Appreciative coaching

21/10/2011

I glanced at a book today on coaching using appreciative inquiry (AI). AI is an optimistic, solutions-focused approach that aims to (a) generate vision (b) and galvinise the client's energy and commitment by framing questions, reflections and challenges in the positive. Here are some sample questions:

What would a great outcome look and feel like? What would make this a great experience for you? Which aspects of this do you enjoy most? What would make this a genuinely rewarding experience for you? How come this is so energising for you? Where does your passion come from?

Tell me about a recent experience where you found yourselves in agreement about something? Give me an example of an interaction with this person when you didn’t get frustrated? How far do we need to go to get back to a time when this wasn’t a problem? Which aspects of this did go well?

When did you first begin to notice that things were changing for the better? If you believed you could do this, what would you do next? What would a great solution be? What would mark a positive step foward? If we weren’t talking about this, what would we be talking about?

If you were leader of this organisation, what is the first thing you would do to resolve this? What story would you like to tell someone about this? How do you make sense of this? What else could I usefully ask you at this point? And an AI question to finish: what did you find most helpful about this blog?

33 Comments

Bridget

23/10/2011 11:54:50 am

Bridget loves this and will be putting it into practice immediately.

I especially love - "if you believed that you could do this, what would you do next" - so empowering!

I love appreciate enquiry.

Did I mention that I loved this??

B

Nick Wright

26/4/2012 10:21:41 am

Hi Bridget. Do you love this..? ;) Nick

John

26/4/2012 07:02:14 am

AI is a powerful tool for use any time you want people fully engaged in the end result. I have used AI in Strategic Planning, Business Process Reengineering, Program Development and in Coaching It's "dreaming" to be the best that you can be.

26/4/2012 10:22:32 am

Thanks John. I like the idea of 'dreaming'. Nick

Ken Hudson

26/4/2012 10:07:16 am

Ai is an approach I use to help gain the buy in of leaders to help them engage their teams to the future. It increases an individual's and senior team's reason why to make measureable differences. The optomistic/solutions focused aspect is important to increasing the belief that the vision is achievable. The questions I use to help the person or team move to their solution are possibility based eg: What could you possibly do to achieve this? Just imagine you could see the solution what might it be? How might you achieve the solution? How could you possibly overcome obstacles? Then they have increased choice to prioritise from and attain their vision.
What I found really useful about the blog was the energising feeling it gave me.

26/4/2012 10:20:56 am

Thanks, Ken. Sounds like you see parallels between AI and solution-focused coaching. I do too. You may be interested to have a glance at: http://www.nick-wright.com/1/post/2012/01/seeking-solutions.html. With best wishes. Nick

Robert Hodge

26/4/2012 10:07:54 am

Nick, this is a brilliant thought. I appreciate appreciative inquiry and find that it generally has been in place in most places in the world outside of North America. Coaching inherently is more like appreciative inquiry than it is planning, so it makes sense to learn about good coaching from appreciative inquiry. Somehow, I had just not made that connection before. Thank you.

26/4/2012 10:18:29 am

Thanks, Robert, for such encouraging feedback. You may be interested in this short piece too? http://www.nick-wright.com/1/post/2012/01/seeking-solutions.html. It explores solutions focused coaching which has some resonances with AI too. With best wishes. Nick

George Marcou

26/4/2012 10:25:43 am

Great technique to use.

Thank you for raising my awareness.

26/4/2012 10:26:25 am

Thanks George. Pleased you found it valuable. Nick

David Monro-Jones link

26/4/2012 12:29:14 pm

Hi Nick.

Thanks for this posting. I have read the book and several others on AI as well as being a trained AI facilitator. The beauty of AI and the types of questions that can be created is the depth of response and the ability to really explore what is going on in terms of thoughts, feelings and actions. It is great to use in many initiatives including leadership and team development, cultural change and coaching to name a few.

Thanks again for raising this as a topic.

Best wishes,

David

26/4/2012 01:44:17 pm

Hi David and thanks for the response. I would be interested to hear of any good books you would recommend on AI, particularly vls a vis application to coaching conversations. With best wishes. Nick

Sonja Rooke

26/4/2012 01:49:52 pm

Hi The Association for Coaching in Ireland ran some highly successful workshops on this. The speaker is Paul O'Kelly and they were so popular they are running again in May. See the website for details. http://www.associationforcoaching.com/event/workshops.htm#1_8

26/4/2012 01:50:27 pm

Hi Sonja. Sounds interesting. Thanks for posting the link. With best wishes. Nick

Katherine Reid, ACC

29/4/2012 05:12:29 am

Nick, I've been working with a team from Capella University researching Strength-based coaching. One of the highlights for me has been thinking about how coaches who are strength-based don't ignore weaknesses or shadows, but rather use strengths to mitigate those areas or use reframing to give new perspective.

29/4/2012 05:13:16 am

Hi Katherine. Thanks for the note - much appreciated. I would be very interested to hear more about your research and the ideas/conclusions you have drawn in the area you highlighted. I touched on something similar in a related blog: http://www.nick-wright.com/1/post/2011/03/an-appreciated-inquiry.html. Whilst it could be naively optimistic and insensitive to client realities to focus on strengths alone, I believe that AI can provide an alternative focus, framing and emotional experience that enables the client to perceive, face and address challenges, weaknesses etc. from a different place. Let me know what you think? With best wishes. Nick

Larissa Winter

30/4/2012 02:47:50 pm

I love AI concept and use AC in my business. This is powerful tool.

30/4/2012 02:48:31 pm

Thanks Larissa - agreed. Nick

30/4/2012 03:31:36 pm

Particular I like about AC that it based on a concept of positive psychology (Martin Seligman, 1998). The essence of the AC is captured by the metaphor of Brewster’s kaleidoscope (Sir David Brewster of Scotland invented in 1816 the kaleidoscope; kaleidoscope from Greek words “kalos” (beautiful), “eidos” (from), and “scopos“(watcher): the beautiful form-watcher) image because it is an exciting way to help client discover the positive possibilities inherent within them it based not on traditional “fix your weaknesses” methods but on the positive philosophy

Psychology is not only to study of pathology, weakness, and damage; it is also the study of strength and virtue” (Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi, 2000)

30/4/2012 03:33:47 pm

@Larissa. Thanks for the additional comments. I like the image of the kaleidoscope and your final quotation from Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi too. With best wishes. Nick

Leila Yazegi

2/5/2012 03:08:24 am

Hello Nick, i'm delighted to hear about this approach. It is a combination of what i use (Solution Focused Brief Coaching & Positive Psychology). Thank you for putting out there. Best wishes for every success. leila

2/5/2012 03:14:34 am

Thanks for such encouraging feedback, Leila. Yes, I'm curious about the commonalities and distinctions between AI coaching, solutions-focused coaching and other positive psychology-based approaches. Any further thoughts on this would be welcome! You may find these blogs interesting too? On solutions-focused coaching: http://www.nick-wright.com/1/post/2012/01/seeking-solutions.html, on appreciative inquiry: http://www.nick-wright.com/1/post/2011/03/an-appreciated-inquiry.html. With best wishes. Nick

Adrian Parsadh

2/5/2012 03:16:29 am

AI is quite powerful.

2/5/2012 03:17:51 am

Hi Adrian - agreed. You may find this short blog interesting too? http://www.nick-wright.com/1/post/2011/03/an-appreciated-inquiry.html. With best wishes. Nick

Yasemin Balci

6/5/2012 03:25:38 am

I also find Clean Coaching with Emergent Knowledge very effective. Do check out Angela Dunbar's website if you haven't already. Best wishes from İstanbul :-)

6/5/2012 03:26:17 am

Hi Yasemin and thanks for your note. I haven't heard of 'clean coaching' before so thank you for the book recommendation. I will have a look at it. With best wishes from the UK! :) Nick

Anapaula Lagarriga

7/5/2012 12:17:19 pm

Thank you Yasemin for introducing the clean coaching link I am looking forward to learning more on the subject.

Julie McCracken

8/5/2012 02:27:32 pm

I practice Clean Coaching (trained with Wendy Sullivan and Angela Dunbar) Clean coaching and emergent knowledge approaches help the coaches to keep their own assumptions and pre-suppositions out of the 'coaching space'.

For instance... if I take a few of the words used in the AI example from your blog post above Nick... 'What would a great outcome look and feel like', 'Which aspect of this do you enjoy most', 'What would make this a genuinely rewarding experience for you'... each of these statements, from a Clean perspective, will cause the client to focus on an aspect selected by the coach ('great outcome', 'enjoy most', 'rewarding experience'). These aspects might not be relevant to the client... the client might want a satisfying experience rather than a rewarding one, they might want a smooth and easy outcome rather than a great one... get the idea.

Coaches can't read their clients' minds or second guess the subtleties of what they really would like to have happen. 'Clean' offers a way for coaches to support their clients in developing 'bespoke' outcomes and moving towards them with minimal interference from the coach's model of the world. It encourages client generated knowledge.

I hope I've been able to describe it in a way that makes sense!

Resources: -

Angela Dunbar's book is an excellent resource for using Clean Language in coaching.

You might also like to read 'Clean Language' by Wendy Sullivan and Judy Rees. This is a superb primer in Clean Language. It covers everything you need to know to get started. Beautifully simple to read.

For a studious and detailed coverage of Symbolic modelling - using Clean Language as a modeling tool (a fatter book - goes into great depth - and is heavier reading) you can't do better than read 'Metaphors in Mind' by James Lawley and Penny Thompkins

For an insight into emergent knowledge try 'The Power of Six' by Philip Harland

And if you're interested in how to use Clean Language for coaching, communication and education with children, I am releasing a book on the subject in early 2013.

If you're interested in finding out more, the Clean conference is on in London on 19th - 20th May. I've put the details on the 'promotions' page in case anyone's interested.

Hope this helps

:-)

Julie

8/5/2012 02:28:12 pm

Hi Julie and thanks for such thought-provoking comments. You've certainly caught my attention! :) I can understand your challenge in your second paragraph. Could you give me some examples of what clean coaching interventions could look like from the coach, as alternatives? I'll definitely check out the books you mentioned. Hope you will share more insights on this from your own experience too. With best wishes. Nick

8/5/2012 03:25:54 pm

OK, I'll have a go!

1. What would a great outcome look and feel like?
What would you like to have happen?

2. Which aspect of this do you enjoy most?
Assuming the client has mentioned some things they enjoy, the coach can develop each thing by asking the client questions about it such as : -

... and what kind of 'x'? (insert the client's word for the 'thing' in place of the 'x')

... and is there anything else about 'x'?

There are more questions that can be asked but then this would take all night!
The client will come to know much more about each thing.

The coach may then summarise, "...and 'x' and 'y' and 'z'
and then ask ... and where are you drawn to?

3. What would make this a genuinely rewarding experience for you?
A Clean coach would ask, What would you like to have happen?
When the client responds with an outcome, the coach develops that outcome (see questions above) in such detail that the client gets a thorough sense of it and how it works for them, in whatever way they perceive it.

As a coach, its fascinating to witness the uniqueness of individuals.

The questions are simple.

There is a real knack to using them - how to ask them and what to ask them of - and this requires practice.

When I used them in a 'listening skills' workshop in a Secondary school, the teacher feedback was, "That was so simple, yet profound!" I think that sums up my own view as well.

Oh... one noticeable difference when using a Clean approach, is that the coach repeats back the client's exact words rather than summarising in their own way. Parrot phrasing rather than paraphrasing!

8/5/2012 03:37:14 pm

Thanks, Julie, for providing such 'clean' examples. ;) I can see what you mean by the different form of words and I loved your expression 'parrot phrasing'. :) I'm wondering, as I write, what the pros and cons are of appreciative coaching vs clean coaching. I think it's true that AI leads the client insofar as encouraging the client to envisage a future state that is both attractive and energising. This is similar to solutions-focused coaching which draws the client's attention to that which has worked, is working or will work in the future. Clean coaching looks less leading in this way, although the presence of the coach him or herself and the interaction between coach and client is likely to have a cathartic and/or catalytic effect. It sounds like clean coaching aims to minimise what could be regarded as interference or contamination by the coach's agenda. It sounds like clean coaching, or at least the way you have posed the challenge (which I find helpful), begs the question of the goals of coaching and the relationship between goals and methodologies applied. Thank you for raising such stimulating and thought-provoking issues. Definitely food for further thought. With best wishes. Nick

9/5/2012 12:46:42 pm

Hi Nick,

The 'parrot' term doesn't originate with me.
I expect it's been repeated down the ages (ha! ha!)

I think your point about 'the question of the goals of coaching and the relationship between goals and methodologies applied' hits the nail on the head. (ooow... not a very gentle metaphor!)

Some Clean practitioners use AI as well. Although I know something of AI, I can't say I'm in a position to be able to make any informed comparisons in terms of pros and cons etc but there are people who have knowledge, understanding and experience in both. I can't think who at the moment but when I have that info I'll pass it on to you.

Go well,

Julie

9/5/2012 12:48:33 pm

Thanks Julie. Loved the parrot and 'repeated down the ages' comment. :) Hope we will keep in touch. With best wishes. Nick