Call for Articles: May 2008 AI Practitioner

MAY 2008 AIP ISSUE
WIRED DISCOVERY: NEW CONVERSATIONS AND DEEPER CONNECTIONS

Loretta Donovan and Gabriel Shirley and Sue Anderson
loretta.donovan@gmail.com, gabriel@bigmindconsulting.com, and sue@thesumoexperience.com
 

How do we “hear” in the quest for Discovery?  What do we notice?  What surfaces in the verbal and visual symbols of communication? How do we discover capacity and make meaning through reflective practice in conversation? How do we both transcend and respect boundaries to achieve new levels of understanding? 
 
CALL FOR ARTICLES
This issue of Appreciative Inquiry (AI) Practitioner will venture into the domain of technology to find the answers to these questions. We intend to explore the possibilities for collecting, sharing, visualizing, reflecting, and collectively understanding stories of success uncovered in the Discovery phase of AI. The aim is twofold: first, to support the ways in which people variously perceive, communicate and learn; second, to add rich texture to the insights gleaned about the
best of what is. The integration of online and computer-based software for one-to-one and broadcast messages
is a vital link among people. For some AI consultants and practitioners, the touch-points of meaningful inquiry in a wired world have inspired exploration with new digital tools and schemes. If you are one of those adventuresome practitioners, we are looking for your experiences, suggestions and lessons learned. Join us in creating an issue of AI Practitioner that encourages novices to begin to use technology, helps occasional users to deepen or enrich their experience, and supports early adopters to see the full-range of options as they lead or engage others in positive change initiatives.
 
TO CONTRIBUTE
We invite you to send a proposal of not more than 300 words for an article for the May ‘08 edition of Appreciative Inquiry Practitioner Journal (AIP) by Friday, February 1  to: Loretta Donovan loretta.donovan@gmail.com and Gabriel Shirley gabriel@bigmindconsulting.com.
 
We are looking for articles that highlight technology uses which:
- Focus on delivering an experience online, rather than adhering to a model required by the technology.
- Integrate planning for a parallel online stream to the face-to-face AI process.
- Foster the social relationships of AI by connecting people before and after an event.
- Offer the opportunity to reflect, individually and as a group - for people who have interacted directly in the inquiry process or others outside the immediate story sharing.
- Help us understand the work of stewards of technology who model and support online relationships, reflection, and sharing of insights.
- Use alternative or multiple media (sound, graphics, photos, video) to convey stories and themes.
- Apply social web / Web2.0 techniques and technologies for co-creation in an online environment.

TIMETABLE
When you send us your proposal for an article, please be sure that you can meet the other dates in the timetable, if your article idea is selected. The timetable is:
Proposal for an article (300 words max) by February 1, 2008
Final article due by March 7, 2008 preferably before
Any further edits to be completed by March 21, 2008
 
WHAT PROMPTED THIS ISSUE IN RELATION TO APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY?
An October 2006 posting to the AI Annotations Blog asked:

 ” . . . what would happen if the positive question was not only answered in words.  What would happen if stories were shown as video clips (caught on cell phones?) or sketches, or shared as song, or expressed in dance?  How would that impact the mind and
emotions of the storyteller?  Would there be new insights?  Less constraint?  More transparency?  And how would this be received by others who listen/watch/take in the story?”

That question has been the catalyst for this issue of AIP. Over the last 20 years, deep understanding of the principles and practices of Appreciative Inquiry have largely come fromworking in close proximity. Enhancements to AI have included visual and sound media built intothe in-person experience. The shift of web-based communication media to more generative, democratic models has inspired new levels of participation. And so, we are poised to find the convergence of AI within this context.
 
OVERALL INTENT/AUDIENCE
This issue is for: AI practitioners and consultants who are using or are interested in understanding technologies that enhance the AI process. Secondly, it is for designers and hosts of online environments who are interested in the application of AI online.
 
INFORMATION ABOUT THE GUEST EDITORS

Loretta Donovan has interwoven a passion for exploring the human spirit with an understanding of how organizations thrive as they create value. She explains, “I advocate for and facilitate engaged processes via action-oriented inquiry for businesses meeting critical challenges. With globalization, a maturing workforce, and free agent workers, my imperative is involving managers in focused dialogue.” She is a co-owner in Appreciative Inquiry Consulting, founder of the Worksmarts Group, and an adjunct at Teachers College, Columbia University.
www.aiconsulting.org, www.socialtext.net/digitldialog, loretta.donovan@gmail.com

Gabriel Shirley is an organization designer and technologist interested in the convergence of people, technology, and nature. He seeks solutions to complex issues through local action and collective learning. Currently, he is asking the question, “What do organizations and employees need to be and do in order to be relevant to the world in the next 20 years?”
http://bigmindconsulting.com, gabriel@bigmindconsulting.com

Sue Anderson operates her own consulting practice, Clockwork Communications in Toronto specialising in organisational communications. Also a partner in The SuMo Experience, Sue helps organisations engage stakeholders in possibility focused dialogue to create and sustain momentum. Sue is an associate faculty member at the Schulich Executive Education Centre, York University.
sue@thesumomexperience.com
 
MORE ABOUT AI PRACTIONER ISSN 1741-8224
www.aipractitioner.com
The AI Practitioner, formerly known as the AI Newsletter, began in May 1998. The publication is for people interested in making the world a better place using Appreciative Inquiry theory and methodology. It carries articles, case studies and examples highlighting where and how Appreciative Inquiry has been used to bring about positive change. The articles highlight various aspects of the thinking and methodology of Appreciative Inquiry such as the life giving forces in a system, compelling images of the future, designs for living that future and ways to sustain the relationships and systems necessary for positive change.
 
Subscribers receive four issues a year in February, May, August and November. Subscribers and purchasers of single issues have a choice of downloading a high-resolution copy for printing or a lower resolution copy for screen reading. 
 
Any questions about the AI Practitioner can be directed to Anne Radford
editor@aipractitioner.com
 
With best regards,
  
Loretta Donovan, Gabriel Shirley and Sue Anderson
 
Contact details: Loretta Donovan in New York
Email: loretta.donovan@gmail.com
Skype: worksmarts

Gabriel Shirley in Seattle
Email: gabriel@bigmindconsulting.com
Skype: gabrielshirley

Sue Anderson in Toronto
Email: sue@thesumomexperience.com
 

Belting Out a Chorus of Appreciations

I’m enjoying my ritual viewing of CBS Sunday Morning. Bill Geist has an interesting story to share about people who join in choral singing . . . of complaints.  They are part of a global movement, Complaints Choirs of the World.  You can hardly believe the story line:

It all got started during a winter day walk of Tellervo Kalleinen and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen in Helsinki. Perhaps it was due to the coldness of the day that they ended up discussing the possibility of transforming the huge energy people put into complaining into something else. Perhaps not directly into heat – but into something powerful anyway.In the Finnish vocabulary there is an expression “Valituskuoro”. It means “Complaints Choir” and it is used to describe situations where a lot of people are complaining simultaneously.  Kalleinen and Kochta-Kalleinen thought: “Wouldn´t it be fantastic to take this expression literally and organise a real Complaints Choir!”

 In 9 easy steps you can organize your choir! I like the clarity of directions that spurs on potential participants. Kalleinen and Kochta-Kalleinen deserve credit for branding and putting some process into this endeavor.

 In the name of Positive Psychology, I want to counter their offer. How about belting out a chorus of trends in the Discovery phase?  Some 4-part harmony as we Dream of our collective future? An outburst of song as we commit to each Design project? And best of all, we could burst into song as we achieve Destiny! And just to be clear, I promise to appreciate your voice . . . as you appreciate my less tuneful contributions too.

Design . . . is a Smart Investment

Those savvy folks at Fast Company have a very exciting October issue. The online articles and resources are rich with the nuanaces and controversies around Design.  And one lovely insight is that investing in it leads to financial returns that are tangible.

Having just had a conversation with a CEO who bemoaned that his CFO wanted to go from AI project concepts into full blown project management, this quote made me want to send him an urgent email:

The real challenge  . . . is infusing design thinking throughout a large organization. “It’s not the senior executives–most of them get it,” Lawrence says. “It’s the middle management, which is charged with implementing the company’s strategy, that wants everything proven to them.”

Design is now an acknowledged bottom line advantage. Yippee!

Shifting gears to the appreciative

My friend Peter Durand of Alphachimp Studio posted the most intriguing story about Will Bowen, a Kansas City clergyman. Just as AI practioners have known, he recognized that positive language inspires positive action. By requiring participants to switch wrists for a plastic bracelet with each lapse to complaining, Rev. Bowen increased their awareness of their language. Of course, recognizing habits is a first step to altering them.

Words have meaning that we give to them. The ‘we’ being collective, as the community of co-creators adds the tags of life experience, culture, personal preference, intention and so on to make each syllable and phrase rich in texture and nuance. Tim Ferris wants us to stop using some words.  He believes the words are overused and have lost meaning.  His purpose is to lower our stress by lowering ambiguity. It’s an interesting idea. But I’m more in favor of adding more conversation around the words. The human connection leads to appreciative understanding  . . .  as long as the words don’t get in the way.

Soundbytes at the Third International AI Conference

Design resonated in many of the conversation and breakout sessions that I attended this year. Charlotte Dalsgaard in Denmark worked with Christian Binau Nielson to use AI for  Imaginative product design  for Oticon.  Dave Sherman and John Whalen shared their work with Walmart ,”Strength based  Organizational Change: A Walmart Case Study. Lee Scott  is engaging stakeholders and strength based change in his quest to make Walmart an environmentally sustainable company. You can view parts of  “Sustainability ”  a DVD that was used at http://walmartstores.com/GlobalWMStoresWeb/navigate.do?catg=217 . 

 Peter Coughlin with IDEO provide a playful keynote session in rapid  product protyping.

A designer at lunch was sharing her work with using AI to design a Cancer Wellness Center and garden.

It was wonderful to see artist, engineers, designers, R&D and marketing teams embracing AI as a design methodology.