More Evidence for Positive Inquiry

I am in Dallas right now, attending the International ASTD conference. Yesterday I heard an OD legend and someone whose work I greatly admire, David Cooperrider. He is most well know for the creation and proliferation of Appreciative Inquiry.

In yesterday's talk, he shared some of the research that shows the tangible impacts of positive responses, emotions, and inquiry. A summary of the research can be found here.

I am rushing off to another session, but I wanted to share a couple comments Cooperrider made that resonated with me:

"The questions we ask determine what we find." Yes, this is the self-fulfilling prophecy, which most of us know about, but think about this in the context of positive inquiry versus questions about problems or what is wrong about the situation.

"Positive emotions allow us to access more of our intelligence." Makes sense, but something to post above your desk so that when you are in a grumpy mood and need to think you can do whatever you need to snap out of it. This is also why I hate facilitating meetings where people have been forced to attend - they never bring their A Game.

Food for thought....

Comments

[Johnnie Moore]

"I hate facilitating meetings where people have been forced to attend" I've been thinking this a lot lately too!