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

Dear CPC,

I've read in your books about the importance of the Advisory Team in facilitating large-scale change. Please describe this team to me – along with the relationship between the team and consultant(s). 

Sincerely yours,

Suzanne Ferguson
San Diego, CA

Dear Suzanne:

Thanks for asking such a great question! Experience tells us that partnering with the local people who lead and work in an organization on a daily basis is the only way to ensure an appropriate application of AI to an organization or community’s unique needs, business challenges and cultures.

The Advisory Team goes by many names: Core Team, Steering Team, or Planning Team. This is a working advisory team, whose job is to ensure that the transformational project's goals are set and met, and that the process remains affirmative start to finish. Specifically, the team:

• Identifies the focus for the initiative – the overarching theme for the Appreciative Inquiry, and the form of engagement that will be used to achieve the organization's goals.
• Links all aspects of the process to strategic business issues.
• Determines whom to involve (internal and external stakeholders), when, and how.  
• Ensures timely, informative, practical and inspirational communication throughout the process.
• Selects appropriate vehicles (technological, written, etc.) for sharing and cross-fertilization of "positive deviants" (best practices).
• Manages logistics.
• Provides resources and support throughout the process, to foster momentum and engagement in the process.

Generally, we seek a highly diverse team with representatives from all aspects of the business or organization. In an intact organization it will include senior leadership, human resources, operations, organization development, business development, corporate communications, and public affairs – or possibly even external stakeholders such as union leadership and/or community interest groups. In a community, the team will include representatives from all parts of the community: local government, businesses, civic organizations, ethnic or social groups, etc.  In all cases, we seek a demographic as well as functional mix, working hard to replicate the actual demographics of the system (gender, tenure, ethnicity, age, etc.).

Depending on the scope and timing of the initiative, the team might meet weekly or monthly. The British Airways steering team, for example, launched the project with a two-day meeting, then reconvened for a full day every month. Meeting locations varied so that team members could visit various business locations and interact with employees involved in the process.

What role should a consultant play with this team?  We in CPC:

• Craft agendas and facilitate meetings, leaving team members free to contribute creatively and openly
• Design, modify and continually refresh the Appreciative Inquiry process to ensure maximum strategic impact
• Continually educate the team on Appreciative Inquiry principles and practices
• Raise strategic questions related to large-scale transformation (e.g., What business outcomes need to be achieved in order to anchor the inquiry in the "business of the business?" Who are the most influential stakeholders?  What is the most appropriate way to engage them?  What are the most creative and appropriate approaches to communication?)
• Import best practices from other companies and leading edge research, to elevate the effectiveness of the initiative
• Connect Planning Team members with other organizations and resources, as appropriate
• Ensure that a positive approach is maintained throughout the process

Throughout the process, in addition to facilitating the Advisory Team, consultants might provide additional support and expertise in such areas as:  leading AI Trainings, designing and facilitating AI Summits, and leading Appreciative Leadership workshops.

Diana Whitney and 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.

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Upcoming Educational Opportunities

2005 CPC WORKSHOP SCHEDULE

The Appreciative Inquiry Summit, Chicago, IL, May 24-27, 2005. EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT APPLIES UNTIL May 13. Join Jim Ludema and Diana Whitney for their highly regarded Appreciative Inquiry Summit Workshop May 24-27 in Chicago, IL. This is a practical, hand-on workshop, based on Jim and Diana’s book The Appreciative Inquiry Summit: A Practitioners Guide for Leading Large-Group Change, which has produced breakthrough results for many organizations.

A recent participant said,

My team and I immediately took what we learned at the workshop and brought it back to our organization. Since then, with the full support of senior leadership, we have launched a series of 15 summits to create a customer-centric culture that maximizes business results. The impact of these summits on our workforce in terms of engagement, energy, and execution has been nothing short of extraordinary!

The AI Summit is a process for getting the "whole system in the room" (30-3000 people or more) to launch meaningful and often revolutionary change. It has been used by dozens of organizations such as McDonald's, BP, Hunter Douglas, Nokia, US Cellular, British Airways, Roadway, Nutrimental, World Vision, and the US Navy – and is rapidly becoming a method of choice among executives, managers and practitioners because of its capacity to quickly unify people around a common vision and enable them to innovate, execute, and sustain positive change.

Jim and Diana will share their experience using the AI Summit in a variety of applications, including whole-scale change, strategic planning, culture change, M&A integration, customer service, core business redesign, vision and values clarification, global organizing, community development, and health care. They will also work with you to design an AI Summit process for a specific project or idea of interest to you.

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 AI Summit:

This event provided a forum to discuss and develop detailed plans for our upcoming summits on Sales and Service. It was interesting to hear from other groups who were using the tool in a variety of applications. The facilitators ensured that all participants made progress and received input and suggestions from the group.

Rita Sly
Project Manager
First Caribbean International Bank

With participation in The AI Summit Workshop, I now see how this wonderful, reaffirming methodology can be applied to Large Scale Change efforts. It's all-inclusive of not only the people, but also all aspects of where they're coming from, how they view the topic, and what they dream possible for the future of the topic. Staying focused on the possibilities is not only fun & rewarding, it's also engaging and creative in a way that creates the space for unanticipated outcomes. And, Jim and Diana are masters at it, which made it even more of a pleasurable experience.

Jean Tully
Consultant
Tully Consulting

The Foundations of Appreciative Inquiry, Boulder, CO, June 13-17, 2005 & Chicago, IL, September 12-16, 2005. EARLY BIRD DISCOUNTS APPLY UNTIL MAY 16. 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

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

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Books and Publications

Check out the full listing of leading books on Appreciative Inquiry and positive change by CPC consultants:

• The Appreciative Inquiry Summit (Ludema, Whitney, Mohr, & Griffin)
• The Power of Appreciative Inquiry (Whitney & Trosten-Bloom)
• Appreciative Team Building (Whitney, Trosten-Bloom, Cherney and Fry)
• The Appreciative Inquiry Handbook (Cooperrider, Whitney, & Stavros)
• Encyclopedia of Positive Questions - Volume One (Whitney, Cooperrider, Kaplin, & Trosten-Bloom)
• Appreciative Inquiry: Collaborating for Change (booklet: Cooperrider & Whitney)
• Positive Approaches to Peacebuilding (Sampson, Abu-Nimer, Liebler, & Whitney)
• Appreciative Inquiry: An Emerging Direction for OD (Cooperrider, Sorensen, Yaeger, & Whitney)

Also, look for The United Religions Initiative: Birth of a Global Community: Appreciative Inquiry in Action by Sally Mahe.

Finally, 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 the K-12 school system. The $28 subscription fee is modest, and well worth it.

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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.

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