Appreciative Inquiry
Now a lot of us are preachers, and all of us have moral convictions and concerns, and so often have problems with power. There is nothing wrong with power if power is used correctly. You see, what happened is that some of our philosophers got off base. And one of the great problems of history is that the concepts of love and power have usually been contrasted as opposites - polar opposites - so that love is identified with a resignation of power, and power with a denial of love. ..... What is needed is a realization that power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.
- A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King Jr., edited by James M. Washington. This quote comes from Martin Luther King Jr. 1967, SCLC presidential address.
- This quote was kindly provided to us by Linda Hartling.
For me, rather than thinking of human dignity as an individual, internal phenomena, I like to think of human dignity as a co-created experience. It is a experience developed through respectful connection (interpersonal, social, international, etc.) in which people feel known and valued, they feel that they matter... It is our responsibility to participate in the construction of this relational experience for all people.
- These are reflections sent to us by Linda Hartling on October 11, 2006.
Hans Blix formulated a list of adjectives that would be desirable for the conduct of an inspector. This list fleshes out the concept of walking the talk:
• Driving and dynamic – but not angry and aggressive
• Firm – but correct
• Ingenious – but not deceptive
• Somewhat flexible – but not to be pushed around
• Calm – but somewhat impatient
• Keeping some distance – but not arrogant or pompous
• Friendly – but not cozy
• Show respect for those you deal with – and demand respect for yourself
• A light tone or a joke may sometimes break a nervous atmosphere.
- Hans Blix, quoted from http://www.un.org/. See also page 52 in Hans Blix (2004), Disarming Iraq: The Search for Weapons of Mass Destruction, London, UK: Bloomsbury Publishing.
Appreciative Inquiry (HumanDHS-defined version of AI)
by Linda Hartling, August 2004
In our meetings we aim at creating a humiliation-free, collaborative learning environment characterized by mutual respect, mutual empathy, and openness to difference. The perspective of "appreciative inquiry" is a useful frame of our work. Our HumanDHS efforts are not just about the work we do together, but also about HOW WE WORK TOGETHER. At appropriate points during our meetings, for example at the end of each day, we take a moment to reflect on the practices observed that contributed to an appreciative/humiliation-free learning experience.
It is important to emphasize that an appreciative approach is not about expecting people to agree. In fact, differences of opinion enrich the conversation and deepen people's understanding of ideas. Perhaps, this could be conceptualized as "waging good conflict," which means practicing radical respect for differences and being open to a variety of perspectives and engaging others without contempt or rankism. As we have seen in many fields, contempt and rankism drains energy away from the important work that needs to be done. Most people only know "conflict" as a form of war within a win/lose frame. "Waging good conflict," on the other side, is about being empathic and respectful, making room for authenticity, creating clarity, and growth.
• Please see also Relationship Tips developed by Judith Jordan, and Linda Hartling, at the Jean Baker Miller Training Institute, 2006.
• Please read An Appreciative Frame: Beginning a Dialogue on Human Dignity and Humiliation, that Linda Hartling has written for us in 2005.
• Please see also Appreciative Facilitation: Hints for Round Table Moderators, kindly written in February 2006 by Judith Thompson to support the moderators of our workshops.
• Please see also Toward Communicative Virtuosity: A Meditation on Modernity and Other Forms of Communication, written by W. Barnett Pearce, Santa Barbara, CA: School of Human and Organization Development, Fielding Graduate University. Paper presented to the seminar "Modernity as a Communication Process (Is Modernity "on time?")," April 15, 2005, Department of Communications and Social and Political Theories, Russian State University for Humanities Moscow, Russia 103012.
• Please see also Bykr, A. S. and B. Schneider (2002). Trust in Schools: A Core Resource for Improvement. New York, Russell Sage Foundation. Please see the notes that Linda made on this book.
• See also Creating We, by Judith Glaser, Platinum Press, 2005.
• Please see also the discussion of communal sharing (CS) versus equality matching (EM), by Finn Tschudi: Reflections on World Parliament Experiment, WPE, at isfit 2007.
• Please see also reflections by Michael Britton on How People Defend Themselves Against Hope: Lerner Responds to Cindy Sheehan's Resignation.
Appreciative Being
Donald C. Klein, August 2004
The term "Appreciative Inquiry" and the approach to organizational consulting and inquiry was developed by David Cooperrider at Case Western Reserve University. The approach is gaining wide usage among people doing organizational consulting. My work overlaps with David's approach. I am using the term "Appreciative Being" to describe a way of relating to life events via our human inherent capacity for experiencing awe and wonderment at being part of the universe.
Appreciative Caring
Evelin Lindner, September 2004
The Jean Baker Miller Training Institute recently hosted a conference about Creating Relational Possibilities, with its last session about Holding a Vision of Hope. I think that both headings are also important for our group and our meetings. We are not motivated by financial rewards or by wanting to have a job. Our motivation is provided by our values and goals and the enthusiasm and hope we can create in our group. We want to contribute to building "a better world" and this is what drives us.
Thus, the inner cohesion of our group must be our priority, otherwise none of our activities will have any grounding and we will fail. This is, incidentally, also the cutting edge guideline in corporate sector consultancy ("hire for attitude, not for skill!" Kjell A. Nordström, Stockholm). In other words, it applies even to ordinary companies that need to make profit. Therefore, nurturing the relationships among ourselves, caring for each other, keeping our spirits up, must be the object of our primary attention.
This entails many details. Whoever holds a job for financial rewards and finds broader meaning not within, but outside the job, easily develops a host of attitudes and behaviours that might be damaging to our group, if displayed there. Many companies are afflicted, for example, by fragmentation. Out of frustration, employees may be tempted to try building alternative power bases for themselves among their collegues by blackening others ("don't tell X that I think that X is wrong in doing x, y, z..."). We have to guard against this kind of fragmentation. Or, perceived failings and disappointments among colleagues often lead to rifts ("take me off her team"); in our group such disappointments require that we all engage in healing activities. Deutsch's Crude Law of Social Relations is central as well, which indicates, in short, that "cooperation breeds cooperation, while competition breeds competition" (Morton Deutsch, 1973, p. 367).
Long is the list of new relational skills which we need to learn in order to build a cohesive group of mutual enrichment, which only then can contribute to building "a better world." Appreciative Inquity, Appreciative Being, and Appreciative Caring, all three need to be combined so as to achieve social relationships of equal dignity (that are void of humiliation), which in turn enable us to do constructive work in and for the wider world.
Please see here Buddhist Teachings on Right Speech, that relate to our quest for appreciative inquiry, caring and being.
Please see also Is it Possible to "Change the World"? Some Guidelines to How We Can Build a More Decent and Dignified World Effectively: The Case of Dignifying Abusers, by Lindner, 2006.
Appreciative Nurturing
Evelin Lindner, June 2007
Dear Friends!
Please let me share with you a text (see further down) that is in the process of being written by several of our network members. You are invited to add to it! (If you wish to contribute to this text, please send me your contribution and I include it into the attached text!)
Noel Mordana is currently creating an academic paper that is based on this text, to be submitted to our new journal.
Many have expressed interest in this text, so, perhaps we can treat Noel's version as one product, and the organic growth of the attached paper as a separate project?!
Lovingly!
Evelin
Appreciative Nurturing (AE), a text in the process of being written collectively.
This is a text is not finished. If you wish to contribute, please let us know!
Love Unlimited
A poem-plea (through paired rhymes) by Francisco Gomes de Matos
We may learn to classify
But have we learned to dignify?
We may learn to dare
But have we learned to care?
We may learn to insist
But have we learned to assist?
We may learn to obstruct
But have we learned to construct?
We may learn to cope
But have we learned to hope?
We may learn to self-actualize
But have we learned to the OTHER-realize?
We may learn to reject
But have we learned to protect?
We may learn to humiliate
But have we learned to commiserate?
We may learn to repudiate
But have we learned to appreciate?
We may learn to computerize
But have we learned to humanize?
We may learn to philosophize
But have we learned to philanthropize?
We may learn to distrust
But have we learned to co-trust?
We may learn to exclude
But have we learned to include?
We may learn to abstain
But have we learned to life-sustain?
We may learn to ignite
But have we learned to unite?
We may learn to conspire
But have we learned to inspire?
We may learn to say
But have we learned to pray?
We may learn to withstand
But have we learned to understand?
We may learn to live
But have we learned to give?
We may learn to live
But have we learned to love?
We may learn to do well
But have we learned TO DO GOOD?
We may learn love to limit
But have we learned LOVE to UNlimit?
