Do you know that for change and improvement, it’s much more effective to look at what wedo want and how good we are at it? This gives everyone energy when we focus on the qualities and wishes behind everyone’s drives? If we do this, we discover that the desired situation is closer than we thought. And as a leader, you are the ideal person to focus attention on that. But how do you do it..?
What is Appreciative Inquiry (A.I.)?
Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is an approach to change and development where people look at what is working instead of what is going wrong together. A.I. changes the focus from problems to perspective. It translates complaints and criticism into appreciation and desires. This generates energy, involvement, creativity, initiatives and decisions that are necessary to successfully achieve changes together.
Drives largely determine how someone functions, how he/she observes things, how he/she behaves. Drives determine why we do or don’t do things, what we devote energy to and what management and decision-making style is used. Qualities and pitfalls emerge from someone’s drives, both wishes and complaints. An appreciative leader reverses the coin and focuses on what he wants to grow in individuals and teams.
We know from years of experience that insight into drives adds value to school organisations. Looking appreciatively at individuals and teams is something we apply in practice on a daily basis. Our motto is ‘everything you give attention to grows’. From that idea, we want to introduced you to A.I. and making a connection with strengths from the drives.