[Ailist] Is Appreciate Inquiry like "applying leeches"?

[John Loty]

 Presumably patients that sought medical assistance and received the
"applying leeches" treatment were sick in the first place.

I also assume that there were some successes or at least stories of
success.So that treatment continued for a while?

Did belief in the efficacy of the treatment lead to success/relief or was it
the treatment? 

I don't know but I do know that numerous case studies that establish
overwhelming supporting evidence of improvements including ROI stats will
not open a closed mind.

There have been many examples of 'smart' (even business) people believing
unproven theories and investing very large sums of money in the hope of
making a whacking huge ROI.
Some would call this gambling and others stupidity but it has been going on
for a long long time.

I am also reminded of the stories of people trying to give away real cash
(dollars) on street corners being resisted for whatever reason/feeling.

Many recent studies have established that financial success (optimal return
on investment) is more connected to developing and maintaining non-material,
spiritual values evidenced by collaborative cohesive meaning and purpose
throughout the organisation.

One way for people to come to understand those deeper qualities about
themselves and their organisation as a whole is to look for those qualities
and reward/celebrate them when discovered. Then they can build on that.

The investment (in dollars) to do this, is in the scheme of things not
really that significant anyway.

If it does some good (and it will if applied consistently - a bit like
taking modern medicine)then will the ROI be that significant?

I think the underlying issues (when people start on about ROI and the
like)are fear and conviction that problem solving is the only path to
organisational recovery/improvement/salvation.

The fear I am talking about is the Fear of the unknown and very closely
connected is that curious facility our mind/brain has of
converting/labelling/characterising new behaviours
(dieting,exercise,quitting whatever is killing us, etc) into "error" (a
mistake) that must be avoided lest we befall unspecified consequences (fear
or not sufficient ROI).

I am a keen AI Advocate because I do believe that people sharing stories
about "best experiences" is useful, uplifting and is supported by more case
studies than you can jump over.

In a former life I thought it important to argue and convince but now I see
that as largely something I will leave to others.

This is my second rant today. Enough for a few months! 

 John Loty
 
AI Advocate and Facilitator 
 
"What we focus on grows" 
 
Learning to improve by building on what works - our strengths.
Find out more about Strength based approaches to improvement 
 
 The Appreciative Inquiry Network
 
Visit www.appreciativeinquiry.net.au 
 
PO Box 217 Bexley South NSW 2207
50 Glenfarne St Bexley
Telephone 61 2 9588 5228
Fax 61 2 9587 9996
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-----Original Message-----
From: ailist-bounces at lists.business.utah.edu
[mailto:ailist-bounces at lists.business.utah.edu] On Behalf Of Roger Davies
Sent: Friday, 11 April 2008 6:46 AM
To: 'Stephanie West Allen'; 'AI list'
Subject: RE: [Ailist] Is Appreciate Inquiry like "applying leeches"?

I read the article and realize that the extract can easily be read out of
context but it does serve as a vehicle to highlight a point.

In trying to apply Ai in a for profit business we somehow have to cross a
barrier. That barrier is that for many years many business expect one to be
able to establish the expected return on an investment before making the
investment. Obviously this is done in numerical, measurable terms. With Ai
it's different....'nobody reliably can say why they're effective, when
they're effective, and where they're effective'...all we do know is that
it's good medicine and there's supporting evidence that it does work. Maybe
it's a little like acupuncture or reflexology. For those who try it and it
works no doubts remain but if you don't have that experience you are very
likely to be skeptical about it.

Unfortunately the 'trust me on this' approach generally doesn't cut it in
business. Neither does producing evidence of someone else's success if it
can't be tied back to either hard evidence or the fact that your situation
is very similar to that of a case study.

My conclusion is that it's necessary to get people to experience Ai and then
spread the word about the benefits. I don't believe it is possible to
accurately predict the outcome. Anyone have any other thoughts?

>From another perspective....will we see companies that embrace Ai start 
>to
overtake those that don't and continue to focus more on measured returns on
investments? Obviously there's a balance to be struck as some financial
control needs to be applied. I would note, to paraphrase the excerpt, that
strict financial discipline is also not a unifying element of management.

Roger

Ailist