Welcome to Appreciative Inquiries! IN THIS ISSUE: News: Focus on Longmont, Welcome New Associates, Giving Back Through CPC, Certificate Program, "Dear CPC," Current Workshops, Conferences & Resources

CPC Consulting News: Focus on Longmont

The Focus on Longmont initiative is a 10-month project whose purpose is to develop community supported strategic policies that, if implemented, will ensure a freestanding, sustainable Longmont after build out of its planning boundaries.  Now, four months into the process, we have completed our Discovery and Dream processes, and are moving on to Design.  From January through April, CPC consultant Amanda Trosten-Bloom partnered with Catalyst Consulting, Pollard Consulting, and the graphic facilitation firm Alchemy to design and facilitate an intense three-month process that involved:

• Over 80 one-on-one interviews

• Community Conversations that engaged approximately 350 people from all walks of life in the community of Longmont.  Together, participants in the Conversations represented 146 different organizations and civic groups, and many rarely, if ever, take part in city-sponsored activities.

• Best in Class interviews with nine cities around the country, designed to stretch people’s imagination about future possibilities

• A one-day Community Summit for 175 people, including many newcomers to the process and monolingual members of the city’s Latino population.

What did we learn from four months of intense Discovery and Dreaming?  We learned how to engage citizens in decisions that affect their future.  Specifically, according to summit participants’ closing comments, we learned:

• Personal contact yields a higher return than random invitations.

• People learn more when they engage with people from outside of their immediate circles.

• Adapt the approach to outreach, the process, and the materials for special populations (e.g., elders, non-English speaking participants, youth, etc.)

• LARGE groups of people can create magic together.

• Stay focused on the big picture.

Remain positive, and spread the stories that affirm what’s RIGHT in a community.  (“This was an uplifting and hope-filled planning process,” stated one summit participant.)

Welcome New Associates

We are pleased and proud to announce the expansion of Corporation for Positive Change into new sectors and locations.  Join us in welcoming our four new Associates:  Tony Awcock, Carolyn Miller, Nila Rinehart, and Tish Wilson. 

Tony (tony@positivechange.org), in Switzerland, expands our capacity to provide workshops and consulting throughout Europe.  We have also expanded in the United States with Carolyn (carolyn@positivechange.org) in California, Nila (nila@positivechange.org) in Colorado and Tish (tish@positivechange.org) in New Mexico.

Giving Back Through CPC

The United Religious Initiative (URI) is a global interfaith organization whose purpose is to promote enduring, daily interfaith cooperation, to end religiously motivated violence and to create cultures of peace, justice and healing for the Earth and all living beings.  There are now 280 URI cooperation circles around the world working on projects ranging from HIV/AIDS, to Muslim/Christian/Jewish Dialogue, to the elimination of poverty, to mediation in war zones, to Indigenous rights.  On June 23, the URI celebrates its 5th anniversary with the inauguration of the new Global Council in Seoul, Korea. Diana Whitney will be there to share in the celebration and to facilitate the Global Council leadership transition.

Join CPC in our ongoing support of the URI. Consider making a generous donation to the URI in honor of its anniversary or become a member as a global Peacebuilder. For more information call 415-561-2300 or go to www.uri.org.

CPC Certificate Program: Appreciative Inquiry and the Practice of Positive Change

Welcome to our three new participants in the CPC Certificate Program:

• Sherold Barr

• Nicole Schmidlin

• Judith Light 

The next practice-sharing call for participants and graduates will take place on June 15, 2005.  It will be hosted by CPC Principal and positive change strategist, Mike Mantel. 

For more information or to register for the Certificate Program, download the Application Form or contact Corporation for Positive Change at 505-751-1232 or office@positivechange.org.

"Having completed the CPC Certificate program, my ability to use AI in multiple ways has been raised to a new level. I really understand the AI process, and can use it in many different ways with skill and confidence."

Belinda Rinker

Return to top >>

Dear CPC: a source for ongoing capacity-building, questions and answers

Dear CPC,

I strongly favor Appreciative Inquiry summits as a way of quickly engaging very large, diverse groups of people in significant changes that affect them.  But I sometimes hesitate to recommend summits because they seem to be so costly.  Can you help me frame those costs for what they are: a significant but powerfully worthwhile investment in an organization’s future? 

Sincerely yours,

Margaret Ferguson
Nashville, TN

Dear Margaret:

We understand why the framing of summit costs is of such interest to you.  We have spent time considering this same question, and have come to believe that summits are actually less expensive than more traditional approaches to organizational change and training. 

Here’s how we now perform our calculations.  We add together all fees and costs for the summit, divide it by the number of participants, and then divide it again by the number of hours in the summit.  By these calculations, a three-day, 100-person summit might cost around $30 per participant, per training hour.  Increase the number of participants, and costs are even lower!

For that cost, clients achieve skills training for participants, strategic change within the organization, and capacity-building across the value chain. 

When calculated per participant / per hour, AI summits are among the most cost-effective approaches to change available in today’s training and OD market.

Amanda Trosten-Bloom
for the CPC Consulting Team

Do YOU have a question for CPC? If so, contact us at office@positivechange.org. We will answer it in a future Appreciative Inquiries.

Return to top >>

Upcoming Educational Opportunities

2005 CPC WORKSHOP SCHEDULE

* * * WORKSHOP DEADLINE PENDING * * *

The Foundations of Appreciative Inquiry, Boulder, CO, June 13-17, 2005 & Chicago, IL, September 12-16, 2005. By popular demand, the CPC Foundations course is now available in multiple locations around the US! Whether you’re a consultant or leader of change, Foundations of AI will guide you through an exploration of the theories, principles and practices of Appreciative Inquiry. This workshop provides hands-on experience of Appreciative Inquiry, preparing you to guide clients and groups in creating interview protocols, conducting interviews, working with appreciative data and stories, and crafting provocative propositions and organization design principles.  Understand the difference between Appreciative Inquiry and deficit-based approaches to change, and experience the power of positive change methodologies.  For information and to register contact Corporation for Positive Change at 505-751-1232 or email: office@positivechange.org.

What participants are saying about Foundations in Appreciative Inquiry:

The Foundations in AI was an incredibly energizing experience that revealed the endless potential for healthy human systems congruent with human nature. It took me on a tour of a bright future and present possibilities, teaching me the language and basic skills of AI through experience, theory and examples. The workshop reconnected me with myself and other people in ways that were both powerful and unmistakably natural.

Greg Wood
Musician

The Foundations of AI workshop expanded my consulting "toolkit", opened new avenues for productive client dialogue, and increased my network of AI colleagues - a fabulous development opportunity! 

Theresa Garcia
CEO/President
Trust, Leadership & Growth, LLC

Being AI: A Spiritual Retreat for Change Agents, Taos, NM, August 2-5, 2005.  EARLY BIRD DISCOUNTS APPLY UNTIL JULY 5.  Join Diana Whitney and a group of other “appreciative seekers” in this gentle and generative spiritual retreat. It is an opportunity for personal reflection, inquiry and dialogue about your spiritual emergence, daily spiritual practices and evolutionary journey. It is a time to explore questions related to the art of living in the energetically positive and to deepen your relationship with yourself and the spirit of all life.

This workshop is for social activists, change agents and peace builders – anyone - wanting to nurture their spirituality, to be the change they wish to see, and to integrate their spiritual beliefs into positive change practices for transforming organizations and communities. For information and to register contact Corporation for Positive Change at 505-751-1232 or email: office@positivechange.org.

What participants are saying about Being AI: A Spiritual Retreat

Being AI was life altering for me: a precious five-day period of focusing and interacting on a spiritual level of consciousness. Diana shared wisdom that has emerged out of her life of conscious learning, brought together with the pure intention of creating transformational positive change. It’s now my responsibility to put it all to use and remember what’s truly possible, through the expanded perspectives that I now live in.

Dan Petersen
Director
Edges Learning Community

AI in Action, Boulder, CO, October 12 – 14, 2005. EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT APPLIES UNTIL SEPTEMBER 12.  Want to build on your experience as a leader of positive change? Go deeper, faster and farther with Appreciative Inquiry? In this intermediate workshop, Amanda Trosten-Bloom and Mike Mantel will help you identify and build upon your strengths as an AI practitioner. Explore a variety of approaches for applying AI at different levels in an organization, community and across our world. Revisit and deepen your practice of AI using practices and new horizons, as well as variations of the AI 4-D model and AI principles in theory and practice. Discover new ideas, approaches and frameworks for building your capacity and your own projects and the projects of other participants as case examples. Hear about best impact as an AI change agent. Previous attendance at a Foundations-level Appreciative Inquiry workshop, as well as experience applying the AI approach to at least one project, is required. For information and to register contact Corporation for Positive Change at 505-751-1232 or email: office@positivechange.org.

What participants are saying about AI in Action:

AI in Action is a dynamic course that absolutely exceeded my expectations!  From pre-work to rich discussions to case studies, it stretched my capacities as an AI practitioner.  Within a day, I had applied what I learned to my job.

Barbara Bitondo
The World Bank

AI in Action has built on what I learned in the Foundations course. It gave me case studies and alternative methods of design, so now I am ready to “fly with AI.”

Diana Sadighi
Director, Human Resources
Hunter Douglas Window Fashions

Appreciative Leadership Development Program, Naples, FL, December 5 - 8, 2005.  At last – an Appreciative Leadership workshop for executives and managers. Developed and facilitated by Diana Whitney and Jim Ludema this is a strength based leadership development program. It is designed specifically for executives, managers, and leaders of change who want to enhance their capacities in a constructive, inquiry-intense learning environment. It is also ideal for leadership teams who want to elevate their collective performance by combining and leveraging individual strengths.  For information and to register contact Corporation for Positive Change at 505-751-1232 or email: office@positivechange.org.

What participants are saying about the Appreciative Leadership Development Program:

This was a life altering experience. I not only got in touch with my strengths as a leader but really got in touch with who I've been "being" as a leader and what is effective about it as opposed to what I've been "doing" as a leader.  I loved how we took the different data points and used them to take a look at ourselves and what we're up to as leaders. I am completely re-inspired as a leader and feel very supported and connected with my colleagues. Thanks.

Tish Wilson
Vice President
Community Development Institute

Conferences and Resources

Join CPC consultants, clients and friends at the upcoming Taos Institute conference: Social Construction: A Celebration of Collaborative Practices, October 6-9 in Taos, NM.  TI Founder, Diana Whitney will deliver a keynote address, and CPC Principals Jim Ludema, and Amanda Trosten-Bloom will present from of their recent work.  Hear stories of cutting edge initiatives in the fields of organization development, education, family therapy, social work, medicine, and community development.  For more information, visit the Taos Institute Web site: www.taosinstituteconference.net.

Follow this link to the AI Practitioner, the only newsletter on the practice of Appreciative Inquiry. Published quarterly by Anne Radford in London, the AIP features articles on such diverse topics as AI and strategic planning, AI in Health Care, and AI in school systems. The $28 subscription fee is modest, and well worth it.

Return to top >>

About CPC

Corporation for Positive Change (CPC) is dedicated to the design and development of Appreciative organizations - those capable of sustaining innovation, financial well-being and market leadership by inspiring the best in human beings. CPC provides consultation and training based on the principles and practices of Appreciative Inquiry. For more information about CPC, or to contact any of our principal consultants, please visit our Web site at www.positivechange.org.

Return to top >>