Throughout this series, as we have examined the ways in which our AI principles open the doors to inclusive, equity-centered practices, we have spoken to the unique mindset that each principle invites. For all of them, there is a lens that underlies our day-to-day understanding as it applies to our AI work.
Faith Addicott, MPA, MPOD is working to improve the intersection of work and life through innovative and human-centered process design. Her consulting work has centered on nonprofits and local government, where she has undertaken organizational assessments and strategic planning using AI and other strengths-based processes. She is a champion for inclusive workplace design.
There is a deeper layer.
Beneath the core concepts of our principles – Anticipatory, Constructionist, Simultaneity, Poetic, Wholeness, Awareness, Enactment, Narrative & Free Choice – there is a truth. Simply put, we cannot appreciate where we do not include. The appreciative eye is the eye that holds the whole, in all its awkwardness and splendor.
Likewise, the inquiring mind – inquisitive, full of wonder, never ceasing in the search for truth and beauty – is a space where the kind of false certainties that lead to racist and and oppressive ideologies cannot exist. Because a mind (or a person, or a community) dedicated to asking is always open to discovery, and discovery inevitably unearths the connections and meaning that lie between us all.
The Positive principle is the action principle, the call to move into the pursuit of our questing in full, to ASK QUESTIONS. “Momentum for [small- or] large-scale change requires large amounts of positive affect and social bonding. This momentum is best generated through positive questions that amplify the positive core.”
A single frame of reference
We ask without fear of the answers, in complete acceptance of contradictions and complexities, in the pursuit of wonder, and we explore the fullness of what it means to be human by framing consistently in the positive. We intentionally seek what is best in all of us, in all people. Our exploration brings us into the stories of other cultures, of different ways of knowing. We set the context for
mutual understanding in a single frame of reference: what is BEST in you? What is best in me? What is best in us?
This principle is the one that gets the most negative reactions from people … it’s easy to think positive = Pollyanna, a false shine that silences the very real harms and traumas that make our experiences visceral. As discussed in the work of Gervase Bushe, the real heart of the positive principle is in generativity, not simple positivity. This principle moves us, pulls us, draws us into a best possible future by inviting us into a mindset that demands a positive option, not just dystopian wastelands.
In the context of Justice & Belonging work, the Positive principle looks beyond what we don’t want and asks us what good is possible for a just society. Intentionally, it asks that we pursue these questions not only with an expectation of wonder, but also that we do the work with each other, together.
The dance of ask-and-answer
Because the dance of ask-and-answer always involves more than one person; it also always includes more than one viewpoint. Intrinsically interconnected, our principles again lead us to each other, to amazement in the possibility of it all, and in the child-like glee of asking.
Thank you all for taking this journey with me. I hope these thoughts have informed your own sense of what is possible for justice in our work.
Intro by Keith Storace
In the final instalment of Our Principles in Action: Appreciative Inquiry for Justice & Belonging, Faith Addicott presents “Bringing It Home – the Positive Principle” and expands on its hidden treasures and power to move us forward. I would like to thank Faith Addicott and Staceye Randle for such a necessary and insightful series that has challenged, inspired and developed our understanding of the AI principles.
Rolene Pryor is a facilitator, planner, trainer and management consultant who loves supporting her clients to get beyond baseline. Rolene uses her background in facilitation and planning to understand client context, needs, goals and strengths, and applies that learning to co-create compelling visions for the future. Rolene holds a master’s degree in Applied Social Psychology and is energized by people and teams.
In 2010, Kelly and I were working together in the Institutional Research and Planning team at a higher education institution in the Middle East. Our institution was a satellite campus of an established Canadian organization and had never been asked to create a strategic plan that was specific to the needs of our campus.
When the call for a strategic plan came, a team was assembled to get the job done. The challenge was that this team didn’t have a lot of experience with strategic planning. Plus, the timeline was short. And the needs were complex.
Enter Kelly. One of her most beautiful strengths is her love of new ideas and models. Kelly had been reading about Appreciative Inquiry (AI) and its potential to bring large groups together to align on vision. She was intrigued by the potential to use AI in our work and suggested that we get trained in AI so that we explore further.
‘Viva, Las Vegas!’ Elvis Presley
The training was in Las Vegas, USA; I was sold! So, we made the long journey from Qatar to Nevada to take our four-day Appreciative Inquiry Facilitator Training (AIFT) with Company of Experts. In those four days, we were continually inspired and energized with all the ideas that were coming up for us, and the ways we could see the potential to meaningfully use AI in our work. Before our trip, I was excited to see Las Vegas. After our trip, I was excited about what we were about to try.
Kelly and I returned to the Middle East with enthusiasm and energy, and pitched our idea to the strategic planning team. Given the timelines and the other pressures, they agreed to let us run the process with what we had just learned in our time away.
‘You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.’ Martin Luther King, Jr
And we were off! Through our planning process, we did a lot of great stuff. We engaged more than 400 key partners through the planning process in both English and Arabic, we built a culturally appropriate space to hold our events (a majlis), we heard inspiring and energizing stories of institutional excellence, we co-created directions for the future, and we created a compelling multi-year strategic plan.
But the best part of it all was the bonds that were created, the relationships that were deepened, and the shared understanding that was built that cut through the challenges being faced at the institution. Kelly and I saw, firsthand, the power of Appreciative Inquiry. We left our planning sessions each day with tired feet and electrifyingly energized minds – I will always remember that feeling. Together, we had unlocked real magic.
More than a decade later, I look back on our AI-for-strategic-planning process as a peak career experience and something that forever changed how I move through the world, both at work and at home.
‘Unlimited. Together we’re unlimited.’– Stephen Schwartz
I left that institution in 2012 to start a career back in Canada as a management consultant. As I began to work with clients in different industries who were all presenting with unique challenges and needs, it became clear that, despite their uniqueness, AI could have a positive impact for all of them – just as it had for our campus in the Middle East back in 2010.
As I used AI more and more with my clients, I started to realize that the power of focusing on strengths, finding ways to create more of those strengths, and creating an expansive view of the future was allowing my clients to get well beyond where they were now and where they thought they could be in the future. My clients were getting beyond the baseline that they had set for themselves; instead, they were realizing that their future was truly unlimited.
I took what I had learned from years of facilitation, research and planning, combined that with the power of the principles and process of AI, and created an agile planning process called Beyond BaselineTM. This approach meets people, teams and organizations where they are, seeking to understand their context, pain points, fears,and concerns. That, combined with additional research, becomes the starting point for future-state visioning, action planning and implementation. Each client engagement is different, and the specifics of the approach are highly customized and flexible for each clients’ needs, goals and preferred outcomes. One thing remains the same – the process is grounded in finding, appreciating and amplifying the strengths present in every team and organization.
Insomuch as this Beyond BaselineTM model is agile for my clients, it’s agile for me too. As I learn more, try more and explore more, I add to and adjust the model. I recently completed the Appreciative Resilience Facilitator Training (ARFT) course offered by the Center for Appreciative Inquiry and I have folded learnings and insights from that experience into my Dscovery phase flow with my clients, recognizing that hope, despair and forgiveness are normal and fluid in everyone’s lives, at work and at home.
‘If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.’ Henry Ford
I am very thankful to work for an organization that embraces the ideas (like Beyond BaselineTM!) that passionate practitioners bring to the table – and I am passionate about the power of AI in consulting.
In addition to using Beyond BaselineTM for clients, I’ve had the support from our team to turn the lens inward for our organization Our Barrington Consulting team has used Beyond BaselineTM, and its grounding in strengths, to build our own corporate multiyear strategy and to understand and celebrate our corporate culture.
Just like that first strategic planning experience in 2010, our Barrington team has worked together to create powerful and compelling visions of the future which were excellent. But the most powerful outcome of the process was the way that relationships were formed, deepened and solidified. Our team understands the power of AI because they’ve experienced it. We are all excited to bring more clients through the Beyond BaselineTM flow because it’s so uplifting and poignant while also being incredibly effective and powerful.
‘Ask for what you want and be prepared to get it.’ Maya Angelou
I feel the power of AI in my own life, every day. Being able to reframe an issue or a gap into a request for what it is that I actually want, framed in the affirmative, has been transformational. As an AI trainer, I often hear the question – “aren’t we ignoring the problems when we reframe?” I strongly believe that the answer to that is no, we aren’t ignoring the problems that exist. Instead, we are asking for what it is that we want, what we want to create, what success looks like, and/or what we want more of.
I believe that more is a small word with incredible power. In my life, more has opened many doors for me – doors to hard conversations, doors to increased clarity in relationships, doors to shared understanding, and doors to vulnerability. These are all doors that, when we walk through them, build more and more authenticity within ourselves and our relationships with others.
‘Wherever there is air and light and open space, things grow.’ Helen Oyeyemi
So, what does the future hold for me and Appreciative Inquiry? It’s more!
I am excited to build more and more AI into my consulting work. Beyond BaselineTM is growing and I am excited to continue to evolve this method as I have more opportunities to serve current and new clients. I continue to be inspired when I see how widely applicable a strengths focus is across so many specific needs, realities and sectors. I’ve had the chance to use these techniques and principles on dozens of different client engagements over the years – each one has worked and each one has been transformational in its own way. I trust the process because it works.
I am excited to breathe in the power of more in my daily life. As AI practitioners, we often talk about the difference between being AI and doing AI. Doing AI is about the process – following steps that work to create a vision based on a specific topic or opportunity. Being AI is about how you move through the world, finding the joy in small things, fanning the flames in others, seeing what is possible.
My goal is to continue to grow AI in everything I do, in every breath I take, and every interaction I have. I’m a work in progress and I’m excited to continue to grow towards the light.
Intro by Keith Storace
I am also pleased to introduce Rolene Pryor. Her article, titled “Growing Towards the Light” reveals her AI journey and how it has transformed her work and her life, leading to the development of Beyond BaselineTM, an approach to planning that embraces the power of the AI principles and processes.
Alex Arnold (she/her) MSPsy, MSHR/ OD, ACC, is program director at The Taos Institute and a climate resilience coach at Alma Coaching, where she uses positive psychology and Appreciative Inquiry to help introverted and highly sensitive people shift from climate anxiety to inspired action.
Over the course of the month of March 2023, the Climate Coaching Alliance Global Festival featured more than 50 virtual events on the theme: Tools for Transitions – Navigating the Paradoxes, Polarities and Paradigms in Climate Coaching. Sessions were hosted by people from around the globe on topics that go far beyond traditional news headlines, alarmist messages, or the most common calls for action. In this article, we will explore the wide variety of ways one (whether a coach or not) can start climate conversations, at home, at work, and with oneself. Let’s see what happens when we open some of these doors …
(Most gatherings started with a grounding exercise and lighting a candle, which you may want to do before you read on, allowing yourself to slow down and honor your own experience with this topic.)
Door #1: Gut microbiome
When it comes to climate change, the scale of the problem can make us feel very small, as when we stand in a forest surrounded by really tall trees, looking up. Cara Wheatley-McGrain, host of the session Compassionate connection to our inner and outer ecosystems, invited us to look down instead: at the fallen leaves, the earth, the small creatures and plants on the ground, and to consider that, from this perspective, we are standing on the rooftop of a whole world. Indeed, there are more microbes in a teaspoon of soil than there are people on the earth! It is with this vantage point that Wheatley-McGrain guided her audience through a visualization to visit the garden of their guts, which hosts the largest bacterial ecosystem in the human body. We’ve all heard the term “gut feeling”, and for a good reason.
Recent research on psychobiotics led by Professor John Cryan suggests that our gut health is not only linked to our physical, but to our mental, health. When it comes to microbes and bacteria, our gut thrives on abundance, diversity and balance. Unfortunately, in addition to being the principal cause of habitat loss (in turn contributing to species extinction), the industrialization of our food system has been leading to an invisible extinction of our gut microbiomes. A conservative estimate is that modern city dwellers have lost around 50% of their microbes through urbanization. If it is sometimes hard to relate to larger ecosystem changes taking place due to climate change, looking – or rather feeling – right inside of our guts may be a powerful motivator for positive change.
Inquiry practitioners. Rather than taking a “fix it” attitude, she calls for a reverse engineering process by asking “What is the future asking of us? What does that energy feel like?” Visualization, non-linear perception, and using a vocabulary of increase are tools that can replace the current narratives that keep us stuck with the constructs that got us where we are in the first place. By using other tools, we clear ourselves on the inside so that we can emanate conscious influence, or positive energy frequency. Check out Dr. David Hawkins’ map of consciousness to find out what emotions you want to cultivate to create the highest frequencies, life energy or level of enlightenment. Doing so, as Trager said in her session, “in ourselves and others, is the most accelerated path to a thriving and sustainable world … As conscious influencers, we have a deeper ripple impact from the inside out, through power versus force.”
Door #3: Cosmology
Cosmology is the study of the origin and structure of the universe. For Drew Dellinger, host of Planetizing the Movement with the Powers of Dream, Story, Art, and Action, cosmology is also a worldview, a story of separation of humans and nature that has been dominating a large part of the world. “How do we move from a cosmology of exploitation to one of interconnectedness?” he asks.
Or, as cultural historian Thomas Berry puts it, “from viewing the universe as a collection of objects to a communion of subjects”. One way, Drew Dellinger suggested in his session, is to bring the arts back from the fringe to the center, to remember that art is how heart speaks to heart; it is essential to who we are, and we are all artists in our own way. Art has a central place in activism. Art puts pressure with joy and love. Slowing down, being in stillness, spending time alone, and meditation can be ways to activate our innate creativity and perhaps even connect with the wisdom of the universe.
Other topics included: How we can draw on indigenous wisdom for the challenges facing us now; Successfully attract your clients to climate action; The self in a zillion eco-transitions; How to become a resilient and confident female leader for climate change?; Preventing climate burnout; Our traumas hold the key to the more beautiful world; How can the 3Cs of inclusive leadership enhance leading for sustainability?; Glorious 2030 – How to guide topic discussions and the building of desirable futures; How can playfulness help unlock climate action?; and many more.
As you can see, ways to enter conversations about climate change are endless, and sometimes quite surprising. Even so, there are common themes that emerged from all of these sessions. Clover Hogan, activist, entrepreneur, global speaker, and only twenty-three years old, captured them in a powerful opening session:
Acknowledging eco-anxiety (a chronic fear of environmental doom) and ecophobia (an ethical undervaluing of the natural environment that can result in cataclysmic environmental change). In a survey of 10,000 young people, 70% reported being eco-anxious. Denial, grief, sadness, hopelessness, loss of faith in institutions, burnout, confusion, a sense of betrayal … all are now part of the dialogue. But they are not problems to be fixed: they are “beautiful evidence of our humanity”. Processing rather than bypassing these emotions is important, with someone who can hold the space and facilitate empowerment and agency rather than allowing despair to set in.
Finding community. We can’t do this alone – and we are not alone. We all need to be with others, in a group or an organization, to find validation, motivation, support and accountability. Taking a collective approach also means bringing many voices into the room and genuinely listening to diverse views, especially those that have been largely ignored or suppressed.
Hogan has a special request for the adults who so often instinctively want to remove the pain and suffering for young people. This has to stop, she says,as it only fuels the feeling of betrayal. It’s time to have honest conversations about the reality, the losses and the pain among people of every age. Hold these conversations with tenderness and care to rebuild trust. In her view, “it is intergenerational wisdom and action that will make a difference”.
Choosing a focus. Too many are stuck because they feel too small to make a difference, think that the system is too broken, or don’t know where to start. Empowerment comes from finding a unique way to contribute. Rather than trying to fix it all, let’s ask “what is the one thing I can show up to solve, where does my impact come from?” Coaches and AI practitioners can play an important role in helping individuals identify the values, skills, unique gifts – the positive core – that will ignite sustainable action and a sense of agency. Here again, it’s essential to team up with others and not try to go at it alone.
Changing the story. Being exposed to constant stories of disasters around the world in the news and social media is too much. Pointing out that consumption is at the heart of the crisis and asking people to sacrifice their habits and lifestyles is not working. Vilifying those in power is too easy. Relying solely on technology to solve it all is spreading false hope.
Instead, Hogan encourages us to create a compelling message, an invitation for people to be part of something bigger, a reminder that true happiness comes from within, and a celebration of the fact that there is already a shift toward increased spirituality and connection with nature. “How do we make climate action irresistible?!”
The message throughout this month-long festival, across 50 virtual sessions hosted by change agents from around the globe, is loud and clear: we won’t solve the climate crisis with the same people and thinking that created it. It’s time to open up new doors, tell new stories, and pick up new tools. It begins at the personal level and requires a “going back to nature”.
This event was made possible by the dedication and generosity of CCA volunteers and has resulted in a fantastic library of resources. Watch the recordings available on each event page at www.climatecoachingalliance.org/ global-festival-2023 and spread the word.
Intro by Keith Storace
Continuing with another transformational series – in her second article of this four-part presentation, A Practitioners Journey to Living with Climate Change – Alex Arnold shares an overview of the Climate Coaching Alliance Global Festival that was held in March this year. “Which Door Are You Going to Choose?” is a compelling essay that considers three ways to spark climate conversations.
During the European Summer of 2022, I spent some time in the Netherlands where I was invited by Joep de Jong to be interviewed for a short film that focuses on the discovery of self. A filmmaker well-known for his work and expertise in Appreciative Leadership, Joep suggested a free-flowing conversation, one that would develop organically. The result was a welcomed exploration into how each person is a story interconnecting with the stories of others, and how Appreciative Inquiry (AI) encourages my personal understanding of these connections. Ultimately, I felt reassured that the more we understand our own story and the things that stir our curiosity, the more likely we will be to recognise all that emerges to liberate who we truly are.
Keith Storace | Australia
Keith Storace manages a private practice at Kiku Imagination where he applies the Appreciative Dialogue (ApDi) therapy program to assist individuals move toward, strengthen, and enjoy what is meaningful while dealing with the challenges they encounter along the way.
Many AI practitioners I have spoken with over the years describe their introduction to AI as a kind of homecoming, where they feel a deep sense of connection. I am always intrigued to learn more about their story and how their sense of connection is often a re-connection to something that has remained meaningful to them. I refer to this re-connection as “appreciative beginnings”, those moments in our early history where we experience a feeling of bliss usually connected to something that we find deeply meaningful.
I use the term “appreciative” in three ways: as acknowledgement of what has brought us joy and what inspired curiosity at such an early time in our lives; how this combination of joy and curiosity continues to hold meaning for us to the present day; and as recognition of how our embrace of Appreciative Inquiry has been influenced by appreciative beginnings.
Since commencing as editor of Voices from the Field in 2016 for the AI Practitioner journal, certain aspects of every article written for the column by AI practitioners across the globe can be traced back to each author’s appreciative beginnings. For them, AI has been a bridge between what matters most and bringing it to life in the world. It’s the depth of meaning their work holds for them that is a manifestation of the ripple effect set in motion by those early days of joy and curiosity, a pivotal aspect of self-discovery that eventually leads to good work.
Appreciative Inquiry is a promise, a process and way of life that continues to move each of us along the good side of human history. It embraces, ponders, and elevates us to the reality that we are connected – we are each other – and together we have what it takes to co-create a future that is best for all life on this planet.
Joep C. de Jong has filmed over 70 conversations elaborating on the power, validity, strength, and truth of Appreciative Inquiry. Reflections on the Discovery of Self is available on vimeo, along with a list of other conversations, each one a unique and inspiring story revealing what is possible.
Intro by Keith Storace
The final article is one I was invited to write following a short film created by Joep C. de Jong where he interviewed me while I was in the Netherlands in 2022. In Reflections on the Discovery of Self, I was encouraged to explore questions on the emerging self, Appreciative Inquiry, and the Inner Child.
This article, the first in a series of four that focus on climate change, is an invitation to AI practitioners to help shift the paradigm of “fighting the climate crisis” to one of deep transformation so that we, our organizations, our communities, the world at large, and the more-thanhuman world can learn to live with the undeniable and irreversible changes occurring on our planet. “Living with” does not mean accepting passively what is happening. Rather, it calls us to acknowledge, adapt – and imagine new ways to thrive.
Alex Arnold (she/her) MSPsy, MSHR/ OD, ACC, is program director at The Taos Institute and a climate resilience coach at Alma Coaching, where she uses positive psychology and Appreciative Inquiry to help introverted and highly sensitive people shift from climate anxiety to inspired action.
As coaches, consultants, educators, leaders and change agents, we are “change experts”. What better position to be in to shape the future of our world? Sure, it’s an enormous responsibility. But, with AI at our side, we are well equipped to step up to it. For a start, we know the benefits of bringing all voices into the room.
In their recently published book, Ecological and Climate-Conscious Coaching: A Companion Guide to Evolving Coaching Practice (Whybrow, Turner, McLean, 2022), members of the Climate Coaching Alliance discuss the “eco-phase cycle”, originally developed by Peter Hawkins. This model suggests that each of us finds ourselves in one of five eco-phases: eco-curious, eco-informed, ecoaware, eco-engaged or eco-active. Indeed, our journey to living with climate change begins with curiosity, and by listening to more than just one story.
Listening to science
There is a lot of data available, varying opinions, and all sorts of messages – from “it’s too late anyway” to “someone else will fix it”. We could talk about degrees, pounds of carbon dioxide, or number of years before we reach one catastrophe or another. How much do we really need to know?
The causes and effects of climate change reported by the United Nations can be summarized in one paragraph:
The world is losing species at a rate 1,000 times greater than at any other time in recorded human history. Melting ice sheets cause sea levels to rise, threatening coastal and island communities. Cyclones, hurricanes, and typhoons feed on warm waters at the ocean surface and destroy homes and communities, causing deaths and huge economic losses. Changes in the climate and increases in extreme weather events are among the reasons behind a global rise in hunger and poor nutrition. Wildfires start more easily and spread more rapidly when conditions are hotter. Changing weather patterns are expanding diseases, and extreme weather events increase deaths and make it difficult for health care systems to keep up. Climate change increases the factors that put and keep people in poverty.
Given the enormity of what we are facing, it is easy to go from denial to despair, or to listen to lots of facts without fully integrating them. Yet it is important that we “not only listen to the science with our conceptual mind, but also listen with our hearts and guts and whole being”. (Whybrow et al., 2022).
Listening inside
In any form of change, and for a new way of life to emerge, we must first acknowledge what has been lost or must be left behind; this isn’t a logistical problem, it’s an emotional one.
Climate grief, or ecological grief, is now recognized by the American Psychological Association. This Canadian Climate Institute article (Cunsolo & Rezagian, 2021) breaks it down into four types: grief from acute disasters; grief from slow-onset changes like loss of ice, habitat or species; vicarious grief when witnessing suffering in faraway places; and anticipatory grief, which is closely tied to eco-anxiety. There is no shame in adding to this list: grief for a way of life, for the comforts, conveniences, habits and traditions that are no longer sustainable, and the realization that change is inescapable.
“Climate grief differs from other forms of grief in that rather than one loss, we experience multiple losses, past, current, and anticipated. Where the pain of a more traditional form of loss may lessen over time, climate grief may keep returning, ever sharp and differently textured, with each new loss. If we can learn to grieve well – making space for it, and knowing that it will not destroy us – we can accept grief as a familiar friend, and that acceptance might allow us to experience a deeper connection to our world. If we can do that, then there is a gift in this time of sadness and anxiety; in surrendering to grief, we can connect to love.” (Cox & Flynn, 2022)
According to Neena Verma, author of Grief, Growth, Grace: A Sacred Pilgrimage (2021), grief is an inevitable part of life, and so is “the human capacity to grow strength in the garden of sorrow and seek the path of deep growth, transformation, and grace.” Death and growth are not separate or consecutive. They are intertwined. What would it look like to allow death and grief to also hold beauty and hope? In some parts of the world, dying leaves in autumn are celebrated for their vibrant colors. In our gardens, it is decaying organic matter that provides nutrients for new food to grow.
In nature, death is everywhere. What else can we learn from the very world we are trying to save?
Listening beyond
When reconnecting with our deeper emotions, we are reconnecting with our humanness. As human beings, we are part of the greater living system of our planet. How do we make sure that our non-human neighbors always have a seat at the table? In programs such as the Dialoguing with the Earth certification, founded by ICF-accredited coach Lilith Joanna Flanagan, you can learn to dialogue and partner with nature to create a collaborative cohabitation with the earth.
Another way to invite the perspective of the natural world in our work is with the Council of All Beings practice, based on the work of Joanna Macy, where participants are chosen by a non-human life form and speak on its behalf in front of a council in ways that “grow the ecological self, for it brings a sense of our solidarity with all life” (Macy, 2017).
To access knowledge from beyond our limited human experience, let’s acknowledge just how young we are in comparison to other species and within the history of this planet. There is a clash between our short-term self-focus and the much longer timeframe that needs to be considered in the context of climate change, like the seventh-generation principle found in Indigenous wisdom.
To stretch your time horizon, you may take a Deep Time Walk (2022), a recording of the earth’s 4.6-billion-year history to be listened to on a 4.6 km walk. In this unique experience, science and poetry merge to share the story of how our planet formed, of how life evolved and finally, in the last one-fifth of a millimeter of that walk, of the devastating impact of humanity since the industrial revolution
When we listen to the natural world we are part of, the deep emotions inside us, or the news around us, we bring a multiplicity of voices into the room, and we take the first step into living with climate change.
REFERENCES Cox, C. and Flynn, S. (2022). Climate Change Coaching – The power of connection to create climate action. Open University Press. https://climatechangecoaches.com/our-book/ Verma, N. (2021) Grief, Growth, Grace: A Sacred Pilgrimage. Rupa Publications India. Whybrow, A., Turner, E. and McLean, J. (2022) Ecological and Climate-Conscious Coaching: A Companion Guide to Evolving Coaching Practice. Routledge.
Intro by Keith Storace
Also, in a new series for Voices from the Field, A Practitioners Journey…, Alex Arnold will present four articles over the next four issues of AI Practitoner that focus on living with climate change. In her first article titled: Bringing All Voices into the Room, Alex provides us with an initial overview of the current state of climate change, listening to the science, and how all this challenges contemporary thinking.
What is equity? We hear that word all the time; in fact, it has become a buzz word that sounds good. So many companies and organizations have initiatives and employees whose sole role is to ensure equity, but what is equity really? In many places equity is defined as ‘a condition of being fair or just’. Sounds straightforward, but with people it’s not that straightforward at all. This can be problematic because we, in the world, have competing ideas about what fairness is and what justice is. We often see things based on our lived experiences, which complicate how people see fairness and justice. This attempt to both name equity and to advocate for the application of fairness and justice in our systems is messy and leads to a proliferation of meanings that aren’t necessarily aligned towards the same goals, diluting the power of our work.
Faith Addicott, MPA, MPOD is working to improve the intersection of work and life through innovative and human-centered process design. Her consulting work has centered on nonprofits and local government, where she has undertaken organizational assessments and strategic planning using AI and other strengths-based processes. She is a champion for inclusive workplace design.
Staceye Randle | USA
Staceye Randle, MPOD is a Human Resources professional who is passionate about creating workplaces focused on helping people grow and learn. She is also an advocate for ensuring equity and justice in every aspect of her private and professional life.
If, however, we apply the AI principle of Enactment to the task, we learn that the most important word in the definition of equity, above, is ‘being’. In enactment, we are called to ‘be the change we want to see’. In our diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) work, this means embodiment of equity, being in our own actions and stories, both fair and just. It’s not that we don’t need the application of these concepts to our systems and institutions (we do!), it’s that through enactment we bring them into being in a way that influences every situation.
In this frame, Appreciative Inquiry asks us to BE equity, to manifest and occupy the space of justice with our own lives. This is revolutionary.
In a system dominated by tokenism and performative actions related to equity (start DEI projects but don’t fund them, hire diverse candidates but don’t address the racist cultures that harm them and force them out, or just check the boxes), the enactment of equity is soul-deep. It resonates through us, and we ring like bells in the halls of change, clarion calls shattering the falseness of racist systems. Enactment of equity silences rooms and erupts in cheers in the same breath.
How do we come to embody justice? We ask ourselves and others deep questions. We ask, in the spirit of complete exploration, what is equity? What is fairness? What is justice? In short, we come to enactment through inquiry – the Simultaneity principle, which says that inquiry is an intervention. The moment we ask a question, we begin to create a change. When we ask those questions of ourselves and others, we open the space for being – for the creation of new pathways, both neural and generational.
These two principles are deeply entwined when applied to the work of belonging. We ask; we become. We ask others to become.
When fully realized, our questions become more than generative; they are transformative, alchemical. Because, in the face of centuries of inertia (these harmful ways of thinking and doing have been around a long time), questions are an acknowledgement of possibility. The possibility of something else, something better that we have only to find.
We find a more just and equitable world first in our own humility, in our love of others, in our curiosity and in our being. Through these principles, we come to be what we seek.
Intro by Keith Storace Continuing their ongoing series titled: Our Principles in Action: Appreciative Inquiry for Justice & Belonging, Faith Addicott and Staceye Randle ponder the AI Principles of Enactment and Simultaneity and how these principles move us to understanding the power, value, and transformational aspects of “Being the question”.
In the May 2021 issue of AI Practitioner, Faith Addicott commenced a series for Voices from the Field titled “Our Principles in Action: Appreciative Inquiry for Justice and Belonging”. The series explores the ten AI principles in the context of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Given that the focus of this issue of AI Practitoner is dedicated to learning and leveraging generative approaches to DEI, we decided to devote this installment of Voices from the Field to two principles in Faith’s series, the Wholeness and Awareness principles, and how they contribute to our appreciation of what is possible.
Faith Addicott, MPA, MPOD is working to improve the intersection of work and life through innovative and human-centered process design. Her consulting work has centered on nonprofits and local government using Appreciative Inquiry and other strengths-based processes. She is a champion for inclusive workplace design.
he Wholeness principle: Wholeness brings out the best
Wholeness brings out the best in people and organizations. Bringing all stakeholders together in large group forums stimulates creativity and builds collective capacity.
The Awareness principle: Be conscious of underlying assumptions
Understanding and being aware of our underlying assumptions is important to developing and cultivating good relationships. Practicing cycles of action and reflection can build one’s self-awareness.
As we lean into this special issue of the Appreciative Inquiry journal, we wanted to bring forth two principles that both complement and elevate each other. It is a core part of our experience with Appreciative Inquiry that interconnectedness exists between all of the AI principles, and also between the human beings who live in the intersectional spaces of our world.
Wholeness as a principle speaks to this. It asks us to acknowledge that every person has value, every voice belongs. When we bring wholeness into the center of our thinking, it becomes clear that equity work must be a core element of any change initiative because it removes any false sense that difference means differing levels of creative capacity or worth. In the ways that we organize ourselves socially this has deep implications.
More broadly, wholeness is the quality of being complete or a single unit and not broken or divided into parts. When organizations embrace wholeness, it opens up a wide variety of possibilities, both the human side of our experience (being whole people at work) and the organizational side (transcending silos and silo mentalities).
People and organizations that dare to show their personal side with all the emotions, doubts, challenges and feelings involved, are generally better able to solve problems, address conflicts and reduce the influence of big egos.
By creating a unified vision that the entire workforce understands, the various teams in the company can build their objectives with that vision in mind. This will build greater trust between teams and help everyone adopt a big-picture view of goals, rather than focusing only on their own department.
Wholeness invites us to think about how AI can help us in working across silos, communicating strategies across divisions, purpose and value development, naming authenticity and belonging in the workplace, understanding interconnectedness and dependencies, and generally raising our awareness of how our embracing of diversity grows our positive shared future.
In the definition we provided above, the Awareness principle of AI is focused on unearthing our assumptions, on finding and owning our biases and our strengths. In the context of wholeness, the awareness principle asks us to come to a greater understanding of our interconnectedness, and challenges us to unlearn comparative valuation of people.
Some of the biggest assumptions we carry in our white-centered society are rooted in othering, in assigning places or silos to each “kind2 of person. These move far beyond race and ethnicity. We categorize by gender, weight, sexuality, ability, neurotypicality. The history of the west is rooted in a history of mechanistic and divisive world views. We have learned to break things into smaller pieces and constituent parts in ways that we rarely examine.
In our work, we must examine and unlearn as generative actions – awareness also names our need to move, to change, to be in action, not just the contemplation of equity. We must both breathe and push into birth a world of wholeness; we must be both the wind and the sail. It is the balance between things that brings possibility.
In the intersection of awareness and wholeness, we come to a place of crossing paths, a place that creates spaciousness for all people to belong. In this place we are the sum of all our identities and more: we are beings who live in context. That context must be without judgment or valuation because its positionality is universal.
Appreciative Inquiry itself is an intersectional act – we both appreciate, and we ask. If we do that in keeping with the principles of awareness and wholeness, we multiply our understanding of what is possible for all people, of all races and all identities, in the space of creative freedom and belonging. This is the heart of all diversity, equity and inclusion work, and our principles call us to the task.
Intro by Keith Storace
is a registered psychologist with the Psychology Board of Australia (PsyBA) and associate fellow with the Australasian College of Health Service Management (ACHSM). He has designed and implemented health and wellbeing frameworks across the community, health and education sectors. Keith’s current focus is on developing his work in Appreciative Dialogue (ApDi) to assist individuals in moving from self-doubt to inspired positive action.
At the 2019 World Appreciative Inquiry Conference (WAIC) in Nice France, I had the pleasure of attending Oona Shambhavi D’mello’s presentation titled: “The Power of a Question in a Culture of Critique”. I was delighted when Oona agreed to write an article for the February 2022 issue of AI Practitioner. Oona returns to Voices from the Field in this issue with another article, this time co-authored with her family members, all of whom are AI practitioners! Their individual and collaborative approach to Appreciative Inquiry lets us share in a unique story of shop talk around the dinner table. It’s my pleasure to welcome Oona back, along with her family members Preeti, Bosco and Satyashiv.
Oona Shambhavi D’mello | India & US Individual | Sister | Daughter | Sustainability Learning Leader
Lead: CEO of MySustainOnline
Oona Shambhavi D’mello is an artist, OD practitioner and agent of social impact. Oona’s mission is to impact the lives of people, serving their personal and professional growth, the wellbeing of their ecosystems and the health of the planet, with appreciative language being a key facet to promote human and social sustainability.
Her passion for expression is curated to promote “art can heal” firsthand. Oona’s purpose is to promote human and social sustainability by inspiring leaders, organizational ecosystems and communities to create sustainable impact for our planet.
Satyashiv D’mello | India & US Individual | Brother | Son | Social Sustainability Leader
Lead: Human & Social Sustainability at Conscious Development
Satyashiv leads DEIB (diversity, equity, inclusion and belongingness) and social sustainability at Conscious Development, and is the founder of YouUbuntu. His vision is to inculcate the paradigm of YouUbuntu through the maxim, “I am because we are”. Through his work, Satyashiv integrates positive psychology, metaphysics, organisational development, learning sciences and coaching to evoke higher order thinking and positive action towards a flourishing planet.
Preeti D’mello | US Individual | Wife | Mother | Diversity & Inclusion Thought Leader, Futurist and Coach
Lead: VP, Global Head: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and LeaD Academy at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)
Preeti is inspired by the motto “inclusion without exception” at TCS, and is responsible for the ongoing systemic transformation in the leadership, diversity, equity and inclusion ecosystem at TCS. With thirty years of experience, Preeti brings a grounded, practical and strengths-based orientation to organizational development and leadership as well as mentoring and coaching, leveraging her experience and understanding of human nature to evolve effective turnarounds for personal, business and leadership challenges.
Bosco D’mello | India & US Individual | Husband | Father | Leadership Thought Leader & Coach
Lead: Leadership Capital & Organizational Development at Conscious Development
Bosco established Conscious Development with a singular purpose: to enable individuals to bridge the gap between who they are and who they can be. He has been a partner to leadership in the USA, India and Singapore in leadership capital development, diversity and culture, and executive coaching. He supports the vertical development of leaders through the integration of inner and outer life, connects them to their potential, and elevates how they think and work. Bosco supplements his professional commitments with his passion – teaching – as visiting faculty member at institutions including Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and SP Jain School of Global Management.
Shop Talk at the Dinner Table: AI in family systems that work together
How we are on the inside is how we experience the outside. A joyous heart and clear mind make many a barrier breachable. An exhausted heart and an angry mind make even the good moments inconsequential. But what determines whether it is joy or exhaustion that commands our hearts and minds? The most significant determinant, as far as civilisation goes is – relationships: the relationship with oneself, relationships with others, a relationship with nature and all that is unseen.
Debatably, a significant marker of our evolution is the ability of human relationships to work with cohesion and alignment, and value one another in times of homeostasis and hyper-complexity.
This is a learned awareness. As individuals, a family and colleagues with different capacities, we have learned much from our interpersonal relationships, a long-written code within the blueprint of our intimate family system that was delightfully brought to life by David Cooperrider through the power of Appreciative Inquiry.
Our story is unique – we are a family of practitioners that hold the same goal of meaningful and sustainable change in systems, often by applying AI in different contexts. Not only do we share a common goal, but also come together professionally: we work together, both informally and within an organisational structure.
Valuing diversity of thought, open conversations and safe dialogue along with honest and vulnerable introspection has been a keen and consistent aspect of our family and team cultures, with a core alignment to and practice of AI, both the philosophy and process.
By leveraging the wisdom and process of AI through exploration and discussion, trial and error, empathy, compassion and failing forward, we have honed some traits of healthy and effective interpersonal systems that we have tried and tested at home and work. Here are some of our insights:
1.Diversity of thoughts and ideas
In a family, it is often assumed that everyone thinks the same way. Is it because we believe that people who have lived together, share genetic traits and environmental influences, are the same? Is this assumed sameness the foundation of safety which must exist in a family (in our case, often family plus colleagues)?
We think not. Yes, members of a family are alike and often share many common views. AND YET members of families and teams can also value diversity of thought because sameness is not the foundation of safety; trust is. (In fact, sameness can result in inertia, which in many spiritual schools of thought is regarded as synonymous with death).
A different perspective need not be seen as an opposing one. There is value in that which makes us different, a value that can be life-giving to groups and systems only if we abandon our assumption that sameness is a strength.
Diversity of thought is the gateway to evolution. Whether it be around the dinner table or conference room, diversity of thought is the recipe for positive disruption and innovation, a known pathway to stay ahead of the competition. Once leveraged, diversity of thought allows groups to have a multifaceted world view and strategic approach to solving problems, road mapping the future, and collaborating effectively.
2.Variety of strengths
With this diversity of thoughts and ideas also comes a variety of strengths. Even though we may share similar “nature and nurture”, we have individual stories that are ripe with different contexts, ecosystems and experiences that have influenced our operating systems and given birth to different strengths.
Leveraging the collaborative and interdependent nature of human systems, which is clearly visible in Appreciative Inquiry, is the foundation of how family and workplace systems like our own can and should value different strengths.
Often, the challenge is identifying which moment is most appropriate for which strength. At this point, a deeply democratic conversation, governed by discovering what has worked in the past, collectively envisioning the future, and co-creating a design strategy and process, helps us make an informed decision and commitment together as a family and/or team at the workplace.
Knowing that “there are many ways up the mountain” fills the group’s minds and hearts with hope, joy and togetherness, effectively preparing us to act in the spirit of collaboration.
3.Shared power and interpersonal respect
Every system has a power dynamic, often fixed and undisputable unless unforeseen events intervene. Even within groups that share genetic coding, beliefs, values and environments, diversity exists – of thought, experiences, ideas and strengths. Tapping into this diversity demands that power be shared. Power in this context isn’t the ability to exercise force over the other; rather, it is the ability to take the stage and share one’s ideas, and have access to a circle of influence to enable real change.
Within a family and at a workplace, diversity demands that power be claimed and shared equally so that everyone can offer their thoughts, ideas and strengths for the benefit of the entire system.
This may seem utopian to some – can power really be shared willingly? Yes, it can. By leveraging open communication, curiosity and honesty, founded on provocative open-ended questions, the diversity of thought in a room becomes apparent, especially since we share a common desire for interpersonal respect.
Power, shared fairly and equally, balances giving and taking, energises circles of influence by valuing different expertise, and enables frameworks that seek out individual and group responsibility and accountability. Additionally, interpersonal respect further encourages diversity of thought, open communication, intentional leadership, ownership and accountability.
4.Curiosity and friendship
When starting to explore relationships and what makes us come together, we soon realise there is a common thread running through us all. It may have a different colour or texture and we may imagine it differently, yet there is always a common denominator. We all aspire to be seen, heard, valued and loved. These simple words require complex efforts, yet if we look through the fog of this complexity, we notice that all of these are achievable through friendship.
We have often found that AI sessions start with everyone – almost instantaneously – establishing friendship. It is usually an outcome of having a common goal, contributing and making an impact – or just being a part of a group. From our research and reflection, the basis of this friendship is a genuine curiosity to know more about others, which paves the path for powerful exploration and designing the way ahead.
Curiosity is a powerful enabler of connection, psychological safety, creativity and innovation, progress, and friendship. Understanding what matters to one another, listening with the intention of understanding rather than the intent to respond, displaying courage and vulnerability by sharing one’s own story, and valuing differences as a pathway to “blue sky thinking” are all agents of sustainable growth, whether it be around the dinner table or in the conference room.
5.Alignment of passions
In a group that plans to stay together– a family or a team – it is essential to be aligned on shared values, principles, passions and purposes. The beauty of true alignment is that it is entirely co-created. True alignment is the output of each individual sharing what matters to them, their aspirations for the group and how they can employ their strengths to play a part in achieving this goal.
We may think, can diversity of thought and alignment co-exist? Yes, it can, and must. Neither of the two must be threatened by the other. Alignment amongst members is in no way meant to imply rigidity and inertia. In fact, true alignment is built on safety and curiosity, so that any contributing member can offer their diversity of thought without raising anxiety over threatening the progress of the entire group.
With alignment comes momentum. Only once members of a family, team or organisation are aligned as active contributors on their values and goals will there be observable momentum between individuals and in projects.
6.Individual and shared accountability
The purpose of accountability is not to have someone to blame, but rather to commit to something that is initiated, to trust in one’s ability to achieve the goal, to use every task as a container to fail forward, to solicit collaboration whenever needed, and to celebrate the effort that led to success.
In a family and a team, accountability must be a matter of excitement rather than potential risk. In today’s world of work, accountability feels like a big and scary word that creates pressure, stress and psychological exhaustion.
“One for all, and all for one” is the axiom that has filled our shared experiences with a sense of community and safety. Each person acts toward the benefit and success of the group, and the group works towards the benefit and success of any individual within it. This axiom celebrates the innate trust in everyone’s capacity to do well, flourish, and learn well if we fail.
Professionals, teams and organisations have much to unlearn and relearn when it comes to accountability and how to apply it as a tool to generate effort and inspire everyone’s best self.
All the above insights are somewhat simultaneous and iterative when put into action. Relationships are at the core of any human function and are the determinators of long-term joy and effectiveness. We have much to think about when it comes to the nature of how our relationships develop – do they enable us to show up as our authentic and best selves, or do they compel us to fit the mould and play-act so that we can have a seat at the table?
Dinner tables and conference rooms are potent with the potential to do good, learn from our mistakes, dream big, shed all apprehension, garner momentum, and rest and restart so that we can live well and make a difference.
Intro by Keith Storace is a registered psychologist with the Psychology Board of Australia (PsyBA) and associate fellow with the Australasian College of Health Service Management (ACHSM). He has designed and implemented health and wellbeing frameworks across the community, health and education sectors. Keith’s current focus is on developing his work in Appreciative Dialogue (ApDi) to assist individuals in moving from self-doubt to inspired positive action.
At the recent Global AI Jam April 2022, organised through The Cooperrider Center for Appreciative Inquiry, I had the pleasure of being on the Australian Panel discussion on hope for a global future, and the related article can be read following Faith Addicott’s and Staceye Randle’s article on the Appreciative Inquiry Poetic principle that emphasises we can choose what we study.
Faith Addicott, MPA, MPOD is working to improve the intersection of work and life through innovative and human-centered process design. Her consulting work has centered on nonprofits and local government using Appreciative Inquiry and other strengths-based processes. She is a champion for inclusive workplace design.
Staceye Randle | USA
Staceye Randle, MPOD is a human resources professional passionate about creating workplaces focused on helping people grow and learn. She is also an advocate for ensuring equity and justice in every aspect of her private and professional life.
What do you choose to know?
Choice is something people often take for granted. As we discussed in our previous article about the principle of Free Choice, being able to choose something– or at least think we have chosen something – is very important to our human sense of self and autonomy. After all, we tend to think that free choice and being able to think critically separates us from animals.
Much of the conversation today around critical race theory (CRT) revolves around parents or politicians being able to choose what their children learn in school. So why would people choose for their children to be ignorant of history, even if it is painful? Perhaps on some level these folks know what we know – if we choose to study something, we shine a light on it: the light of our intellect and intention, of our acknowledgement of the basic reality of that which we study. While CRT is taught in graduate level courses and at law schools, even there the truth sometimes gets in the way of what folks want to politically acknowledge. And by then it’s often too late for the choice of study to truly move the world – academia is already rarified, not universal.
At this moment in history we are seeing, in America particularly, the reality of the Poetic principle. The move to block the teaching of Black history, to ban books whose stories conflict with a desired narrative, to ban language itself in some states … these are not just existential threats. They are, at the heart of a battle over what is REAL. By choosing to continue the vital study of race in America, the history,the victories and the losses, the people and movements which have led to this moment we validate our shared humanity across color and creed. We open the door to new possibilities.
To choose to study the history of Black and indigenous peoples, to study the homesteading of Chinese and other Asian–American groups, to learn about what folks have endured and conquered, the whole amazing resilience of people who are not white, is to validate the reality of this lived experience. And when we do that, we create a different, more universal, platform for defining who “we” are. We open to a shared reality instead of a colonizing mindset which only knows the story of one kind of people.
One thing is for sure, what we choose to study makes a world of difference when navigating the changes required to move towards real racial justice. In fact, what we choose to study just plain makes a world. Our world.
Appreciative Inquiry: Hope for a Global Future – An Australian Perspective
Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is a promise, a process and a way of life that continues to foster good change for individuals and communities. It encourages each of us to move along the good side of human history as it embraces, ponders and elevates us to the reality that we are connected -–we are each other – and together we have what it takes to co-create a future that is best for all life on this planet. This became all the clearer to me during the Australian panel discussion at the 2022 Global AI Jam.
Facilitated by Sue James and Libby Mears, the focus for the panel was on what it takes to foster and sustain hope for a global future. Panel members included Kate Heron, Repa Patel, David Lees, and me, Keith Storace. With an emphasis on AI and each individual panel member’s experience of what it offers, four themes emerged: the AI journey; bringing AI to life; strengthening the common voice; and from little things big things grow.
The Appreciative Inquiry journey
Appreciative Inquiry is a good example of the value of connecting with people. Kate Heron
Having immersed myself in the world of AI for several years, it came as no surprise hearing each panellist reveal a common thread; an inextricable link between their values and Appreciative Inquiry.
Throughout the panel discussion, there was a strong sense of trust in AI, with a clear understanding that good possibilities emerge when we engage in the AI process.
Kate shared that AI has been a life-changing experience where the value of connecting with people is a strong draw for her: “…coming to a conversation with an open heart has been transformative … AI has been a professional extension to my natural personality.”
Similarly, Repa shared: “…there was a lot of alignment with my belief system and AI”, adding what had emerged for her was that AI was not just a feel-good temporary experience but one that “…connects heads and hearts”. It’s the approach she employs when working with leaders , and it produces concrete results.
David said he became immersed in strengths-based practice, as it was called in Australia, and “…began to appreciate there were a whole lot of different conversations around the world about the transition from a deficit-/problem-based approach to a strengths-based approach”. He added that exploring AI at a deeper level revealed a clear link between his values and a strengths-based approach with the AI principals, values and assumptions.
I related my own experience of engaging in AI as a re-connection to what I call “appreciative beginnings”, meaningful moments across a lifetime that seamlessly connect with what AI offers as a process and a way of life.
Bringing AI to life
Appreciative Inquiry is the bridge between what matters most and bringing it to life in the world. Keith Storace
It is fair and logical to say, for the most part, that our goals are only as achievable as the actions we take toward them. This is where AI creates the conditions that enable movement in the direction of our goals. One of its key tenets is: “What we focus on becomes our reality” and I see this working as a psychologist, leadership consultant, and especially in developing and implementing AI centric programs. This tenet is also reflected many times over through the countless stories shared across the world by AI practitioners. Some of these experiences have been published in books, articles, and especially in the AI Practitioner. When we talk about AI being hope for a global future, we’re talking about hope-in-action that is encouraged and supported by the AI framework of Define, Discover, Dream, Design, Deliver. A point I often make is that AI enables us to think differently, and sometimes we need to think differently to live fully; to fully appreciate what can be. This can have a ripple effect at a micro and macro level.
Having embraced AI because it aligns with his beliefs, ethical considerations and strong sense of social justice, along with his desire to bring AI to life, David emphasised the importance of working from a sense of deep respect, where difference is embraced through the kind of curiosity that appreciates and builds on what everyone has to offer: “I see myself not as an expert but as someone who adopts a decent position in my work so that I draw on the expertise of the people in the room”.
Like David, Repa agreed with the importance of harnessing each person’s expertise and stated that she walks alongside everyone else, noting that her purpose in life is to elevate consciousness: “Appreciative Inquiry permeates my life, not just my business as a structural tool; it’s the way I interact with my team and my friends. I’ve had colleagues say what I do and how I do it fascinates them, and they walk away thinking and feeling differently.”
With a focus on moving forward and contributing to a good future for all, Kate emphasised the importance of ensuring that the smallest voices are also heard, especially when it comes to protecting the environment. She also added that one of the core values identified by her organisation focuses on being ethical: “What we’re trying to do is advocate, not just for ourselves but for the communities we’re designing for, believing that design is a powerful opportunity for change.” She elaborated, saying that such a strong core value sits at the heart of bringing people back to nature and protecting the environment: “We’re advocating for the environment as much as we’re advocating for people.”
Strengthening the common voice
Appreciative Inquiry is a form of activism. David Lees
Appreciative Inquiry has all the attributes of what the world needs when it comes to supporting the common voice and moving toward the kind of social change necessary to ensure a good future for all. This is especially evident in the principles of AI, especially the principle of Free Choice that posits people are more committed and perform better when they have the freedom to choose how and what they contribute.
When it comes to social change, David talked about how it seems to happen slowly over time. He highlighted the importance of being present and paying attention to the changes that are occurring, as subtle and as slowly as they may be: “The more we notice change, the more potential there is for that change to grow, to appreciate, and so I’ve been occupying myself with that question about how can we better notice and measure progress?”
Kate suggested that that being aware of our own natural defenses that may emerge when it comes to difficult situations is helpful: “…letting down some of those barriers and being open to change and doing that from a place of humility I think, for me, that’s the most important thing”.
Repa reiterated the importance of conversation and how this facilitates change at an individual and collective level. This resonated with me, knowing that conversations can have a life of their own, a transformative effect on the other person that we may not be aware of, as Repa identified: “I come back to the fact that I never know what the impact is of anything that I say or do, but I have to do it with the belief that if I do something in the right way with the right intention, I don’t control what happens afterwards.”
From little things big things grow
The premise of Appreciative Inquiry is that everything we do is going to have an impact on each other. Repa Patel
The song “From Little Things Big Things Grow”, co-written by Australians Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody, was resounding in my head following the panel discussion. It was written as a protest song supporting indigenous people’s land rights and reconciliation. It is a reminder that, even against all odds where political agendas seem insurmountable, small steps where subtle action fosters and illuminates the right way forward can create good change.
One of the strengths of the AI process is that it can be subtle and powerful at the same time without compromising the necessary awareness needed to move in the direction of our goals. This rang true for me when Repa talked about the possibility of change through AI on a global scale. She explained that if we start from a point of compassion, where we recognise and embrace our differences in opinions and viewpoints or beliefs, which is where AI becomes pivotal, then good change is possible: “Appreciative Inquiry has a lot to add if we can just embrace it to help us with some of the thornier issues and the more difficult issues that we’re dealing with … the whole concept that we can, as a global community, operate as one community rather than different nations and different political persuasions within those nations is where Appreciative Inquiry can really help at a macro level.”
Kate added when we come from a place of love and connection, as Michele Hunt talked about in her presentation, what may seem as an unrealistic dream can be possible as a result of the connections we develop and nourish through AI: “Why we’re all in Appreciative Inquiry is because we are stimulated by the thought that actually our connections really do matter and that we have the possibility of making change, whether it’s on the micro or macro level, and sometimes it is the micro level that matters the most because you can fundamentally change the course of human behaviour and of an ecosystem.”
I remember smiling and feeling that the world is in good hands when Kate said this. It resonated true for what AI has achieved to date across the globe and is prepared to take on in the future, especially as we are facing numerous challenges that are having a global impact.
David added that a fundamental aspect of the AI process is that it enables us to think in different, radical ways: “…you know, the kind of reframe where we see things. Appreciative Inquiry gives careful attention to process and not just outcome so it’s not just about achieving particular things but the way you engage in the change process, who you include and how this is critical. I reckon that’s got some potential at a global level, to think about how we can construct a process that is inclusive, curious and builds change from the bottom up.”
It begins with conversation
Developing a process that is inclusive begins with conversation. When you begin to have a conversation, you’re developing a story, and this is fundamental to the AI process; the kind of story that incorporates, grows and appreciates with time, so much so that it has a good impact. As I noted earlier, one of the key tenets of AI is “What we focus on becomes our reality”; this all starts with conversation; it’s an important leadership skill: knowing how to listen, when to speak and when to be silent, all couched in an atmosphere of kindness.
A good example of this was seen some years ago when New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, gently embraced a woman of the Muslim faith who had lost family members in a terrorist shooting. Jacinda did not have to say a word, it was a quiet conversation, she had connected at a deeper level that the whole world seemed to understand; it was subtle and powerful at the same time.
Hope for a global future where love, kindness, creativity and justice permeate the way we interact is a challenge we all face, considering the current discord we are experiencing across the world. Our hope rests on our hope-in-action where we embrace humanity for what it can be, through every interaction we experience with each other; through an appreciative lens.
Intro by Keith Storace
is a registered psychologist with the Psychology Board of Australia (PsyBA) and associate fellow with the Australasian College of Health Service Management (ACHSM). He has designed and implemented health and wellbeing frameworks across the community, health and education sectors. Keith’s current focus is on developing his work in Appreciative Dialogue (ApDi) to assist individuals in moving from self-doubt to inspired positive action.
“The Power of a Question in a Culture of Critique”, Oona Shambhavi D’mello continues the theme of expressing who we are and shares ten steps that support everyday inquiry as we work our way through the complexity of life. It is my pleasure to introduce our voices from the field in this issue of AI Practitioner.
Oona Shambhavi D’mello is an artist, OD practitioner and agent of social impact. Oona’s personal mission is to impact the lives of people, serving their personal and professional growth, the wellbeing of their ecosystems and the health of the planet, with appreciative language being a key facet to promote human and social sustainability.
When I was a little girl one of my favorite possessions was my mother’s moonstone ring. I would wear it and, given my small fingers, it would easily slip off and fall. There were times, wearing it in the backyard as I played on the rope swing, I would watch the ring slip off. There were spots in the sand pile where I would hide the ring and then busy myself in finding it. That moment of losing the ring, watching it slip off and looking in the sand pile was intriguing and stressful. I would feel the win when I found it, until one day I couldn’t.
It is hard to make sense of why we do some of the things we do.If I were to sit with this story and decode it, the one thing that stands out was this sense of adventure with the moonstone ring. It is complex, and for many reasons, we humans seem to thrive in the dynamic of complexity. Personally, I am comfortable with such dimensions, in my own being and that of the world. When they are sometimes tough and call for investigation, I dive into the layers of the self and find my way in and out of complex systems.
When the moonstone disappeared, I would ask myself – “What do you love about this game”, “What does this game do for you?” “What is the emotion it creates” “Why do you enjoy it”?
Not knowing that this was a subconscious technique, I do remember that the questions in themselves felt explorative, open ended and created expansion as I unpeeled my own psyche for answers. Never did I feel blame for losing that ring. There was safety, no judgement and certainly no criticism of a little girl’s game.
As human beings navigating complex life situations, we are all undeniably seeking answers to everyday stuff, just as we are to the existential question of “who am I?’. Our social conditioning is also deeply connected to what I call the science of separation – the strange idea that we have been educated in: that our sameness triumphs diversity, leading to criticism of all things different – people, behaviors, cultures, styles and the rest of it. In addition, there is the play of power that provides greater privilege to the majority, leading to the enshrinement of the status of a critic. This shows up in schools as much at the workplace, leading to an interpretation that the more faults we find the smarter we are. My own experience of constructive criticism in art school and in the study of literature was not pleasant, and one that spoke to creating alignment rather than exploration. I see this being mimicked in corporations – maybe because the source of this malady is the same.
Can we ask questions that evoke attention to the good?
The question that I ask thus is, what if we changed this rhythm and paused – what if we responded by asking questions rather than reacting with critique? We might be misled in the modern world to treat criticism – appreciative, constructive or otherwise to facilitate learning. We might not always do right or know the way, often when the only way out is in. Can we soak in and ask the questions that evoke attention to the good, to what is working and to possibilities?
As an artist, let me talk about my experience as I peer into the canvas. I have a desire, a need to express that, more often than not, is unclear – what is evident is that I wish to explore. Sometimes this desire feels compelling and urgent and evokes a certain discomfort because I am not sure of where to start. These canvas ruminations are the same as our workplace dynamics. If only we would explore and ask, rather than exert expertise via our critique, we would be more humanistic and innovative.
The magic role of inquiry
The role of inquiry is magic. It has the power to completely alter the way we see the world. The role and power of a question supersedes its context and opens doors to possibilities. We forget to flourish when we focus on being less, not enough and not right. In my experience, inquiry is one such tool for our tool belt, allowing curious conversation, connection, positive thinking and belongingness.
How do we make this shift from reaction to response, from knowing to exploration, from certainty to emergence? I follow 10 steps that support my everyday inquiry:
Attend: to give oneself and others what is needed to exhibit and experience self-care and self-love.
Pause and breathe: to create a gap, build distance from the issue at hand and become and observer to the moment at hand.
Meet yourself where you are: psychological safety supports exploration. Take yourself where you need to be, rather than where you “should” be.
Listen to your body: pay respect to the greatest tool you have that speaks to you, if you pause and listen.
Drop the agenda: to be present so as to live fully.
See the good: acknowledge the positivity! Disallow matter to take over your mind.
Allow for the new: welcome change and hold it with wisdom so that you can experience the hidden messages.
Engage with the flow: learn to flow like water and not fight the current of the stream.
Accept: relinquish doubt and embrace the reality.
Shift: embody the lessons and shift your internal narrative for sustainable results.
A positively oriented, gratitude eliciting question can bring to life an abundant approach to development, learning and the subject of change. We can conquer and nurture ourselves by asking – “What am I doing right”?
I know that the more I engage, the more possibilities emerge. My work is to inspire and reignite that child-like simplicity & eldership that allows asking more and telling less.
Intro by Keith Storace is a registered psychologist with the Psychology Board of Australia (PsyBA) and associate fellow with the Australasian College of Health Service Management (ACHSM). He has designed and implemented health and wellbeing frameworks across the community, health and education sectors. Keith’s current focus is on developing his work in Appreciative Dialogue (ApDi) to assist individuals in moving from self-doubt to inspired positive action.
