Another option to this paradigm is to ask What did we do well today?
Ap-pre’ci-ate, v., 1. valuing; the act of recognizing the best in
people or the world around us; affirming past and present strengths,
successes, and potentials; to perceive those things that give life
(health, vitality, excellence) to living systems 2. to increase in
value, e.g. the economy has appreciated in value. Synonyms: VALUING,
PRIZING, ESTEEMING, and HONORING.
In-quire’
(kwir), v., 1. the act of exploration and discovery. 2. To ask
questions; to be open to seeing new potentials and possibilities.
Synonyms: DISCOVERY, SEARCH, and SYSTEMATIC EXPLORATION, STUDY.
AI involves, in a central way, the art and practice of asking questions
that strengthen a system’s capacity to apprehend, anticipate, and
heighten positive potential.
from A Positive Revolution in Change: Appreciative Inquiry by David L. Cooperrider and Diana Whitney.
Could you imagine the change -- in thinking, in feeling, in responding,
in innovating -- that would come to a group of people, a workplace,
when this is the predominant approach to evaluating our work? Wow.
Ongoing “Learning” Groups: Study the Masters in New Thinking
What are all the professors at MIT Sloan School of Management or
Harvard Business School talking about? Writing about? Shouldn’t we take
a look at what they’re thinking about and writing and see if it has
some merit? Perhaps, they have ideas that could be exploited and
integrated into the buisness. Scintillating, perhaps.
The Executive Roundtable: Peer Support, Advice, New Ideas
Would you like to get together with some of your geographic, industry
peers and talk about...business, life? We can do that. Group
Facilitation: Strategy, Mission, Vision Leadership Workshops: How Do We
Integrate Styles, Methods, Needs?
Services for Individuals
Remedial Coaching:
Can You Help Me Fix This Person?
Situation: you have someone who reports to you and...you like him/her;
s/he has some really positive attributes. But, s/he’s inconsistent. Or,
behaviors don’t always match the needs in the situation. You don’t want
to go the termination route but you don’t have time to see if you can
“fix” him /her. You can’t justify investing your own time in the effort
but you woulddn’t mind writing a check to somone else who can do the
“heavy lifting” with this person. I can help.
We first start a three-way conversation that gets at the heart of the
matters and makes things clear. I, and my protege, get our marching
orders there. A set of goals -- desired bheaviors and outcomes --
within a given timeframe. We go to work.
One on One Coaching: Improving Personal Mastery (Confidential)
A bit different from the Remedial work above because the objective is
higher performance, mastery not fixing. Also, this work is -- and has
to be -- completely confidential. Weekly, bi-weekly, monthly.
In-person, over the phone or at Starbuck’s.
An examination of the desires, the drivers, and an assessment of the
skills that are needed. We look at what’s going well; we look at
problems. I try my best to shut up and let you talk. Often, hearing
yourself say the words is the most motivating part of the enterprise.
Self-Assessment Tools: Understanding the Results
Enneagram. Meyers-Briggs. Leadership Skills Indicator. Tools for
understanding myself, my style, my personality. But, once I’m done with
them, do I ever go back? Take a look at where I am versus where I want
to be? Perhaps, look at the results of the instruments and ask: “Geez,
what do these things tell me about what I’ve got going for me?” Help in
this arena becomes my job. Just another way to focus.
Services for Non-Profits
Note: I’ve been involved with helping non-profits -- Board Member,
Founder, Board President, Consultant, Advisor -- since 1983. I believe
in the NP sector as an area where social progress and justice is more
possible and, in fact, a desirable outvome.
I’ve also noticed, in that span of time, that many organizations and
their Boards are not optimally effective. (The same goes for the
for-profit sector, but...they have more wiggle room.) So, this is an
area of not only personal interest but organizational curiosity: how do
we get non-profit Boards to be more effective?
(Note: Services to Non-profits are offered on either a sliding scale or pro bono basis)
Optimizing Board Performance: How Do We Become More Effective?
How do we make Boards more effective? First, we help make them
more disciplined. More practical. I could go on for pages. In a
nutshell, we use a variety of methodologies to conduct assessments and,
then, faciitate a disussion about possibiilities based on our findings.
It’s not an expert-student, top-down approach: it’s a collaboration.
It’s more risky -- for us -- than traditional approaches but the
outcomes have higher potential.
Why bother? Non-profit Boards are charged with two major
tasks: setting policy for the organization and 2) Raising money.
Obviously, the first one is always more palatable than the second since
there’s so much fear and trepidation, for most folks, around the task
of asking others for money.
We help our clients become more clear about the intentions of the
Board, the Agency. And in the process, the execution becomes more
focused, more precise -- closer to the targets. Behaviors and actions
more clearly aligned with a collective purpose and a tighter
integration with the Mission and Vision.
Mission / Vision Development: Group Facilitation
Groups and teams, although very well organized and efficient, may not
be aware of all of the unwritten rules and guidelines that channel
their work together. Sessions and mini-workshops whose goal is to find
common ground, values and purpose can be of enormous help. By
clarifying what has not been spoken or articulated, members of the team
better understand what is being asked of them.
There are a number of subtle yet effective ways that I’ve developed for
this kind of work. It allows us to engage in a process, which most
people think is painful and diffuclt, and make it fairly easy
and...fun. There is no intentional use of play in this work but it does
come out.
Other Services
Interim Management:
Can You Take Over Customer Service /
Operations for Me?
Need to let someone go? Have an opening you don’t want to fill just
now? I can’t, and wouldn’t try, to run your packaging line but I do
know the basics of managing work and leading people: what’s being asked
of us? Is that the right thing for us to be focusing on? How do we
martial our resources and talents to do that?
This service is customized, negotiated and can be taken on a part-time basis.