Appreciative Inquiry and Change!
As humans we are spectacularly good at looking on the gloomy side. If I’m running a change workshop or one of my personal development courses and ask for examples of what’s not working I am usually inundated. But ask a different question, what is going well? or what do you do well? and the responses can dry up.
Moaning is Habit
Sometimes we just get into the habit of moaning. Low grade, not terribly serious, moaning. In fact, it can become a part of the culture of a workplace, particularly one undergoing change (and let’s face it, most workplaces have been experiencing change over the last few years). Moaning helps us bond with our fellow workers. In fact, we might even feel a bit guilty about being chirpy and moan even when we feel alright with the world. Does that sound familiar?
It’s insidious and it drags you down. Over time it will sap your motivation and you run the danger of becoming a drain (see ‘Drains and Radiators’). It’s not helpful to you at all.
Appreciative Inquiry
Which is why when working with groups at some point I’ll introduce the principles of Appreciative Inquiry, or, as I like to call it, the Pollyanna moment!
In brief, appreciative inquiry means shifting the focus off what isn’t working onto what is! Don’t waste your energy on looking at what you don’t like, what doesn’t work for you, but focus on the positive. Using the principles of appreciative inquiry throughout a change process can really bring out the best in people, tap into creativity and positivity.
You can start the process by simply thinking, ‘what works well in my life’? When work is good what is going well? Challenge your assumptions and the assumptions of your work place or working group. The assumptions are beliefs (unwritten rules) that have grown up over time which become the framework or context for all other decisions. You’re probably not even aware of them on a conscious level.
An example is flexible working. A few years back an assumption in many places was that everyone had to work the same hours and be available to each other at the same time; the assumption was that business couldn’t be done any other way. (Some places still hold this assumption or belief). But once companies rid themselves of this assumption they can begin to look creatively and positively at how work could be and introduce creative working practices which enhance the end result.
Challenging Assumptions Means Change
Once you begin to question in this way more will follow. Other long held assumptions will get questioned. Some will embrace this others will feel threatened and insecure and resist.
Here are 8 assumptions of Appreciative Inquiry:
- In every group or society, organisation something works
- What we focus on becomes our reality
- Reality is created in the moment, there can be multiple realities
- The act of asking questions in organisations or groups influences the group in some way
- People have more confidence and comfort in changing their future (unknown) when they can carry with them bits of their past (known things)
- When carrying forward it should be what’s best of the past
- It is important to value differences
- The language we use helps create our reality
In brief, if you view life as a problem to be solved you won’t be comfortable with Appreciative Inquiry. Appreciative Inquiry takes the view that life is a mystery to be embraced. Problem solving means you spend energy on identifying what is wrong and then trying to put it right. Missing the opportunity to look at all that is going really well can mean introducing a solution to fix the wrong bit, which impacts on all the good bits… I hear this regularly when working with organisations and change:
‘It used to work perfectly until…’
‘I could help customers much more until we had this new rule...’
I’m sure you can come up with examples from your own experience – the baby out with the bathwater syndrome!
Appreciative Inquiry Questions to help you cope with organisational change:
- Think back over your career in the organisation. Try to pin point a real highpoint for you, when you felt really engaged and effective at what you do. How did you feel? What circumstances made that possible?
- Think about what you value most about yourself, what value you bring into the organisation. Don’t be modest.
- If you could have 3 do-able, concrete wishes for your company or organisation what would they be?
- What do you want to take with you into the future?
Photo Credit: Cylonka
Life Changing Moments
I have a great job! I cannot adequately describe the pure pleasure it gives me to receive a card or email from someone telling me that something I have done, either on a course, when coaching, or written in the newsletter, has changed their life for the better. What a privilege to be able do that for a living!
Life Changing
Recently I had a life changing experience of my own. I’ll spare you the details but suffice it to say my doctor thought I might have a life threatening illness and sent me on a succession of emergency tests. To my relief it turns out that I do not have a life threatening illness but something manageable.
I had discussed this with a good friend who said, ‘whatever the outcome, this will change your life’. And he’s right. Facing the prospect, however slight, that your life might not be going according to your plan is a salutory experience, a life changing experience.
Life Changes Can be Fun!
But life changing experiences are not always so serious! Often it’s moments of pure joy that change our lives, like births, falling in love, or even attending a course that gives you a new insight and direction in life!
What have been your life changing moments? What events in your life have caused you to re-evaluate and make positive changes in your life? Was it a person, or an event? My Inspirational Women series has many examples of women who have made positive changes in their lives; here are two of them:
Natascha Barrymore was so touched by the devastation of the Asian Tsunami that she gave up her old life totally. Her story is here.
And Susan Denmark was inspired by illness to take herself off to the Northern lights!
Please do share your own life changing moments; I’d love to hear from you - your story will inspire others!
Change – How to Survive Tip 7
All change means a loss of some sort. Yet often we are exhorted by those implementing the change to embrace it, get on with it, stop resisting! Resistance is seen as negative and disloyal.
Yet a certain amount of natural resistance is entirely natural, possibly inevitable. None of us reacts the same way to change and if we’ve had a lot of personal change, this may just be a step too far.
So my advice is, recognise what loss the change means to you and honour and acknowledge it. If it’s loss of colleagues, make sure you have a proper farewell. Ditto with a change of environment. This may be a communal activity like an office party or it may be something private, like a simple ritual of your own.
Whatever you choose to do, mark the change from one state to another in some way. It helps!
What sorts of things do you do to mark changes in your life?
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Change – How to Survive Tip 6
Are you a Magical Thinker?
Actually, you probably are; we all do it to an extent! But we tend to do it most when change is on the cards, a change or period of uncertainty over which we have no control.
What is Magical Thinking?
I first learned of the term magical thinking when working with young children undergoing trauma in their lives. At one stage, it was received wisdom that children shouldn’t be told what was happening if it was considered bad or negative.
This proved to be singularly unhelpful to children and their chances in later life, as they then resorted to magical thinking. They filled the gaps in their knowledge with stories of their own.
And invariably these stories (magical thinking) made the children themselves somehow responsible for what was happening. In the absence of information sensitively and appropriately given they imagined the worse and even made themselves culpable.
Adults Use Magic Too…
When I went on to work with adults experiencing change and periods of uncertainty I realised that we all do it. In the absence of concrete, trustworthy information we make sense of the bits we do have by stringing together a story, usually with ourselves being worse off in some way. (see tip 5) And these stories can get passed around an organisation and come to be accepted as a universal truth.
If there is a gap in your knowledge of any impending change, beware of your magical thinking tendencies and try and get some straightforward information. Check out your sources! There’s no point in worrying unnecessarily!
For details of my next change seminar please click here. And if you have some examples of magical thinking in your organisation, please do share with us!
If Stuck, Go Bonkers!
I was delivering a seminar for managers recently, and asked the group to come up with some bonkers* solutions for issues the group were generating. There were no rules other than that the responses had to be totally off the wall.
The bonkers responses were then given back to the original group that raised them, with an instruction to see if they could make something workable from it.
In 90% of cases they could. And 50% of those resulted in a solution they were actually able to use at work!
So, next time you are feeling stuck, let go of sensible and let yourself go bonkers! You never know….
Where have some of your best ideas and solutions for change come from? Please do share with us!
(*Bonkers = Completely crazy and silly)
Are You in Charge?
When times are tough does an inner victim take over, or do you take charge of your own destiny?
Economically times are tough now, particularly if you work within the public sector. There is a high level of uncertainty about security of employment, future roles, and the knowledge that, even if your job is safe, perhaps adequate funding to do it is not.
In short, it’s not currently a great place to be. I work within the public sector a lot, indeed I was a manager and practitioner in both, and my heart goes out to the individuals who are coping with the uncertainty that now hovers over them. This post is dedicated to all those facing huge uncertainty; many people in the private sector will find it resonates too.
How to Take Charge?
One of the reasons we find it so challenging is because we feel we have no control over events; it feels like we’re on the back foot, waiting to react to events as they occur. And that makes us feel helpless. And feeling helpless makes us feel like a victim, possibly like a child, which in turn saps our confidence and leaves us feeling inadequate: less able to cope with what may be coming. A vicious cycle.
I have lots of coaching clients at the moment who feel very vulnerable and exposed; and as their confidence levels dip so does their ability to cope.
A common reaction is to try and ignore what is happening, to stay in denial for as long as possible. A certain amount of ostrich like behaviour is normal, but for your own self respect and sanity, take back some control.
Questions
Knowledge is power and empowering. You need some information that is particular to you before you make any decisions, or are bounced into making decisions! Simply exploring all your options in case your job disappears does not make it any more like to happen. Facing your fears does put you in control!
Here are some questions it’s worth knowing the answers to:
- How much do you actually need to live on?
- What are your regular outgoings?
- What is your status vis a vis redundancy? Do you know what your entitlement would be if redundancy was on offer/proposed?
- How do you look after yourself best, keep yourself well and manage your stress levels?
- Are you currently doing any of those things? Or planning to do them?
- Who are the friends who support and sustain you? Your radiators?
- How have you coped with significant life change in the past (and you will have coped with lots of changes!)
- What’s your worst fear about the changes afoot? Is it possible loss of income? Role? Status? Companionship? Stimulation?
- What would you love to do if you weren’t in your current role?
If you can answer all of those questions you will be well on the way to taking back some of the control that uncertainty wrests from you. You can’t do much about the economic situation we find ourselves in, or the political decisions being made which affect your life.
But you can CHOOSE how you react!
Nobody can take your ability to hold your own thoughts away from you. And you can make a choice about those thoughts. I don’t mean some trite ‘think beautiful thoughts and change the universe’ philosophy. No, instead I am talking about holding onto to your sense of self, not giving away your own power; being aware that you are so much more than the sum of your parts and the job description you have, and making the choice not to be a victim!
If you find yourself in a time of uncertainty I hope the above is of some use to you. If this is a situation you have previously experienced it would be great to hear how you came through, what worked and what didn’t. I am currently writing a programme to help employees survive and thrive in times of uncertainty. I’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas!
If you manage staff then this may be of interest!
