In a message dated 10/25/2003 11:34:52 AM Eastern Daylight Time, birg...@mindspring.com writes:
> also stay away from using any Appreciative Inquiry type guidance or > questions in the opening, in the morning or evening news, and in the closing. > Appreciative Inquiry, which I admire, has its place, but use of it within an > OST > meeting closes the space for the diversity and dissenting opinions and > perspectives. Birgitt: For a flexible person such as yourself, this sounds a bit dogmatic. I would like to say that in my opinion, sometimes appreciative approaches get misunderstood as not allowing criticism or dissent. This is not exactly true although in the hands of an inexperienced person it can be true. One of the most important questions in an appreciative protocol is "what are your wishes for xxxx as you/they go forward in the future?" and is intended to guide people to pose their critical comments in a positive frame, not to cut off dissent. However, I would also admit that it is sometimes misunderstood and that the appreciative questions (like, "what do you most appreciate about xxx") often seem to inexperienced participants to overwhelm the critical ones. I like to invite appreciative as well as challenging topics or questions and invite people to remember or to keep in mind that both add to our understanding and to the richness of our discussions/decision-making. I also keep in mind for myself as a facilitator that the challenging or dissenting voices are important sources of information and sometimes are evidence of important issues that the group may have avoided or are avoiding and that the "elephant in the room" may in fact be showing up in that guise or in the guise of sarcasm or humour. And I like to invite the participants to be aware of this too. Just some thoughts... Regards Esther Esther Ewing The Change Alliance - Assisting Individuals and Organizations to Build Capability <A HREF="www.ChangeAlliance.com">www.ChangeAlliance.com</A> 330 East 38th St, Suite 53K New York, NY 10016-9804 212-661-6024 Authorized Distributor, Panoramic Feedback <A HREF="www.PanoramicFeedback.com">www.panoramicfeedback.com</A> * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu, Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
