Diana
Whitney, Ph.D.
David L. Cooperrider, Ph.D.
"It
is instructive to consider that the word health in
English is based on an Anglo-Saxon word hale meaning
whole: that is, to be healthy is to be whole. . .
All of this indicates that man has sensed always that wholeness
or integrity is an absolute necessity to make life worth living.
David Bohm
Wholeness and the Implicate Order
|
Ever since Marv Weisbord (1992) issued the call to "get the whole
system in the room OD practitioners around the globe have been
experimenting with large group interventions. In the past 10 years the
capacity for large group meetings and large scale change has been advanced
by developments in Future Search (Weisbord & Janoff, 1995), Open
Space (1992), Real Time Strategic Change (DannemillerTyson, 1994), The
Conference Model (Axelrod, 1993) and other processes too numerous to
describe here. [For a great overview of current change management methodologies
and their application to large scale change read The Change Management
Handbook, Holman & Devane, 1999]. According to Barbara Bunker and
Billie Alban (1992) who have taken the lead in tracking the development
of large-scale interventions, the growing use of large scale work is
an indicator of the contemporary requirements of organizational life.
Those of us involved with the innovation and application of Appreciative
Inquiry to large system transformation took Marvs call to heart.
And indeed we began exploring ways of bringing Appreciative Inquiry,
social construction theory and a philosophy of positive change to large
scale interventions. We collaborated with Marv, Harrison and others
who were breaking ground in large group methodologies. And we have clients
such as Nutrimental, Hunter Douglas, GTE, Red Cross, British Airways
and The United Religions Initiative, who have been willing to embark
on the adventure of positive change along with us. The result of our
experiments is The Appreciative Inquiry Summit (AI Summit), a methodology
for "whole system positive change.
While still in its infancy, as a large group process, the Appreciative
Inquiry Summit methodology has advanced several major initiatives with
great success. The benefits of the experience of "whole system
positive change range from building relationships and partnerships
to building businesses and global organizations.
Appreciative Inquiry Summits have been conducted at medical centers,
universities, consumer products, and high technology companies. They
have been used to craft an innovative union-management partnership,
to form a strategic business alliance among two high technology companies,
to do annual company wide strategic planning, and as a forum for culture
change.
In Brazil companies such as Nutrimental and Dia have used AI Summits
to gather all employees along with customers, vendors and community
leaders - such as mayors, environmentalists, city planners, and educators
- for strategic visioning and planning. In each of these companies the
results have been surprising. Revenue increases have surpassed 200%,
turnover has decreased at equally significant rates.
Leadership in all sectors of business recognizes the benefits of "whole
system positive change. When the Financial Manager of a family
medicine clinic was asked by the Director if they could afford to close
the clinic for two days and bring all personnel together for a meeting
his answer was, " We can not afford not to do it. We need to get
everyone involved in crafting our future if we want them on board making
it happen. And so, for the first time in its 30 year history the
clinic was closed and all 100 personnel, along with patients, patient
advocates and community members gathered to chart the course of the
clinics future.
Since its inception in 1995, Appreciative Inquiry Summits have served
as the global organizing forum for The United Religions Initiative.
We have collaborated with the design and facilitation of 4 annual global
summits and approximately 10 regional summits. All have been focused
on the creation of the United Religions - a global interfaith organization,
or as we fondly call it an "organimovement. The purpose of
the United Religions is to promote enduing, daily interfaith cooperation,
end religious violence and create cultures of peace, justice and healing
for the Earth and all living being. In June 2000 the annual global summit
will serve as the center of a worldwide charter signing. At this time,
around the world, The United Religions will come into being as a legally
chartered organization.
The purpose of this writing is to invite you into the experiment with
us. To spark ideas that will help you bring the principles and practices
of "whole system positive change to your organizations and
communities. In this paper we provide a framework for understanding
the Appreciative Inquiry Summit as a methodology for positive change.
We outline a typical AI Summit; and we share success factors - what
we have learned in this early work with AI and large group processes
that contributes to success in large-scale efforts.
The
Experience of Wholeness
What is it about the experience of "Wholeness that brings
out the best in people, teams and organizations?
This question has been with us since the inception of The Appreciative
Inquiry Summit as we have watched over and over again, tension turn
to enthusiasm, cynicism to collaboration and apathy to inspired action.
We began wondering and asking people what happens when the whole system
is in the room? When posed to clients, workshop participants and colleagues
the answers typically include:
-
It
evokes trust. When everyone is there you dont have to feel
suspicious about what the others will do - there are no others.
-
It
lets people see and experience a purpose greater than their own
or their departments.
-
You
get the sense that you are connected to a goodness that comes from
the power of the whole. You realize you really need one another.
-
It
satisfies the human need to be part of a larger community. It taps
into our tribal consciousness. You feel like you belong
-
It
establishes credibility in the outcomes. When everyone is part of
the decision you know it will stick. Public commitments engender
responsibility.
-
New
norms form quickly. You start to value relationships and getting
the "whole story.
-
People
transcend the " I and become a "We. Whats
common becomes apparent.
-
It
eliminates false assumptions about other people and other groups.
When you get to know someone you realize they arent exactly
what you imagined them to be. You develop compassion for different
people instead of judgements
According
to Jim Ludema (2000), "having the whole system in the room also
brings an ecological perspective: all the pieces of the puzzle come
together in one place and everyone can gain an appreciation for the
whole. The unique perspective of each person, when combined with the
perspectives of others, creates new possibilities for action, possibilities
that previously lay dormant or undiscovered.
For people in large organizations, the experience of "wholeness
is akin to John Glenns spiritual experience as he looked upon
the whole planet earth from outer space. When the "consciousness
of the whole is evoked in us, we human beings want to organize
our life and our work to serve the highest good of humanity. In large
scale meetings, like the Appreciative Inquiry Summit getting the whole
system in the room brings out the best in people, its facilitates the
"whole story coming together and it inspires highly committed
actions on behalf of the whole.
Participation
at an AI Summit
Getting the whole system in the room becomes a bit of a challenge when
working with organizations of thousands of people, whole communities
and global initiatives. To date we have facilitated AI Summits ranging
in size from 100 to 2500 people. We, along with others (Lukensmeyer,
1999), have hosted multiple site meetings using video conferencing technologies.
Much to our surprise the relational connections, the expression of emotional
affect and the commitment to follow on, was as high during multiple
site meetings as it was when the whole system was literally in the same
room at the same time. Discussions are now underway for an on-line interactive
process that will allow thousands of people to participate in an "eSummit.
The participants list for an AI Summit is by design diverse and
inclusive of all the organization's stake holders - employees, customers,
vendors, and community members. Ideally all members of an organization,
and a selection of stakeholders attend the Summit. When we do a stakeholder
analysis we consider the five Is - everyone who is interested,
has influence, has information or access to it, may be impacted and
has an investment. We seek full voice, multigenerational, participation
in the co-creation of the organizations future.
In Brazil a company of 600 was closed for 4 days while all employees
participated with approximately 150 customers, vendors and community
members, in their AI Strategic Planning Summit. Among the outcomes of
the meeting were three decisions. The company decided to hold an annual,
all employee, summit with the topic changing each year as needed for
organization development. The mayor of the town, who came as a participant,
decided to host a summit for envisioning the future of the community.
And, one of the companys key suppliers, also a participant,
decided to involve his entire organization in an AI process to radically
re-envision the business and its contribution to the world.
Getting the whole system in the room may mean, all stakeholders; or
it may mean "getting the whole story in the room. By mass
mobilizing appreciative interviews throughout the organization in advance
of the summit the ideas, wishes and dreams of all members and stakeholders
can be brought into the room. In an instance of a much larger organization,
all 2500 employees were involved in the inquiry through the mass mobilization
of Appreciative Interviews; 500 employees, leaders and stake holders
attended the organizations' AI Summit.
AI
Summit Design - A Starting Point for Making it Your Own
While each Summit is uniquely its own design, there are some common
aspects in the design of successful AI Summits. A summit generally takes
from 2 at the absolute minimum, to 5 days. We strongly support Marv
Weisbords notion of at least 2 overnights. This allows much needed
time for personal reflection, informal dialogue and whole group synthesis.
An AI Summit is designed to flow through the Appreciative Inquiry 4-D
Process of Discovery, Dream, Design and Destiny. A brief outline follows
as an illustrative sample of a four day AI Summit design. It is offered
only as a starting point. Each Summit draws people together for a unique
purpose and task focus. Each organization has a unique set of relationships
with in the company and among stakeholders. Each organization has a
unique and diverse cultural and geographical mix of people. And each
organization has its unique ways of expressing its most precious values,
of honoring relationships, of making meaning and decisions. Each of
these uniqueness must be considered in the design of an AI Summit
to ensure resonance, engagement and collaboration among participants.
Day
I - Discovery
Focus of the first day is on the discovery of many facets of the organization's
"positive change core. (Cooperrider & Whitney, 1999).
The focus on discovery includes: Who are we, individually and collectively;
What resources do we bring; What are our core competencies; What hopes
and dreams do we have for the future; What are the most hopeful macro
trends impacting us at this time; and What ways can we imagine going
forward together?
Specific activities include:
-
Setting
the Task Focus - brief introduction to the context and purpose of
the meeting.
-
Appreciative
Interviews - all participants engage in one on one interviews organized
around the topics of the meeting.
-
Who
are We at Our Best - small group recollection of highlight stories
and best practices discovered during the interview process.
-
Positive
Core Map - large group process to illustrate all of the strengths,
resources, capabilities, competencies, positive hopes and feelings,
relationships, alliances, etc. of the organization.
-
Continuity
Search - large group process to create organization, industry and
global time lines in order to identify factors that have sustained
the organization overtime and are desirable in the future.
Day
II - Dream
The second day is a day of envisioning the organization's greatest potential
for positive influence and impact in the world. Dialogues are stimulated
by questions such as: We are in the year 2010 and have just awaken from
a long sleep. As you wake and look around, you see that the organization
is just as you have always wished and dreamed it might be. What is happening?
How is the organization different? Another dream question is: Imagine
it is 2010 and your organization has just won an award for outstanding
socially responsible business of the year. What is the award for? What
is said about your organization as the award is presented? What are
customers saying? What are employees saying? What did it take to win
the award?
Specific activities include:
-
Sharing
of Dreams - small group discussions of dreams collected during the
interview process.
-
Enlivening
the Dreams -small groups discuss specific, tangible examples of
their dream and create creative, metaphorical presentations.
-
Enacting
the Dreams - group presentations of dramatic dream enactments to
the large group.
Day
III - Design
During day three participants focus on crafting an organization in which
the positive change core is boldly alive in all of the strategies, processes,
systems, decisions and collaborations of the organization. provocative
propositions (or design statements as some clients have called them)
are crafted. They are affirmative statements of the future organization,
stated in the present tense, that stretch the organization toward its
dreams. While they are not statements of specific actions to be taken,
they are actionable. A sample provocative proposition might be, "At
xyz company people have widespread access to knowledge with liberty
to make decisions. Such a statement, while highly desired, will
take action to fulfill. It represents the organizations commitment
to move in that direction.
Specific activities include:
-
Creation
of the Organization Design Architecture - large group identifies
organization design architecture best suited to their business and
industry
-
Selection
of High Impact Organization Design Elements - large group draws
on interviews and dreams to select high impact design elements.
-
Crafting
of Provocative Propositions for each Organization Design Element
- small groups draft provocative propositions (design statements)
incorporating the positive change core into the design elements.
Day
IV - Destiny
The final day is an invitation to action inspired by the prior days
of discovery, dream and design. For some this is the day they have been
waiting for, a time to finally get to work on the specifics of what
will be done! At this point we seek to invite personal and group initiative
and self-organizing. We seek to demonstrate the large groups commitment
to action, and support for those who choose to go forward working on
behalf of the whole.
Specific activities include:
-
Generation
of Possible Actions - small groups brainstorm possible actions and
share with the large group.
-
Selection
of Inspired Actions - individuals publicly declare their intention
for action and specify cooperation and support needed
-
Emergent
Task Groups Form - open space groups meet to plan next steps for
cooperation and task achievement
-
Large
Group Closing
Conditions
for Success
The Summit is a unique and growing application of Appreciative Inquiry
to large scale meetings. It is continuously evolving as we learn in
practice. It has evolved through the collaboration of many people learning
from other large group processes and integrating Appreciative Inquiry.
The conditions for a successful AI Summit are continually enriched through
experiences with efforts of increasing size, complexity and diversity.
The eight conditions for success that follow, serve as a minimum set
of requirements. All eight are relevant and applicable to most any approach
to large scale meetings.
1. Clear Task
2. Whole System in the Room
3. Spacious and Gracious Setting
4. All Voices Valued - All Data Public
5. Minimum Facilitation
6. Full Attendance Over the Entire Session
7. Strategic Use of Electronic Technologies: Video Conferencing;
Group Ware Polling; Intra and Internet Conferencing, etc.
8. Design Flow: Review the Past; Map the Present; Focus on the Future;
Identify Common Ground; Move to Action .
In addition to these eight conditions for success we would add the following
insights. Some serve to elaborate on the above, others serve as additions
to the list.
9. A Holographic Beginning with Appreciative Interviews
10. Continuity Scan - History as Positive Possibility
11. Appreciative Dislodgement of Certainty
12. Narrative Rich Environment
13. From Common Ground to Higher Ground
14. Inspired Action
Clear
and Central Task Focus - Summits have been organized for a variety
of purposes such as: launching the new union-management partnership
throughout GTE; whole system strategic planning at Nutrimental; for
culture change at Hunter Douglas and in numerous organizations in health
care, government and consulting services; for economic development in
a region of the country; for city-wide community development and for
drafting the charter for the United Religions Initiative.
In our experience, it is absolutely essential that the task be clear,
simply articulated and adhered to during the time of the summit. Human
systems - communities and organizations - move in the direction of what
they study. During an AI Summit the task focus serves to organize inquiry
and dialogues, and hence to establish direction for the organization's
transformation. A clearly stated task and a process designed to keep
the group on task are essential to a successful Summit. In general,
we like the task to be clearly stated in the title of the meeting. Some
examples of AI Summit tasks and titles include:
-
A
Time for Action: Discovering the Steps for a United Religions Charter
-
Focus
2000: A Working Session to Create our Future
-
Partnership:
Creating the Principles and Practices that Align our Strengths
-
From
Vision to Strategy: Planning for 2005
In
organizations where we have worked over several years, the task for
each years successive summit changes to meet the evolving needs
of the organization. At Nutrimental three annual summits have focused
on visioning, strategic planning and process improvement. At Hunter
Douglas summits have been used for culture change, strategic visioning
and strategic planning. And with the United Religions Initiative annual
summits have taken the organization from: Discovering the Steps; to
Visioning; to Drafting the Purpose and Principles; to Living into the
Organization Design; to now in 2000, Charter Signing. Each year, or
each successive summit, serves as a forum for inquiry and dialogue into
the organizations most emergent task.
When the task at hand is complex, multi-cultural and requiring unprecedented
levels of cooperation an AI Summit can serve the purpose. At GTE, an
Appreciative Inquiry 4-D process was used to bring 200 union leaders
(CWA and IBEW) and management leaders together to commit to and co-create
a company wide union-management partnership. Appreciative Inquiry enabled
participants to focus on the significant task of creating positive partnerships
throughout the company while at the same time fostering reconciliation
within previously antagonistic relationships. The meeting started with
palpable tension among participants - most of it unspoken; and it ended
with a resounding vote and call to include Appreciative Inquiry Training
for every employee in the company as part of the partnership initiative.
Holographic
Beginning - Appreciative Inquiry Summits begin with Appreciative
Interviews into a set of topics to be discussed over the course of the
meeting. The entire agenda is foreshadowed within the first hour or
so of the four-day meeting. This process, known as a holographic beginning
allows everyone participating to express their ideas and share their
greatest hopes and dreams for the organization early in the meeting.
The best Appreciative Interview questions generally invite discussion
about past and future, dreams and actions, possibilities and specifics.
Participants who are action oriented and usually have to patiently wait
the action-planning phase of a meeting, get their ideas into the conversation
early. Everyone sees the flow of the meeting and gets a clear understanding
that what matters to them is important to the whole group's process.
The link between discovery, dream, design and destiny is established
as the path forward for the meeting and for the organization's future
reveals itself in the initial interviews.
Appreciative Interviews set the stage for a full voice meeting. Everyone
has an opportunity to tell their stories about the organization - past,
present, and imagined futures. Immediately people feel that they are
listened to and that they and their ideas are valued. Information, ideas
and stories that are generated during the interviews are referred to
throughout the meeting. According to Gurudev Khalsa (2000), "the
holographic appreciative interview process serves several purposes:
1) it gives everyone equal voice from the beginning; 2) it establishes
a model of both sharing and listening in a deeply focused way; 3) it
offers every participant a chance to explore his own thinking in the
relative safety of a one-on-one dialogue; 4) it quickly generates a
deep sense of connection among participants; and 5) it draws out the
appreciative foundations of the work to be done.
Appreciative interviews are not ice breakers. They do much more than
simply set the tone of the meeting. When the interview protocol is well
crafted, an appreciative interview invites inquiry into the issues most
at the heart of the task and most in the hearts of the participants.
Appreciative interviews allow participants to get to know one another
and to quickly feel themselves as part of the larger group. In our experience,
when 200 or more people have the experience of being listened to by
another for an hour or more each, the sense of inclusion is palpable
in the room. The feeling of being attended to, heard and respected carries
over from the interview to the large group.
Over and over again, participants have told us that conducting an appreciative
interview had as much, or more, impact on them as being interviewed.
We have been told that once you interview someone they are forever apart
of who you are. Meeting another person and hearing their story via and
appreciative interview creates a sense of mutuality. An appreciative
interviewer feels responsible to ensure that the ideas, values and deepest
concerns of their partner are considered in the larger group. The appreciative
interviews create a deep and abiding sense of cooperation, based on
knowing and respecting the interests and differences of another. In
addition to establishing relationships, and creating a safe environment
for open exchange and dialogue, the holographic beginning foreshadows
the content of the meeting.
Continuity Scan - Organization change efforts most generally
focus on the problems of the past, why things must change, the desired
future and how to attain it. The past is viewed as the necessity for
change. As a result organization members often interpret change efforts
to mean that what they did in the past was of no value. Just at the
time when employee enthusiasm is most needed morale drops and commitment
to the company 's future flounders.
Appreciative Inquiry suggests an alternative approach. Recognition that
an organization's history can be a powerful source of positive possibilities
for the future is central to Appreciative Inquiry. Successful change
initiatives balance inquiry into Novelty - new and innovative possibilities
for organization action; Continuity - those qualities, processes or
practices that an organization wishes to maintain as it grows in relation
to our global wellbeing; and Transition - the specific and tangible
practices that will change.
During an AI Summit participants conduct a Continuity Scan - times line
of the organization, industry and world that provide a vivid picture
of the organization's strengths and historical core capabilities. The
questions for discussion include: what are all the qualities of your
organization, the processes, systems, products, services, or general
ways of doing things that have contributed to your organization's success
in the past? Of these which must be maintained to assure continued success
as we move forward into a new era of doing business?
The continuity scan enables large groups of people to co-create an image
of their organization. In the process everyone learns and the collective
intelligence of the organization expands. Excitement is generated as
people make connections about the organization's history. As history
is brought into focus and becomes meaningful people are more able to
imagine possibilities for their collective future.
The continuity scan allows an organization to honor its elders, the
successes of the past and to grow upon a foundation of positive potential.
When dreams and designs for the future are grounded in stories of past
successes energy and enthusiasm opens for cooperation, change and continued
success.
The continuity scan serves to jog the organization's memory and to help
members recall long forgotten successes, strengths and dreams. It serves
to enrich the conversational field for decision making about the future.
In one exemplary situation, the Taos County Economic Development Summit,
the time line and continuity search created such a positive learning
community among the 200 government, business, environmental, educational
and social service leaders gathered that they proposed it tour the schools
and then be hung in a local museum. Their ability to see on one very
large sheet of paper the multicultural history of the community, and
to engage with one another in inquiry about significant historical turning
points set the stage for the co-creation of the county's first collaborative
economic development plan.
The
Appreciative Dislodgement of Certainty - Maureen Garrison,
Manager of OD at GTE describes change as "a process of having answers
questioned, rather than having questions answered. Her comment
serves as a warning that change requires a willingness to let go of
certainty and to go into the unknown. Change, be it personal or organizational,
does indeed require the dislodgement of certainty. To change we must
be curious and open to new possibilities, to new ways and to different
approaches. In a hallmark project called "Imagine Chicago,"
consultants, executives, educators and students conducted appreciative
interviews. The best interviews by far were those conducted by the students.
The children, it seems, are natural "Agents of Inquiry" (Cooperrider,
1996). The lesson is clear to those who would be leaders of change:
approach the task with a child's sense of wonder and curiosity. Be open
to having your answers questioned.
Appreciative Inquiry differs from other approaches to change in that
it is energetically, relationally and effectively positive. Key to the
success of the AI Summit is the appreciative dislodgement of certainty.
Clients often ask, "don't we have to make the case for change by
portraying our problems?" Our answer is clearly "no,"
the case for change comes through the discovery, dream and design of
positive possibilities that are so inspiring that they energize and
provoke action in their direction. Positive images lead to positive
actions (Cooperrider, 1990). During an AI Summit certainty is disturbed
through affirmative and generative interview questions, bold envisioning
of the organization's most promising future, and creating provocative
propositions describing the desired organization design. In an AI Summit
certainty is dislodged and replaced with potential actions grounded
in the organization's positive change core - its sense of positive possibility.
The organization's positive change core is reflected in stories and
dialogues throughout the process. Great stories make impossible actions
seem possible and provide impetus for change.
Narrative
Rich Environment - Organizations do not exist separate from our
images of them. They are made and imagined in conversation. They are
carried and conveyed in the stories we tell. Tom White, a GTE executive,
describes organization culture as "the stories we tell about ourselves
and our organization and then forget they are stories." According
to William Berquist (1993), "Organizations can be characterized
as a series of concurrent and sequential conversations between people.
These conversations (oral and written) may lead to the purchase or distribution
of goods or to the initiation of machine based production processes.
However, the goods and machines are parts of the organization, whereas
conversations are the essence of the organization.
The forms of communication predominant in an organization inform its
capacities and potentials. When negotiation is the dominant form of
communication within a human system an environment of separateness and
fragmentation is created. People talk and act as if they must each look
out for their own interests. Information is withheld and people seldom
know what is happening in other parts of the organization. Few, if any
people, have a sense of the whole. Everyone is busy trying to make sense
out of different bits of information; and trying to determine what matters
most. Cooperation and teamwork suffer as people experience a need to
protect their place, their ideas and their identities.
In contrast, narrative forms of communication - rich in story telling
- create environments that are inclusive and invitational. They allow
values to be expressed, explored and adapted. They ignite the human
spirit of curiosity and creativity. They contain seeds of wisdom grounded
in experience. Jim Ludema (2000) suggests that organizations have "dominant
storylines that shape their perceptions and determine their patterns
of action.
The AI Summit emphasizes narrative forms of communication. Story telling
as a means of expressing ideas and interests is highlighted over lists
of facts and information, data presentations and either/or descriptions.
Meaning is made among people, not among facts and data. Stories provoke
the collective imagination and liberates people to choice fully create
the future. Summit participants are guided to attend to "rapport
talk" rather than "report talk." and to listen for stories,
told by others that best highlight their hopes and dreams. The Summit
process is rich with story telling as the vehicle for making meaning
among a large polyphonic group of people.
Action follows story telling in uncommon ways. As Ludema (2000) puts
it, the more we share stories of positive possibilities, the more adept
we become at translating those possibilities into reality. Among the
significant transformations catalyzed through Appreciative Inquiry is
that of the Cathedral Foundation. Through the AI process, the organization
re-envisioned itself from an organization that cared for the elderly
by providing meals and home services to an organization dedicated to
changing the way their community and the world thinks about and images
aging. This dramatic transformation came as they conducted interviews
throughout their community and heard story after story about people
not wanting to get old, not appreciating our elders and not understanding
the significance of intergenerational relationships. The stories they
heard served as a catalyst to launch a long-term inquiry into positive
images of aging. Believing that human systems move in the direction
of what they study, the Cathedral Foundation is committed to a world
where aging and the role of elders is again revered in stories and in
action.
From
Common Ground to Higher Ground - The focus of an AI Summit
is not common ground. While a "sense of the meeting" does
emerge it does so as conversations are focused on higher ground - those
ideas and possibilities that excite, inspire and compel action. In one
on one interviews, small group discussions and the whole group dialogues
participants are encouraged to seek the most moving, the most innovative,
the most meaningful ideas; not the most frequent or most common.
The logic is that if people get excited and inspired talking about something,
they will be excited and inspired to do it. The goal is to highlight
affect, affinity and meaning in organizational decision making. As an
element of strategic planning Summit participants are often invited
to assess both the market value (What is the potential for positive
financial gain?) and the affinity value (Why do you like this idea?
Does it excite you and call you to action? Will it inspire pride in
you, the organization and among stakeholders?) of a proposed strategy.
Resulting decisions reflect the organization's potential as well as
its motivation.
Successful AI Summits focus attention on what gives life, what energizes
and inspires the whole system. As facilitators we help participants
tell stories of their organization at its best, to discover the resources
- relational, intellectual and technical - within the organization,
and to create new and renewed images of the organization in the future.
We challenge participants to transcend the boundaries of the organization,
to think beyond we/they, and to discover bold, innovative and profitable
ways to positively contribute to the wellbeing of our global village.
Inspired
Action - Highly committed action flows from participation in the
summit. AI Summits, however, do not result in a prioritized list of
action items nor an action plan signed off by all participants. The
process of focusing on action commitments flows from the earlier processes
of discovery, dream and design. During the destiny phase of the summit,
open space processes serve to invite self-selection and self-organization
of action agendas. The whole group gathers to discuss the path forward.
Individuals are asked to step forward with their interest and proposal
for action. Others of like mind and interest join them and action teams
are formed to carry on work in the service of the whole. Whatever is
offered up determines what will be done. It is an emergent, self-organizing
process for setting the organizations action agenda for going
forward. Enthusiasm runs high as people give voice to their commitment
to the organizations future.
In each organization, the actions that emerge from the AI Summit are
chosen and carried out by summit participants. As a result each set
of actions is tailor made to the unique needs of the organization. For
example, during the United Religions Initiative Global Summit participants
discovered roots of cooperation within their own traditions, dreamed
of possibilities for a United Religions Organization and designed components
of a charter. The question for action was: what Research & Development
needs to occur, in the coming year, to be able to draft a charter for
the United Religions? Participants then identified R & D areas,
self selected into R & D groups and organized for a year of inquiry
and experimentation. In a business case, the attendees at the Hunter
Douglas Focus 2000 Summit self-organized into groups: to create a mentoring
program, to redesign the employee orientation, to establish a Hunter
Douglas University, to spread Appreciative Inquiry throughout the organization,
to maintain communication among all levels, shifts and departments,
and to conduct a high involvement strategic planning process.
When
to Host an AI Summit
An AI Summit is the intervention of choice when the task requires high
levels of participation and cooperation. The ratio of monologue to dialogue
during a Summit is about 10 % monologue to 90% dialogue among participants.
There are no formal leadership presentations. Everyone who attends comes
with equal voice. There is not a separate leadership group who gets
the 2 hour briefing while everyone else attends the full meeting. All
stakeholders attend the meeting and are mixed into discussions that
span boundaries. The AI Summit is a high participation, full voice process.
The Summit works best when there is a need to accelerate the process
of change. It can serve to launch an initiative such as the GTE union
management partnership or the United Religions Initiative. It can serve
to accelerate culture change or business development as in the case
of Nutrimental. In the six months following the first whole company
AI Summit, sales increased 300%. The capacity to bring large numbers
of people together in a participatory process enables change to occur
rapidly and successfully.
Through experience with highly diverse and at times conflicting groups,
we have discovered the Summit's capacity for building and nurturing
relationships and cooperation among diverse groups of people involved
in high stake, high innovation work. Participation in a Summit affords
opportunities for relationship building across functions, shifts and
levels in the organization as well as with customers, vendors and community
interest groups. The Summit provides a rich field for informal conflict
resolution and reconciliation as people work affirmatively together
toward the task focus. The Summit is a prime vehicle for merger and
acquisition integration. Sharing stories, getting to know each others'
hopes and dreams and working affirmatively together build relationships
that endure. Relationships made during a Summit frequently lead to ad
hoc cooperation for the good of the organization. Enhanced cooperation
is an outcome of most AI Summits.
Organizations today often face the task of integrating and making sense
out of a wide range of change initiatives. Appreciative Inquiry serves
well as the umbrella process for integrating multiple change efforts.
As a philosophy and methodology it provides a set of principles and
practices that when enacted can enhance employee participation and hence
commitment to change. Culture change, for example requires a phased
process weaving new ways of relating and working throughout the organization.
When all changes occur via Appreciative Inquiry, the process has integrity
and makes sense. The Summit serves as an integrating event. It is a
time for envisioning the organization in the future and for putting
order into all of the change initiatives underway.
Conclusion
The new millennium brings with it a context of globalization and a demand
for organization development processes that engage large numbers of
people, on line, and in person simultaneously in the co-creation of
our shared future. Modern behavioral science, small group theory and
systems theory served us well as foundations for organization development
principles and practices to date. A new generation of organization practices
is being evolved as we enter the twenty-first century. This new generation
of practice will be appreciative in nature, rather than problem oriented.
It will be radically participatory as it invites a cornucopia of diverse
voices to be expressed and heard. And it will lead to the co-creation
of higher ground for the future of our global village.
Central to this new generation of practice is the Appreciative Inquiry
Summit. It is a whole system positive change process for moving an organization
toward its highest potential - the highest ideals imaginable among its
members and stakeholders. It is an invitation for participants to discover
what gives life - to themselves and their organization. It is an opportunity
for participants to dream of what might be possible if their most cherished
values are enacted as organizational realities. And it is a time for
the members of an organization to engage with one another in meaningful
ways, so that today's interactions, conversations and stories become
the seeds of a well-lived destiny.
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