Appreciative inquiry, when applied to human relationships,

brings out the best in people,

builds enduring emotional bonds

and lays the groundwork for quality engagements.

The appreciative inquiry model, is normally applied to systems, projects and individual issues to achieve positive outcomes. In this article,we have  focused  the model on human relationships which are always a key component of appreciative inquiry but not always the subject of the inquiry itself.  

Appreciative inquiry brings out the best in people.

Appreciative inquiry is the opposite of problem-solving, and critical inquiry. What we focus on  positive aspects, we emphasize and amplify them.  Thinking the best of people,  brings out the best in them.

Appreciative Inquiry builds enduring emotional bonds.

Knowing  you are valued and your contributions, right or wrong, have meaning, encourages us to show up with positive intent.  To listen to others and provide our responses. We are willing to be less critical of others because others are less critical of us.

Appreciative Inquiry lays the groundwork for quality engagement.

Practising Appreciative Inquiry as part of the culture creates an environment where people are willing to offer more diverse suggestions.  Confident that others will seek to understand, rather than shoot down an idea that deviates from the status quo.

The following definition of appreciative inquiry is from appreciativeinquiry.case.edu:

“Appreciative Inquiry is the cooperative search for the best in people, their organizations, and the world around them. It involves systematic discovery of what gives a system ‘life’ when it is most effective and capable in economic, ecological, and human terms. AI involves the art and practice of asking questions that strengthen a system’s capacity to heighten positive potential. It mobilizes inquiry through crafting an “unconditional positive question’ often involving hundreds or sometimes thousands of people.”

Cooperrider, D.L. & Whitney, D., “Appreciative Inquiry: A positive revolution in change.” In P. Holman & T. Devane (eds.), The Change Handbook, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., pages 245-263.

Ap-pre’ci-ate, v., 1. valuing; the act of recognizing the best in people or the world around us; affirming past and present strengths, successes, and potentials; to perceive those things that give life (health, vitality, excellence) to living systems 2. to increase in value, e.g. the economy has appreciated in value. Synonyms: VALUING, PRIZING, ESTEEMING, and HONORING.

In-quire’ (kwir), v., 1. the act of exploration and discovery. 2. To askquestions; to be open to seeing new potentials and possibilities. Synonyms: DISCOVERY, SEARCH, and SYSTEMATIC EXPLORATION, STUDY.

Successful people have the ability to develop relationships that last. Building relationship requires the building of trust.  Mutual trust is a shared belief that you can depend on each other to achieve a common purpose.

More specifically,  trust defined as “the willingness of a party (trustor) to be vulnerable to the actions of another party (trustee) based on the expectation that the trustee will perform an action important to the trustor, regardless of the trustor’s ability to monitor or control the trustee.” People can sense how you feel toward them. By having a clear and positive attitude with them means they have a clear and positive attitude about you.

Building Relationships – Your Key Business Skills

A relationship is two people eliciting responses from each other. If you want a change in response, then you must change your own actions.As a business professional, you should ask yourself: “What business am I in?”.

Umair Haque is Director of the Havas Media Lab, strategic advisors who helps investors, entrepreneurs and firms drive radical management, business model and strategic innovation. On a piece he scribed for HBS recently he comments “We cannot organize tomorrow’s businesses – or economy – like yesterday’s.

What do I mean?  Simple. How should we organize and manage how firms interact with consumers? The Economist thinks it’s “creepy” but cool to trick consumers, because it’s profitable.

Is it?

Not a chance – as our research at the Lab notes, the fact is: companies who can build authentic, honest, open, collaborative relationships with consumers are significantly more profitable (and sustainably profitable) than companies who treat consumers deceptively, antagonistically, and manipulatively.

True power isn’t the power to manipulate. It’s the power to create. There is a world of difference between the two – that orthodox economics has yet to understand.”

One of the four GE Work-Out’s major goals is to build trust through encouraging employees to speak out critically inside the company about GE and the way they perform their jobs without negative consequences to their careers.Trust-based working relationships are an important source of your sustainable competitive advantage because trust is valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable, and often nonsubstitutable.  The level of trust a leader is able to garner from his/her employees is contingent upon the employee’s perceptions of the leader’s ability, benevolence, and integrity.

Customers will usually come back if:

Your keep your promises

You are willing to help

You inspire confidence

Your treat customers as individuals

You make it easy for customers to do business with you

All the physical aspects of your product or service give a favorable impression.

Building Relationship Capital is a critical skillset when growing your brand, business and reputation. How you deal with people interpersonally becomes your reputation and your brand. Ergo, reputations are built on trust.

Promoting an ethical culture is a key leadership responsibility.  Equity, transparency, honor, integrity, commitment, and stewardship are standards for excellence in democratic local governance as much in a corporate setting. Every organisation and community deserves an organizational culture based on ethical values and behavior. To accomplish this requires a top down and bottom up approach. Managers need to understand the company culture, paying particular attention to incentivising positive behaviors that support ethical conduct, as well as facilitating employees’ decision-making processes to diminish unethical violations.

Company leaders can deliver continuous education and virtual training to address both and minimise costly interventions and mediations. RNIA CBOK is designed to enable staff in keeping promises and commitments within a set of simple values. The education  training activity focuses on:

accountability for decisions and actions

the value of honest feedback

consistent and appropriate behaviour in a collaborative spirit

The value of setting a good example is communicated across the culture and the consequences of inconsistent delivery reflected in peer feedback. Adhering to ethics allows for all viewpoints to be heard respectfully, transparent decision-making and emphasizes the benefits of open and honest communication.How can we trust restored and what efforts in building relationships to ensure a culture of values is instilled and installed?

Can you really imagine a scenario where you are supported to be a ‘whistleblower’ by staying true to your core values? ICMA TV promotes ethical conduct through its Code of Ethics training for local governments, as well as publications on ethics issues, technical assistance, and advice to members. Given the state of politics, the more proactive ICMA is, the better things can become and begin to reclaim the trust of the people. But how can you affect the same in your enterprise?

Every business today is in the relationship business. The Building Relationships That Work program will revitalize the relationships that affect the quality and profitability of your business. Executives gain a better understanding of themselves and others so they are able to build effective relationships.


Building Relationships That Work - Funny bloopers are a click away

It took me quite a while to work that out. Having done so, I then understood what made certain people highly successful. Quite simply, it is their, perhaps innate, ability to get other people. Their ability to make people feel good, feel valued, acknowledged and, at best, loved, for being who they are.

The quality of relating brings significant value to every interpersonal exchange. It’s the feeling you walk away with when you have met or exchanged with another person. The ‘feelgood factor’ or ‘not so much’.  We all do it, tacitly, continuously. A kind word and a smile might be all it takes to change a preconception of someone into a positive opinion. We are highly attuned to every word, nuance, timbre of a conversation. We ‘feel’ peoples intentions or agendas through each word spoken. Taking the time to build quality relationships requires us to invest the effort, the attention, in order to build a network of friends, associates and colleagues that add meaning and richness to a life.

Today, we suffer from bandwidth deficiency in an attempt to cram as much productivity to sustain our livelihoods. Yet, we must endeavour to sustain those meaningful interactions that maintain those relationships that make it all worthwhile. And it can be tough, demanding and we don’t always succeed.

The Relationship Capital Institute wants to help the development, understanding and evolution of building relationships. The one’s that last, whether social or professional. As with all things, the motivation came from the notion that ‘there must be a better way’. We ‘d like to make that journey together with fellow professionals from every discipline, who feel the same.

You can join our dedicated group to discuss topics and themes, as well as meet others who seek clarity around the emergence of relationship capital and associated capitals, human, social, economic and knowledge.