Giving . . . the potent life force

Over the last few years, I’ve been thinking that ”Cleveland rocks”. David Cooperrider and  the Weatherhead School AI programs, BAWB, Jack Ricchiuto, and gatherings for kindred conversations as blogged by Tim Ferris.  How murch more outrageously interesting, thoughtful and world-shaking can one community be?

 Quite a bit it seems, as Stephen Post, a Case Western ethics faculty member, has published Why Good Things Happen to Good People with Jill Neimark.  His research, a compilation of 50 studies from universites like Harvard, Yale and the University of Chicago, that explains how giving is truly far better than receiving.  In the words of the book’s reading guide:

WHY GOOD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE defies the myths that drive so many of our ideas about success and the good life. This book shows that the real secret of happiness and success lies in giving of yourself to others, and presents striking new science that shows that giving boosts both our physical and emotional health–across an entire lifetime. When we give, we reduce depression, actually live longer, and open a world of other health benefits.

I’ve decided to devote several days this week to the discussion topics in the guide - as they relate to Independence Day. There are 15 that Post and Neimark suggest.  Every one is a gift for reflection and an impetus to redirect the life choices we make on a day to day basis. 

So  . . . “Know the Four Spheres of Love” is where I’ll start.  The authors offer a landscape . . . envisioning a “geography of love,” in which there are four spheres: family, friends, community, and humanity.  Is there more we can give in each sphere?  Are we growing in our capacity to care, share, commit, sacrifice, persist or whatever it takes to support those speheres?  I was watching a PBS program today that highlighted the realities of George Washington’s service that saw us through the Revolutionary War. What stuck me most was mention that for at least half of the time he was on the battlefield living with his troops, (not in a town home with all the amenitites) his wife Martha lived under the same conditions with him. I imagine her devotion being fully lived in the Four Speheres of Love. I can hardly imagine that the wives of the British military leaders would have done the same for an engagement in England.

Fierce Appreciative Inquiry Learning

We are on the cusp of three major events in which appreciative inquiry and it’s evolution, integration and long term impact in organization development and change will be explored. 

The first gathering is the Appreciative Inquiry Colloquy: July 27-30 in Bethel Maine. The dialogue is rich and intimate with peer to peer sharing. Many thought leaders from the AI and OD community will spend the weekend together to  explore the application of Appreciative Inquiry, SOAR and AI as a managment tool. To learn more and/or register go to: http://guest.cvent.com/EVENTS/info/summary.aspx?e=a0769726-7e10-468f-aea7-cd79e3f402eb

The second gathering is August 3-9 during the Academy of Management, in Philadelphia. Loretta Donovan will be arranging  dinner for the AI community .  ”A number of us are already registered to attend (and present at) the Academy of Management Conference that is coming up in Philadelphia from August 3 to 9.  It would be delightful to have a dinner with the AIC members and our friends.  The 2007 Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management:  Doing Well By Doing Good  August 3-8, 2007

This year’s theme demonstrates how firms can be financially successful while at the same time trying to accomplish some positive social goals and make life better for their employees and the communities where they operate. This theme builds upon last year’s which linked management with the public concern, and is a logical extension of the New Vision for Management theme of the 2005 Honolulu conference.

The finale this year is the Third International AI  Conference  Power of Positive Change: Symphony of Strengths September 16-19 in Orlando Florida. David Cooperrider, Marcus Buckingham and Marty Seligman will be the keynote speakers. To learn more go to : www.aiconference.com. Please use the discount code RPEI34 to register for this conference.

 I hope you will consider joining us.

Dancing in Design

Dancing in Design….. How I love design, the third D in the appreciative inquiry process. Much of the literature and case studies in AI focus on appreciative interviews , the principles of AI,  the scale of engagement(appreciative leadership, ai for teams, the ai summit) and more recent on sustainability.  The traditional4 D process of discovery, dream, design and destiny is the most  recognized framing for our work with AI.  As an  artist  and designer I love the possibilities of creating human energy in the design phase. I have experimented with Harris Owens” Open Space and Juanita Brown and David Isaacs’ World Cafe to lift communities into generative dialogues about design.  In my earlier years I utilzed the goose egg and Weisbords model for design…..as my practice evolves I use more emergent dialogue and tools where the stakeholders self organize.

 In my strategic work, I  am helping organizations move their vision, mission, values , goals to action. I have found the world cafe process to be a wonderful tool to take a snapshot of where the group is in implementing strategy.  The joy in watching a community reignite with energy on a strategy that was so fiercely identified in the previous phase of discovery and dream. 

As the AI facilitior,  I need to build the space and container for the group to move into generative design whether it be open space, world cafe, visual graphics or the traditional goose egg that Jane Watkins and Bernard Mohr have created. Time, energy, resources  and space are elements to consider when choreographing the dance of design.

I hope our next evolution of learning around appreciative inquiry is rich in design and destiny.

Where AI Meets SN

Leave it to my good friend, Jay Cross, to hit the nail on the head regarding where the real returns on investments come from. His Internet Time Wiki posting on Metrics makes it clear: “Most of a company’s value resides in the know-how and relationships of its people. Traditional accounting assigns these intangibles a value of zero. Hence, traditional ROI has little credibility with enlightened executives.”

It is for similar reasons that I spent some time in the last year thinking about the value of interpersonal relationships that are so essential to Appreciative Inquiry. When we sit down face-to-face in the Discovery interviews of AI, there is a short distance between being strangers and having a relationship. The interview stories that rise to the surface with such excitement and depth of experience reveal know-how that is unique, powerful, and often bottom-line related.

Imagine for a moment that the person telling you the story is a hub, a center of gravity, and that she/he has ties to people who are part of the story being told. The core strengths of the AI participants have a lot to do with those ties - not their quantity, but their quality. In other words, they are forming a network with many connections and redundancies. The lines of communication and resource sharing, at the time of great achievement, are open and robust. We are at the crossroads of AI and Social Network Mapping.

Schoolyard Behavior on the Web: Stop Cyberbullying

I sometimes take the ability to speak my mind in this blog for granted. AI Annotations is about generative ideas and most of the folks who find their way here as readers and commenters are like-minded. If you lived in my town, we’d go down to Slave to the Grind and have a cappuccino and share our thoughts together. I’d feel safe with you . . . my intellectual and social community.

March 30 is Stop Cyberbullying Day. The idea for the day came from some pretty nasty attacks on Kathy Sierra, a prominent writer, blogger and educator. The generative response was launched by Andy Carvin who writes the Learning Now blog for PBS where you will find his comments.

It really takes my breath away to think that decent people can be stalked publicly in cyberspace. The outrage from the folks who responsibly blog has been vocal and strong. Some decided to be silent this week and not to blog in protest of the abuse that Kathy Sierra experienced. Others have shared legislative information so our laws could be stronger. I am using my voice here . . . as I think an appreciative view may be helpful to re-center the underlying truth.

And so, I ask of you: Can you think of a time when you used your ability to communicate when faced with abuse and hurtful intentions . . . and you were able to bring a more wholesome, respectful and generative voice to the conversation and turned it around? What did you do? What made it so exceptional?