MONDAY BYTES – July 16, 2012
This weekend I was at the NYFA/NYU Artist as Entrepreneur Performing Arts Bootcamp, a terrific professional development program crammed into 2 packed weekends.
The opening session, led by Entrepreneur Mark Golden of Golden Artist Colors, was on strategic planning using Appreciative Inquiry (AI) as a framework. “AI” comes from the field of Organizational Development and is a powerful tool to help organizations align their actions with their values to effect positive change.
Using structured one on one “interview” conversations, the idea is to ask the Big Questions and to frame discussions and feedback focusing on (“appreciating”) the positive so that organizations can more easily move forward toward their goals. The interview questions are done in four stages shown above.
This is a way of really getting to know and connect with members of the organization, by discovering what matters most to them and what their dreams and ideas for the future are—all done through open and non-judgmental conversation.
By listening closely to others’ values and goals, you can then design a vision of the future and strengthen your mutual motivation and energy to actually deliver (do the work).
You could use AI to improve your relationship to your ensemble peers, board members, staff (if you are an employer), your private students, or your partner (in business, life, or crime).
Mark Golden gave us a few of the AI questions to try on and my favorite “dream” question was this, the
Question for the week:
Imagine this: you go to bed tonight, sleep soundly, and when you wake up it is miraculously 10 years into future. It’s now 2022, a decade has past, and many big and small changes in the world have occurred. And here’s the kicker—the world has changed in the ways you would most like it to.
Mark had us imagine this new world we’ve conjured and describe it: “what is the same as before; what is new; what is improved; and how we know things are better.”
What I love about this “what if?” question (beyond the opportunity to time travel) is that it frees our imaginations to think really big, and to see our lives and careers in the context of a larger community: the world.
You can then follow through by discussing the ways in which your goals and your work might be aligned towards this imagined new world.
Let’s design and live towards the world we want our grandchildren to inherit.
I’d LOVE to hear what you think!
Curious about working with me? Details are HERE.
Monday Bytes archived posts are HERE.
Dream big, Plan smart, Live well!
