The Power of Appreciative Inquiry

01/01/2015 By Max Hardy Leave a Comment

Last week I attended the Partnering into the Future conference – an event co-hosted by Queensland Health and the Gold Coast Primary Healthcare Partnership Council – and came away with an insightful revelation.

It happened during the course of two workshops I ran on the Appreciative Inquiry approach to building capacity to partner. Basically, the approach requires people to think about their strengths and the things that have worked in the past. The aim is to help them think about what they believe is possible for the future and to aid them in working in that direction.

One of the things this approach gets people to do fairly early in the process is interview each other in pairs, relating experiences they’ve had where things have worked at their best. With this in mind, I got participants to think about times when they’ve partnered successfully with others and to also think about what made it work well. This is opposed to the conventional approach, which involves talking about all the problems and issues and thinking about how they might be solved.

Although I went into the workshops having a firm belief in the power of Appreciative Inquiry, I think I underestimated just how powerful this process can be. This was illustrated in the last exercise I conducted. During the session, I noticed one particular pair engrossed in an incredibly intense conversation. I only learned afterwards that it was a mother and her son. Very emotionally, she later reported that she’d told her son some things she’d never shared with him before. She also learned a lot from him as well. Both said that this structured interview process had really enriched their relationship.

Importantly, the Appreciate Inquiry school of thought also stipulates that the things most influential in our behaviour today are our images of our future. This profound cornerstone led to another notable workshop experience, this time involving a very dedicated Torres Strait Islands healthcare worker. She said, “people often say to me, ‘why do I keep doing what I’m doing?’ I haven’t known how to answer them but now I do. My answer is, ‘I have an image where indigenous people are much healthier and happier and more confident.’ That’s what keeps me going in spite of the challenges.”

For me, there’s no doubt that Appreciative Inquiry is a very powerful tool for encouraging people to work together and build relationships. It’s definitely a process I’ll be looking to explore even more in the future.

This blog was first posted 27^th April 2010 on Twyfords website www.twyfords.com.au

Mapping The Collaborative Journey

01/01/2015 By Max Hardy Leave a Comment

At a recent Conference I was asked how Twyfords came up with our collaborative pathway http://slidesha.re/1s8wIwu
This is how I responded (as best that I can recall).
‘Well it happened like this. Being actively into Appreciative Inquiry we decided, as a team, to enquire into our very best experiences working on projects where there was genuine intent, openness to doing things differently, and where enduring solutions or wise decisions eventuated.

When we talked about those experiences, especially when we focused on the outcomes, we couldn’t help but to then enquire into what contributed to that kind of success. Or to use the language of Appreciative Inquiry, we wanted to identify the root causes of success and also to understand the positive core of those who were part of that success.

This is what happened. We identified that when enduring solutions emerged, or at least decisions were well supported, the ‘community of interest’ was genuinely involved in developing, or co-creating, that solution. Fairly obvious, but then we had to ask, what led to a diverse range of people and organisations being willing to do that.

What we then identified is that people became more willing to co-create solutions when they have agreed on the process by which they would work together (i.e., working out governance arrangements, and ways of working together). In addition, it was necessary that the participants agreed on what they were trying to address (common purpose); they have co-defined the questions or dilemmas they were attempting to address.

Great – but how did that come about? Sometimes it is hard to get people together who see things very differently. When we enquired into that we found there had been a process of dialogue, deep respect for differences, understanding or various interests. So how did we get to that point?

Well, basically whatever it takes. But it needs to come from those initiating the journey to operate from a mindset conducive to collaborating. This involves making a commitment to appreciating what others bring, of exploring interests, of being willing to let go and change direction, and to expect that something creative, and better, will come from the process.

Having mapped all that, we ran the ‘model’ from beginning to end, and that is when we arrived at our five step collaborative pathway. We no longer describe it as a model as it makes more sense to regard it as simply a roadmap or a pathway. Having applied it in practice on numerous and very different projects we are discovering that it can take many different shapes and iterations. However, we are encouraged about how it complements and connects with the Collective Impact approach.

Lots to learn and keep learning no doubt, but this is the story of how it (i.e., Twyfords’ Collaborative Pathway) came about based on many experiences, projects, stories, frustrations, exhilaration and celebrations. It’s been said that all models are false, but some are useful. Check out this slide show that helps to illustrate our journeyhttp://slidesha.re/1s8wIwu

I have found applying the approach to be incredibly useful, and I continue to learn every time I try to tackle something complex in a new way. Needless to say, it is never boring!

The blog was first published on Twyfords website 4th August, 2014 http://www.twyfords.com.au/news-and-media/our-blog/mapping-the-collaborative-journey

What I do

26/12/2014 By Max Hardy Leave a Comment

What do I offer?

Essentially I help to build the capacity of organisations and leaders to collaborate effectively with others, especially to address their most complex challenges. This includes:

Different parts of an organisation working in a more ‘joined-up’ way
Organisations collaborating with other organisations/stakeholders
Organisations engaging their communities
Leaders helping directors of different parts of an organisation working more as a team.
A whole system to align its efforts to address a highly complex social or environmental issue.

How do I offer this support?

By:

Listening very carefully to what organisations and leaders are facing.
Providing early advice around projects, and during periods of the most challenging moments of the like of a project.
Providing briefing sessions to leadership teams, elected representatives and boards.
Delivering sessions at conferences and symposiums
Facilitating training
Coaching collaboration champions in organisations.
Coaching/mentoring leaders who are learning to do it differently.
Co-designing processes to achieve enduring solutions with a diverse range of players around a particular issue.
Facilitating sessions where it makes sense to utilise an independent person.

What are some different terms used that explain what I do?

Collaborative governance
Systems change
Community engagement
Stakeholder engagement/relations/management
Risk communication
Public participation
Deliberative democratic processes
Collective Impact
Alternative dispute resolution.

Influences to my practice

Appreciative inquiry
Asset-based community development
Systems transformation
Dialogue
Complexity theory
Deliberative democracy
Collective Impact