[Ailist] How does it work?

[BILL SCOTT]

Hi Hank,

Your post is an interesting one and there are many strains to it.

First, let me say that I consider you to be taking a risk and asking a question as opposed to "showing your ignorance." And perhaps that is as good a way as any to underscore the difference in an appreciative approach. Practitioners of appreciative process ask that we consider reframing what we don't want in terms of what we do want - and it's not always as simple as I don't want "bad" so I must want "good."

You speak about not wanting to "ignore the bad" and I completely understand where you are coming from on this one. As a former counsellor, I know that someone only feels "heard" when they believe another person has heard their story - their whole story. If you don't hear their story, it is rare that you can move forward. 

While it is true (as others have noted) that the focus of an AI approach is on the positive and room is given for people to voice their concerns, it is also true that many AI practitioners ask their clients to "take a leap of faith" and put aside the doubts, fears, concerns, etc. until the end of their time together at which point they will come back to the client and see if the concerns have been addressed. The difficulty, in my opinion, with this approach is that there is an inherent power differential between the "expert" AI practitioner/teacher/consultant on the one hand and the client/learner on the other. If the client has not felt heard, it is unlikely that they will feel engaged with the process. 

It also strikes me as counter to the principles of AI to not allow voice to people's doubts, fears and concerns. We understand that the moment we ask a question or guide a conversation that we have influenced the dialogue. Sooooo ... it seems to me that by asking people to hold on to their doubts until a later time that we are influencing the direction of the process.

I'm reminded of the story Diana Whitney and Amanda Trosten-Bloom tell with respect to British Airways. They tell how us how they came to settle on the affirmative topic Exceptional Arrival Experience only after hearing the horror stories associated with baggage loss.

Last year about this time, I was involved with staging a major AI conference in Vancouver. We invited Pam Johnson (from Seattle) to come and speak at one of the concurrent sessions. In part, the description of her workshop read: "The most interesting question in my own practice is how to embrace resistance and work productively with the ‘shadow’ of human experience within the framework of AI." Her workshop was one of the most well attended sessions that we offered. And I can tell you from being there myself there was a great deal of interest when she began to speak about addressing doubts, concerns and fears in the context of an AI experience. In fact, many newbies to AI stated that having practical skills to address negativity was a critical outcome of the conference for them.

Pam, Steve Fitzgerald and others have written and spoken extensively about the place of "shadow" in AI and appreciative process. I know from talking with people in the AI community that there thiuking on this subject is controversial and I also believe that's what makes for great dialogue which in turn improves the quality of the product - in this case, AI. 

Gervase Bushe makes the point that AI is Not (Just) About the Positive in an article of the same name. I suggest that you have a look of it. You can find it here: http://www.gervasebushe.ca/appinq.htm (scroll down to the middle). As he notes, somehow the initial emphasis on generativity has been lost in favour of an emphasis on the positive. My personal view is that "generativity" is a much harder concept for people to understand - especially when compared with "being positive."

I know this is a little long and I hope that it stimulates conversation from others - that is the piece I really appreciate about this list.
 
Best regards, 
Bill 

WJS Connsulting 
Vancouver, B.C., Canada
wjs.consulting at shaw.ca 


Engaging human potential 


----- Original Message -----
From: Hank Kearns <hkearns4 at comcast.net>
Date: Monday, March 3, 2008 1:05 pm
Subject: [Ailist] How does it work?
To: AIList <ailist at lists.business.utah.edu>

>I have no problem with the 
> major  
> principles of AI, but I have to admit that I’m not convinced 
> about  
> ignoring the bad.