Tap the positive core of the organization

The way to do this is to shift the collective investigation process from deficit inquiry (where is the problem?) to appreciative inquiry (what works well?) which is formulated to focus on achievements, assets, potentials, innovations, strengths, elevated thoughts, opportunities, benchmarks, high point moments, lived values, traditions, strategic competencies, memorable stories, and expressions of wisdom.

Tap the positive core of the organization

The way to do this is to shift the collective investigation process from deficit inquiry (where is the problem?) to appreciative inquiry (what works well?) which is formulated to focus on achievements, assets, potentials, innovations, strengths, elevated thoughts, opportunities, benchmarks, high point moments, lived values, traditions, strategic competencies, memorable stories, and expressions of wisdom.

Power of stories

Stories stick like glue…great leaders know it

Why? They make information easier to remember: “Whole brain”

Stories make information more believable than statistics

Narratives create the basis for identity formation and they foster high quality relationships

Story telling is the most powerful human medium for conveying values and visions

Stories paint pictures in the mind

The power of Appreciative Inquiry to transform

At it’s core, Appreciative Inquiry is the study and exploration of what gives life to human systems when they function at their best. It is based on the assumption that every living system has strengths—its positive core---which, when revealed and tapped, provides a sustainable source of positive energy for both personal and organizational transformation.

Business Consulting
Leigh Steiner, Ph.D.

A Framework for Total System Empowerment

By Barry Oshry

Each of us, regardless of our position in the organization, needs to:

see ourself as constantly shifting in and out of Top, Bottom, Middle, and Customer conditions, know that in each condition we have the system power potential for strengthening the system’s ability to survive and develop, to cope with the dangers in its environment and to prospect among its opportunities, recognize that when we’re in the Top condition, our system power potential is to function as Developers, in the Bottom condition as Fixers, in the Middle condition as Integrators, and in the Customer condition as Validators, and, in order to achieve the system power of these conditions, avoid the reflex responses: sucking up responsibility when we’re Top, holding higher-ups responsible when we’re Bottom, losing our connectivity when we’re Middle; and holding delivery systems responsible for delivery when we’re Customers.

These forms of system power enhance one another and together create Total System Power.