I am writing this from a weather-beaten Adirondack chair while enjoying the late afternoon sunshine. My chair and I are sitting on the sandy shore of Lac Pytonga, a pristine and secluded lake out in the wilds of Quebec, Canada. My family and I have been here for just 3 days now and it is hard to remember what else I do. That is, what else I do besides sleep-in, swim in the crystal mountain lake, go for long boat rides, and enjoy unscheduled lazy time with my husband and children. This amazing place and time provides much to be appreciative about; which actually reminds me of one other thing I do; I appreciate.

I bring an appreciative paradigm to my coaching and organizational development work. This is an approach that focuses on possibilities, not problems; on what’s working or what’s good about a situation, not what’s broken; on what those involved want to create together to move them towards their desired future, not on what’s “in the gap” that needs to be fixed or enhanced. This approach is called Appreciative Inquiry (Ai).

Ai is one of today’s most recognized approaches to creating positive change. It is used in businesses, community organizations, and social systems. Ai is the cooperative search for what’s working; what we are already doing well that we can build on to create what’s desired next. A key principle of Ai is that sustainable positive change must be truly co-created. It is “whole system change,” meaning we involve every person within the system at some level, making sure every voice is heard and considered. There are several inspiring case studies publicly available that demonstrate the power in this work. Here are links to a few:

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Growth Journey (an oldie but goodie)

Canadian Tire Team Values (an even older goodie)

Fostoria Community Schools Revitalization

I’ll be writing more about Appreciative Inquiry with ideas and exercises for integrating aspects of it with your work and your life. I hope you’ll return to learn more and experiment with the possibilities an appreciative paradigm might create for you.