[Ailist] Appreciative Valuations of Staff

[Anne Radford]

I''ve been watching this thread around evaluation and find myself  
bemused. What by? Well, the prevaiing view seems to be that  
evaluation is divisive, non-inclusive and isn't in sync with the  
principles of AI/ soc construction etc.

And yet in the February 2005 AI Practitoner issue, Bridging Two  
Disciplines: Applying
Appreciative Inquiry to Evaluation Practice, the guest editors set  
out the view that there are many different forms of evaluation which  
serve different purposes and that these forms share many of the same  
principles and aspirations as AI:

"While OD practitioners have been experimenting with new approaches  
and processes for
facilitating organizational change, many evaluators have been  
searching for more effective
tools and strategies for facilitating learning from evaluation. Over  
the last 25 years, the
evaluation profession has grown in its scope and boundaries. As  
described by Russ-Eft and
Preskill (2001), “Evaluation has grown from being monolithic in its  
definition and methods,
to being highly pluralistic. It now embraces multiple methods,  
measures, criteria, perspectives, audiences and interests.” (p.46).  
Some of these evaluation approaches include participatory evaluation  
(Cousins & Earl, 1992), utilization-focused evaluation (Patton,  
1997), empowerment evaluation (Fetterman, 2000), democratic  
evaluation (Greene, 2000; House & Howe, 1999) and fourth generation  
evaluation (Guba & Lincoln, 1989), the last of which is
explicitly based on the assumptions of social constructionism."

So, I'm curious as to what is going on in setting up this  
polarisation between 'evaluation' and 'valuation'. It seems a little  
like the chart we used to use pitching problem solving against AI but  
with the implication that AI was the right answer.

I can understand people having a personal preference to use one term  
rather than another. However, what I'm getting from this thread is  
'evaluation' is equivalent to being divisive etc etc and 'valuation'  
is the good guy. Is that the message I was supposed to get?

And in case it matters, I don't use either word, I just do an Inquiry  
into whatever topic needs exploring.

The opening article of the AIP issue is downloadable free at http:// 
www.aipractitioner.com/Pagefiles/guested.htm where there are the  
references to go with the quote above.

Confused in London,

Anne


Anne Radford

Please make a note of my new email address
anne at aradford.co.uk instead of annelondon at aol.com

---------------

On 28 Apr 2008, at 16:32, Kenneth Gergen wrote:

> Dear Bill, Please add me to your list. In the meantime, you and  
> others who are interested in this issue might
> find interesting the 2nd edition of the Appreciative Organization,  
> just published by Taos Institute Publications.
> We have a chapter in this book entitled, From Evaluation to  
> Valuation, and it offers a variety of ways to move from
> the traditional and divisive practice of personal evaluation to  
> valuing processes in organizations.
>
> I look forward to your work. All good wishes, Ken
>
>
> On Apr 28, 2008, at 10:42 AM, Bill Scott wrote:
>
>> Hello once again,
>>
>> It seems appreciative valuation of staff is on the minds of many  
>> judging by
>> the response to my post this weekend.
>>
>> To all those who wrote asking for a copy of the paper when it is  
>> finished, I
>> got your message and I've made a list, When the paper is  
>> completed, I'll
>> check it twice and get a copy to you.
>>
>> Thanks for your interest and encouragement.
>>
>> Regards,
>> Bill
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: ailist-bounces at lists.business.utah.edu
>> [mailto:ailist-bounces at lists.business.utah.edu] On Behalf Of Bill  
>> Scott
>> Sent: Saturday, April 26, 2008 9:17 AM
>> To: ailist at lists.business.utah.edu
>> Subject: [Ailist] Appreciative Valuations of Staff
>>
>> Hello all,
>>
>>
>>
>> This is a topic that has great interest for me. I think a move  
>> away from
>> evaluating performance and to valuing people is critical for  
>> organizations
>> that seek to be successful today and in the future.
>
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