coaching for Transcendence”.

Construct
Building on the experiential wisdom of Coaching and L&OD practitioners ; articulating and proposing application constructs, process models and frameworks that pave the way for “Coaching for Transcendence”.

Stories
Calling for stories & endeavours that inspire AI and strengths-based Coaching work that highlights generative wisdom and strengths/values/practices that facilitate ‘Coaching for Transcendence’. Such stories should have the prototyping or replicative potential. Please note that your article should build the story context and narrate its exceptionally generative moments with minimal detail. Please avoid content clutter. We encourage a focus on articulating the generative lessons &/or replicative potential of the story.

“there are many ways to be … one of them is to transcend”  – Anais Nin

GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSION
Please submit a proposal-cum-synopsis for what you want to write about. It should be MAX 300-400 words long. It should outline following –

• Proposed Title AND form of the article (Concept OR Construct OR Stories)
• Abstracts of what you want to share through the proposed article
• Authors’ Bio (MAX 30 words each) , exclusive of the proposal-cum-synopsis
• Corresponding Author. Nominate ONLY ONE, if there are more than one

Please also indicate your agreeableness for the following –

• declare originality of your article & acknowledge/credit (with consent, wherever applicable) the quotes & citations, if any
• improve/enhance the articles on the basis of Editorial observations
• sign an agreement for publication with the ‘AIPRACTITIONER’ Management once your full-length article is accepted for publication

TIMELINES

• Proposal-cum-synopsis (per guidelines) LATEST by 15-06-2016
• §§ Notification of long-listed proposal-cum-synopsis (for development as full articles) LATEST by 30-06-2016
• Submission of Full-length article (1400-1600 Words, excluding references) LATEST by 25-07-2016
• Notification of short-listed articles & Editorial suggestions LATEST by 07-08- 2016
• Submission of Finalized Articles (as per Editorial suggestions) along with tables/graphics/images, if any ; Authors’ Bio & Photos (Bio-length & Photo-size would be notified later) LATEST by 22-08 2016
• Notification of finally selected articles LATEST by 29-08 2016
• Handing over final articles to Production Editor by 05-09-2016, who would work on Authors’ NOC for final version, agreement, other logistics etc.

PLEASE MAIL YOUR

§§ QUERIES , if any, Latest by 5th June 2016 to drneenaverma@gmail.com
§§ PROPOSAL Latest by 15th June 2016 to drneenaverma@gmail.com & ram@coacharya.com

PLEASE NOTE
‘AIPRACTIONER’ is a scholarly, non-commercial journal. The authors make voluntary, non-payable submissions. They receive a copy of the issue for which they have written. If they so wish, they can subscribe for the Journal.
We look forward to co-creating a rich & insightful Nov 2016 issue of ‘aipractitioner’ on the theme ‘Coaching for Transcendence’.
In appreciative anticipation
Neena Verma, PhD, PCC
Ram S Ramanathan, PCC, BCC, EMCC Awardee

ABOUT THE GUEST-EDITORS
Dr Neena Verma, PCC is a scholarly AI practitioner and educator. She is a PCC level ICF credentialed Coach, an Accredited Sensitivity Trainer, Certified AI Practitioner, Qualified MBTI & HOGAN Professional, & Certified NLP Master Practitioner. She specializes in Leadership, Team & Transcendence Coaching. She is passionate about developing path-breaking Coaching & OD process frameworks that promote application of strengths-based approaches like AI, Positive Psychology, JUNGian Depth Psychology, Eastern Philosophies etc. Her work includes developing models like IDEA (Appreciative Coaching for Transcendence) ; MARG (Appreciative Reframing of Shadow Experiences) ; VALUE Leadership ; and ‘Generative Inquiry’. She has served as an International Advisory Board Member at WAIC 2012 & 2015 ; ISABS Board & ODCP Academic Council. She has also lead-edited Feb 2013 issue & been a standing Research Notes Editor of ‘aipractitioner’. Apart from Coaching & Consulting for deep, generative & systemic change, Neena is acknowledged for her work as a “Transcendence Coach” & “Grief Carer”.

Ram S. Ramanathan, PCC, BCC, SP and EMCC Award Winner is a professional coach and coach trainer credentialed with ICF, CCE and EMCC and also with training programs accredited by all three. Ram had over 40 years of corporate experience, over 25 at CEO or Board levels, in addition to being advisor of Governments, Serial entrepreneur & angel investor. Ram turned a coach after an intense spiritual experience. His coaching process is a blend of coaching competencies with several OD interventions including AI, NLP, and PP with a focus on Hindu Buddhist spirituality. Ram has developed his own SPEED group coaching model used by several corporations, based on the 5 D Appreciative Inquiry process. Ram is a writer and speaker, and presented three papers at the 2015 AI Global conference at Johannesburg.

Pdf to print

During my AI Introduction training, I experienced the magic and power of the AI interview myself. Ever since, I have been eager to provide a similar experience for other persons.

What is the most memorable experience of your work in this team?

In the Discovery phase of team building retreats, I love asking this question to connect the participants with their team at its best. Based on sharing their stories with colleagues, they can dive deeper to discover their key strengths, core values, and three wishes for the team’s future. Presenting these outcomes afterwards and having an exchange on them is always an eye-opening experience filled with deep insight and connection. We co-create our future.

Two years after my initial training, I attended an AI for Strategic Planning training in London (coinciding with the January 25, 2011 revolution in Egypt where I live, but that is another story). There I had the chance to add some practical methods and approaches to my AI toolbox.

Imagine it is Saturday morning 2018…

This time journey is one of my favourite questions when facilitating strategic planning workshops. It unfolds its magic best when presented slowly, with a certain fairy story-telling tone of voice. Once the participants have done their time-travelling, I ask them to write down individually all the changes they can feel, see and hear. Those post-its or cards will serve in the working groups to develop a newspaper page, filled with their future successes and achievements. If we can dream it, we can make it.

When in your life have you felt most joyful and energized at work?

This is the opening question of my initiative Human-Centred Organisational Governance, and it certainly is inspired by AI.1 On the quest for finding another way of working, I collected many practice-oriented activities individuals can bring into reality right away in their teams and organisations.

The activities can be checked online in the form of two source lists and lead to an instant analysis. It is important to note that they are formulated in a generative language, focusing on what we want to experience more of (with only few exceptions that state what not to do). The purpose of this initiative is to bring humanity back to work and co-create meaningful and life-giving workspaces around the world. “Work is love made visible.” Khalil Gibran

Is it dangerous to hit the deadline?

Makes one wonder, right? Questions like this one are part of my initiative speakGreen that provides a new emerging vocabulary for the authors of the future: us. With highlighting the green alternatives, it focuses attention on what we want to have more of, expressed in almost 700 posts so far, which have led to over 12,000 “likes”.

Wouldn’t it be wiser to focus on “Peace” instead of “No War”, telling people to “stay confident and optimistic” instead of “don’t worry”, and engage to “increase employment” instead of “decrease unemployment”? And then you might opt to drop deadlines and speak of due dates or big days instead. Express the change you want to experience in the world.

Dr. Claudia Gross