[Ailist] Re: AI - an established business strategy

[Maureen Bowes]

To consider individuals and organisational cultures changing their way of
being and doing, as Cheri outlines below, calls for continuous awareness,
openness to learning, willingness to accept agency responsibility and then
collaboration to co-create.
As far as I'm aware, no one has yet mentioned 'attitude', and more
importantly, a shift in attitude, which is required for these changes to
happen and to be sustained. When I work with organisations to achieve
individual development and cultural change, this is where I start -
'assessing' attitude and 'measuring' attitudinal development. By attitude I
am referring to how much we value ourselves compared to how much we value
others (based on Transactional Analysis & the OK Corral) Once an individual
is aware of how "OK" s/he is in terms of her/his Life Position, it becomes
easier to progress them using AI and other tools/techniques towards
openness, acceptance and collaboration. My approach is based on the
AppliedEI model of emotional intelligence, and dovetails beautifully with
AI. It may even bridge one of the gaps re the philosopy and tool discussion.

For more information on attitude in this context, the following links may be
helpful:
http://www.emotionalintelligence.co.uk/ezine/downloads/08_Attitude.pdf
http://www.emotionalintelligence.co.uk/ezine/downloads/09_Overview.pdf
http://www.emotionalintelligence.co.uk/ezine/downloads/20_Embedding.pdf
http://www.emotionalintelligence.co.uk/ezine/downloads/15_OEM.pdf

Best to you all
Maureen

-----Original Message-----
From: ailist-bounces at lists.business.utah.edu
[mailto:ailist-bounces at lists.business.utah.edu] On Behalf Of Don Austin
Sent: 09 March 2007 01:12
To: ailist at lists.business.utah.edu
Subject: [Ailist] Re: AI - an established business strategy

Hi everyone (sounds like Katie Couric on CBS news!),

>My suspicion is that to truly embrace AI requires an individual and an 
>organization culture to change their way of being and doing. This is no
easy
>task...and it is brand new ground.  It requires a whole new paradigm 
>for understanding the world: social constructionism.  This is a big 
>deal for
the
>collective membership of an organization--I think it calls for 
>continuous awareness, openness to learning, willingness to accept 
>agency and responsibility, and then collaboration to co-create.

>What do others think?
>Cheri

Responding to what Cheri said, I have not published yet on the topic of what
I call affirmative interaction, but I believe it is one structured way of
building new positive structure, gradually and pervasively, that will be
more supportive of AI.  

For what it is worth:

In Marine Corps OCS (Officer Candidate School) one of their slogans is "know
yourself, know your job, know your people." What is the difference between a
really good soldier and a Marine officer? How does affirmative interaction
contribute to the difference?

Affirmative interaction focuses our attention on the most relevant, pivotal,
and valuable aspects of who we are, and who we wish to be, in relationship
and in groups. How? The answer is both simple and tricky. Simple, because
the potential affirmative interactions have been codified thematically by
research (see below). They are lumped under the umbrella characterization as
"affirmative interaction." 

Tricky because the application of these simple "themes" of affirmative
interaction, for substantial effectiveness, requires more and more frequent
use of them, in increasingly subtle combinations. We can learn. We can all
interject affirmative interaction a few hundred percent better than we do
now.

Eight Themes of Affirmative Interaction  (copyright 2003 Don Austin)
1) 	Including: inviting someone, opening the door to them, to
significant presence and participation, as unequivocally as practical.
2) 	Stating: vocally volunteering to those present what you have
(particularly) noticed about each other's presence.
3) 	Symbolizing: characterizing inclusion and presence captivatingly
through symbols, metaphor or story. 
4)	Honoring: building awareness of a figural "chunk" of someone's (or
of a group's) presence.
5)	Joining in Mutuality: sharing in creating and enjoying each other's
presence together.
6)	Promoting: acting to grow the significance of someone's (or a whole
group's) presence.
7)	Offering Leadership as Servant: lending service and support toward
an emergent future of a group, guided by a "knowing" that emerges from
immersion in their presence.
8) 	Providing without Qualification: supporting others wholeheartedly
and spontaneously, when the moment presents itself.

Recognizing the importance of focusing on the value, significance, and
potential of each person-then creating that focus continually through
interaction-is the essence and strength of affirmative interaction.

Don Austin, Ph.D. 
Bedrock Effective Action
Developed for You-with You
 
Cobblestone Coaching
http://cobblestonecoaching.com
78 Water Street, P.O. Box 21
Elizabethtown, NY 12932
518-873-6891   
 


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