[Ailist] RE: Myers Briggs and Appreciative Inquiry and Sense making

[Don Austin]

Hello All,

Thank you, Marge, for your comments.  

> From: Marge Schiller <MargeSchiller at yahoo.com>
> Subject: [Ailist] Myers Briggs and Appreciative Inquiry and Sense making
> 
> MBTI is only one way we can try to make sense of the world and our
> lives.
> 
> Here is an experiment I have been meaning to try:
> Put four squares on the floor using masking tape.
> Ask people to arrange themselves appropriately in the squares.
> Then ask why they chose the squares where they are standing.
> Some sense making model is sure to emerge.

I have used quite a diversity of "tools" in my life, and at the time, each
seemed to make a great positive difference.  I always ended up moving on to
another one, at some point, and making more positive ground.  I return to
each of them, frequently.  

Learning Style Inventory and MBTI are great tools for focusing on diversity
and the "paradigms" of our own individual processes.  

Re-evaluation co-counseling, Quaker Sense-Making, Appreciative Inquiry,
Gestalt Experiential Learning Cycle, and Affirmative Interaction are all
valuable processes for learning, developing, and creating new reality
together.  

I realized recently that I often talk about "tools" for making a positive
difference, because I think that my "audience" wants to hear about tools.  I
love powerful tools, but I don't think it is the using of tools that makes
the most difference.  

So, I don't think discussion about the ins and outs of these tools (as
valuable as that is!) is what is going to be most helpful.

It is personal and collective commitment 
	to doing what is most valuable and important at the time, 
	and following through with our best effort, on a continuing basis, 
that creates the substance of positive change.  

This is what my experience has been, and this is what I most help my clients
and/or students do.  In this process we use the best "tools" we have at our
disposal, of course, but it is not the tools themselves that make the most
difference.  For me, it is our faith, hope, and love, and the commitment to
be true to them, doing the best that we can do, with the greatest respect,
all of the time, that creates life worth living and work worth doing.

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