Optimum Interventions

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What's wrong with overlap?

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 01:09:00 +0000

Almost everyday I read material that posits 'overlap' as similar if not identical to 'duplication'. Both must be eradicated, particularly if notions of 'total place' are to be achieved, we are told. But, I pose this question; what's wrong with 'overlap'? Think a little more deeply about this casual use of the terms. Without some overlap between services and agencies we get hard edges, boundaries, cracks, nay chasms - and what can fall between those cracks and hard edges? The client/consumer/citizen/customer's needs. So, duplication does need to be eradicated. It is wasteful of scarce resources. Reasonable overlap on the other hand is fine. The next time you are near a bicycle have a look at its chain - every single link overlaps. I've ridden racing bikes for over 40 years and never had a chain break...

Sustaining Energy During Transitions

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 01:34:00 +0000

"Assume what motivates you, motivates others."

Change, the transition from one state to another, for an individual or an organisation, brings with it uncertainty and is invariably more complex and troubling than we might first expect.

As leaders and managers we can't presume we have people's trust at the start of the change. We have to earn trust and then we can mobilise people to the cause. Once moving, people will look to us for steadiness and competence - perhaps even a surefootedness in the turbulence of a changing situation.

Having character and the capacity to engage fully with the complexity of the transition helps to earn people's trust in us as the promoters of change in pursuit of improvement. But, much more is required of us in these evermore demanding roles.

To really move people we must give a voice to their own desires, to inspire them to deliver better. To do this requires the creation of a shared vision, which is a vital element in uniting people to navigate through the sometimes choppy waters of major transitions. We can really shift organisations if we give voice to people's own hopes about what their team or organisation is all about and capable of delivering. The vision pronounced from on high will never do the same job as the one co-created by and through engaged employees.

As leaders we need an authentic core; an inner steel of honesty and integrity that is evidenced by our consistent behaviour, particularly under pressure. The 'rules' apply to us just as much as they do to 'front-line' colleagues. Humility, i.e. not being arrogant or condescending, is closely allied to honesty in inspiring people to follow the lead we offer. We are not perfect, who is, and these qualities are not about perfection, they speak to a different imperative, that of excellence, doing the right thing, exhibiting sound judgement and being collaborative.

So, if we are seeking to inspire people to do the extraordinary, the different and the difficult, what are some of the ways to motivate others?

Start with the truth. Confront reality. Set high expectations and aspirations and march pragmatically from reality towards that aspiration. Along the way, remind people how far they have come and how much closer they are to achieving their goals.

Get excited about doing something really grand. People can work with an intensity and passion with the knowledge that they are achieving something rare and marvellous.

Respect people and find ways for them to make a contribution.

Adhere to simple values; honesty, fairness, generosity - and don't compromise your standards or ask others to.

Talking to people once a quarter isn't enough. You have to repeat messages of direction, inspiration and comfort daily in a variety of forms. Constant and consistent communication helps people to feel part of the team and respected.

Helping people to try things that are personally 'risky' is a tough motivational challenge.We can't and shouldn't want to eliminate all risks but we do want people to go into the uncomfortable space where they and their organisations can achieve extraordinary results. We do this through open and frank discussion about the likelihood of success; clear roles and accountabilities; by spreading risk across the team and organisation and by providing visible and confident support regardless of the end result.
And finally, we need to move quickly towards a goal, particularly if it involves pain. Time is frequently not a friend. Consensus building might not work. So give people permission to move fast and make some mistakes, as long as the actions are in keeping with the organisation's values. Speed damps down resentment, turf issues and paralysis by analysis.

Good luck.

Strengths-based development

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 01:01:00 +0000

People make organisations work well. Not the procedures, processes, structures or governance mechanisms. These elements can all assist, as well as frustrate, the effective working of an organisation, but they rarely if ever play the pivotal role that people do in delivering what an organisation is about.

Our coaching and thought-support work with clients invariably tells us that the deficit or weakness-centred approach to individual and organisational development is strong and worryingly prevalent. It is easy to get stuck in our old ways of thinking. It is also easy to get stuck in our relationships and act in the same way as we always have done. As the saying goes, "if you keep on doing what you have always done, you will keep on getting what you've always got!" In too many cases that means focusing on what's wrong with the organisation, the weaknesses of the individual and the measures required to make things better.

Now, sometimes there really is something worrying in the performance of a team, service or individual and an intervention needs to take place. We recognise that. Often that can take the form of a rapid change of personnel or the creation of a new procedure. Yet, often that proves to be the short-term palliative, not the long-term salvation. Why is this? Well, one reason might be that the positive core of that person or team has simply not been explored and captured because of the concentration on problems. Another reason is that individuals are so inured to the problem-fixing mode of operation that their strengths and talents, the activities that make best use of their talents, and their positive core are not recognised or valued.

Now, many times everything works just fine, but sometimes the person or service could benefit from a small 'nudge,' e.g. some new perspectives, a sharper focus, increased creativity or refreshed energy levels. When these moments occur one way is to invite an external advisor for a time to support the person or team to move forward. We believe that the “experts” are the people in the organization, and we can support them by creating different contexts that encourage people to understand their talents and strengths, to use their skills in new ways, and help people to co operate and become proud of what they are doing. These contexts help people to gather new perspectives and to refresh energy levels, make new commitments and engage with colleagues differently.

Working with strengths-based methods and exploring what works well in the organization instead of focusing at the “problem” pays dividends in our experience. It requires a degree of 're-programming' for the people involved but methods like Gallup's Strengthsfinder, solutions-oriented appraisals and the SOAR strategic planning model (Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, Results) offer new and exciting ways to optimise organisational and people talents.
Our work creates safe and creative environments for personal and service development; environments where people feel they are valued, important and where everyone has something to add to the whole.

This shift of perspective from the problem-centred to the positive and strength focused gives people an opportunity to be proud of what they are doing and feel that they are important contributors to the organisation's goals. When people feel valued and have the potential to use and increase their personal strengths they also become more engaged, accept greater responsibility and increase their ability to see new perspectives and others views.

We create learning opportunities where people can learn about and appreciate their talents, feel that they are important and skillful and learn how to combine their talents with colleagues'. We find when this happens weaknesses frequently become irrelevant.

Contact us to discuss how strength based personal and team development could improve customer and employee satisfaction and results in your organization.

Visit our website at http://www.optimuminterventions.co.uk/

Embracing External Accountability

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 20:13:00 +0000

Reflecting on change as our clients continue to develop their approaches to transforming their organisations - structures, processes and service quality - for some, the power of external overview and scrutiny can be highly influential in driving improvement in service quality and reshaping external relationships.

In discussing aspects of organisational change, such as 're-engineering' and business process improvement, by embracing external political accountability to build support for change, Mark Moore says in 'Creating Public Value (1995), once their (i.e. organisational leaders) purposes are linked to the expectations and demands of powerful overseers standing behind them, their strategic visions cease being the idiosyncratic views of transient figureheads: they become, instead, a 'reality' to which the organisation has to respond."

Moore also argues that, "once armed with a powerful external constituency demanding the changes they want to make, the task of changing their organisation becomes much easier." He suggests that managers who reject accountability risk subsequent disaster by losing touch with the important values that politicians want expressed through their organisations' operations. "They get too far away from an important kind of 'customer'. Similarly, by resisting accountability, managers lose some of their ability to challenge the organisations they lead...they become vulnerable to their own subordinates' desires to be protected from demands for change...the net effect is to reduce the organisation's responsiveness and value to citizens and (the) overseers."

Moore concludes his section on embracing the external accountability by saying, "if managers seek strategic changes in organisations, embracing accountability seems to be an important tool. Without such an embrace, managers confront their organisations alone. With it, managers can focus the massed force of public expectations for change on the organisation - a far more advantageous position."

All of us working in and around the public sector, and our associated partners and stakeholders, now prepare for the inevitable public sector expenditure reductions, as the Prime Minister will announce tomorrow in a speech and the main opposition party have been gradually testing public responses to. As we do prepare, we might usefully think how best to garner the power of external accountability as one of the drivers of change in our organisations that those cuts (assuming they cannot be resisted) will foster, without somehow damaging irreparably the improvements in performance many have achieved in recent years.

A Map of Appreciative Work in the UK

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 20:36:00 +0000

Last Friday, 6th March, along with colleagues of the UK's AI Network, I began to construct a 'map' of our work across the UK, and into Europe. Whilst 'map' might be too grand a term, i.e. I filled a wall with flip chart paper and loosely allocated pieces of our work to a rough geographic outline, the potential of this piece nonetheless struck us as quite significant for a number of reasons.

What prompted me to offer this as one of our activities for the Network's programme that day, was a conversation with a colleague at the December Network session, (Lena Holmberg) where we talked about how those carrying out AI work in the UK (and other places) could make a disproportionate contribution to the transformation of the country's institutions and communities if we could connect to those who we need to influence most. Then, recommend and use AI as the vehicle for deep, lasting and sustainable change, rather than some of the more mechanistic or manufacturing-based models of change that seem to bring with them the promise of programmatic, plan-do-review type ease yet tend to reduce the complex to the merely complicated, (although none of us would take the complicated and make it complex of course!). The premise is that with so much appearing to be 'broken', it is the call to the positive core, the search for good and what works, and the power of the appreciative questions that will provide more hope for the near future and have a profound impact.

Our map therefore was the start of what we think could be an initiative that will grow to encompass many more areas than the UK, capturing the good work going on, frequently by one or two individuals who are oftentimes not connected to other colleagues as we are fortunate to be in the UK via our Network, and making a difference through appreciative and strength-based techniques. As Lena said in an article in this month's AI Practitioner, "picture what we could do if we were to work as one sparkling and tight network." Indeed.

Mapping what is already happening and has been happening for some time in the UK and beyond, might also provide us as practitioners with a picture of the wider scope of appreciative work that we can share with clients and prospective clients when they ask about examples of AI in practice. We have a growing number of case studies now that add to the richness of the US and global library of working examples. The development of the networkplace.eu web site also provides a forum for the burgeoning European AI scene.

There is obviously more work to do here, not least is the need to convert this basic work from flip chart to an electronic mode and to make it interactive, allowing colleagues to annotate and develop the map as they go. There is too the exciting potential of not just recording what is happening but to infer something more and perhaps use the information to plan, and achieve that "profound impact" our colleague Lena talks of.

If you are interested in sharing your appreciative and strength-based thinking and work, the next AI Network meeting is in June, probably in central London. The networkplace.eu site now has over 325 registrations of AI practitioners and the Europan Network meets in Barcelona in April. Do make contact.

Inauguration Speech and Appreciative Inquiry

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 19:51:00 +0000

Spurred on by a good friend who visits this blog and tells me that she enjoys the posts on it,(thanks Anna), and by my obvious lack of recent activity, I have been motivated to pay it attention again.

For those who occasionally find their way here - for which many thanks, and do, please, leave a comment now and then - I am happy to share with you my strong belief that in Barack Obama we have a leader of massive potential (no startling insight from me there) with deep ethics, and with an approach to the role that offers leadership of an appreciative nature.

His inauguration speech talked of "reaffirming our enduring spirit...choose our better history...carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness". These phrases all speak to the Positive Core that Appreciative Inquiry (AI)asks us to inquire into and find as part of transforming our communities and organisations and indeed nations.

His talk of reaffirming the greatness of his nation through earning it, and his noting that those who earned it for the USA were frequently "men and women obscure in their labour who carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom" really talks to the Discovery of those people and attributes that make our communities and organisations as strong as they are, and hold the key to making them even stronger and more successful in the future.

The affirmation from him that ambitions (or Dreams perhaps?) are realised "...when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage" suggested to me that for all of us, change requires clear ambition to be present, and people freed to exercise those attributes in pursuit of that ambition. The very strong 'Destiny' that AI drives us to deliver on the Dreams we have.

Later on he spoke of how "the question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works...". Throughout he posited appreciative choices and also rejected false choices, such as those "between our safety and our ideals" citing those ideals as lighting the world and "not being given up for expedience's sake."

And so it went, realistic, not doom laden as some would have it, calling often to the Positive Core; rediscovering aspects of his country's greatness; relating more to fairness and justice than "greed and irresponsibility" and calling people to a "new era of responsibility". There was no 1933 Rooseveltian phrase of "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself" kind, nor Kennedy's "ask not..." phrase, so perhaps we are to read that the time for soaring rhetoric has come and gone, for now, to be replaced by calls to appreciatively rediscover what works well and grow towards those things. I hope so.

His inauguration speech, critiqued by one writer as "virtuosic in its sincere, magisterial gloom", struck me as much richer than that, and AI has assisted me to appreciate its richness all the more I think.

Keep on Returning to Your Strengths

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:17:00 +0000

We just keep on returning strengths, because so much of what is good that we see in organisational life can be tracked back to people using their talents and strengths rather than slavishly developing or eradicating their so called 'weaknesses'.

Dr John Hunt is quoted in Buckingham and Clifton thus:

Concentrating on people's strengths...this and only this, will be the major differentiator for organisations in the future."

And Peter Drucker had it this way:

"Most people do not know what their strengths are. When you ask them, they look at you with a blank stare, or they respond in terms of subject knowledge, which is the wrong answer."

Our executive coaching is based firmly on talents and strengths for the individual and team. It can take quite some time for clients, and their managers, to really let go of deficit models and tune in to their strengths. One client of ours worked assiduously on understanding their talents and turning them into true strengths via practical activities that improved their performance and that of their team. Yet, even after a year of work, the deficit model is so strong in that organisation that our client still feels driven to find and excise his weaknesses because that's what his manager demands of him, to prove he his getting value from coaching.

Our response? Understand the pressure he is under and acknowledge the paradigm the organisation works to, and help him to keep finding those real-world activities that let his talents shine and become long-term, sustainable strengths for him and the organisation. Not because it makes him happy, although it more often does, or because we deny his manager's view, which we appreciate the genesis of, but because those talent and strength-based activities deliver more effective performance, more often and to a higher standard than 'weakness fixing' ever does.

To financial hell in a hand-cart

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 23:04:00 +0000

Like many, I have been viewing the virtual meltdown of much of the world's banking system with a strange sense, almost of awe, at the complete mess, the 'perfect storm' of apparent ineptitude and venality, that so many have displayed at all levels of the governmental, regulatory and operational elements of the international banking system.

As I watch in horror as the almost unmanaged, or at least unmitigated, risks occur with frightening pace and certainty, I ask myself did any of these institutions have even the most rudimentary of risk registers?

Now, I am agnostic at best when having to deal with the burgeoning risk universe that so many of our change efforts collide with at times. Yet, I do have a very strong sense that the pro-active identification and management of risk in so many of our previously trusted financial institutions was almost completely lacking or, even worse, ignored in the headlong pursuit of 'easy' profit. What other explanation can there be for part of what we are experiencing? And indeed we are experiencing this - not observing it, and will do for years to come.

Setting aside the admittedly at times arcane issue of risk, and whilst people's pensions and investments dissolve by the minute (mine included), I find I am drawn to the writings of those who see the world through different eyes. Those with appreciative insights to offer in these worrying and uncertain times, as new financial paradigms have to be fashioned in days rather than months or years.

Dan Saint and Jackie Stavros wrote several years ago in their short paper, Strategic Planning and Sustainability: Socially Constructing a New Corporate Purpose, the following:

"Imagine a sustainable world where humanity meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Business provides the goods and services needed by consumers in a way beneficial to all stakeholders. The world's vast wealth is equitably distributed to all people. We on Earth are working towards that future today."

Indeed we are, or some of us at least. For change to happen, David Cooperrider talks of "change at the scale of the whole". Well, perhaps as the 'experts' refashion our financial systems they might consider getting the 'whole system in the room' and engage in some powerful, face-to-face conversations with those who have been let down and who would share a very different guiding image of a future. For the future we need people who, as Peter Drucker put it, "transform not perform."

Seeing Systems - Barry Oshry

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 21:20:00 +0000

Meeting with a client last week for an executive coaching session, it was rewarding to have my client use a quote from a publication I mentioned to him several years ago, i.e. Seeing Sytems, by Barry Oshry. I think this book is an excellent 'primer' for anyone navigating the turbulent waters of change. Here's the quote:

There is no "We,"
There is no "Them,"
There is only You
and Me
and all of Us
And then the Dance begins

I'm involved in quite a few 'Dances' at the present. How do we 'see' the dances when we are in them?

"We can monitor our own behaviour. We can coach one another. We can take a stand for partnership. We can pay attention to our feelings.

Effective conversations

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 23:29:00 +0000

In seeking some inspiration to assist in the conversations I'm having, particularly about change, in and around client organisations, I turned, as I have in the past, to Meg Wheatley's excellent book, 'Turning to One Another - simple conversations to restore hope to the future'. Her advice to us in trying to host meaningful conversations it to practice several new behaviours through a number of principles. These are:

We acknowledge one another as equals

We try to stay curious about each other

We recognise that we need each other's help to become better listeners

We slow down so we have time to think and reflect

We remember that conversation is the natural way humans think together

We expect it to be messy at times

As Wheatley says, "the practice of conversation takes courage, faith and time. We don't get it right first time, and we don't have to... as we risk talking to each other about something we care about, as we become curious about each other, as we slow things down, gradually we remember this timeless way of being together. Our rushed and thoughtless behaviours fade away, and we sit quietly in the gift of being together, just as we have always done."

How frequently do we make the time and have the courage to slow down, reflect, recognise those behaviours that keep us apart, ostensibly in the name of being a hard-headed 'leader' or change 'manager?' We've actually been rewarded in the past for behaviours that keep us apart, e.g. speaking too fast, interrupting others, giving speeches or pronouncements, and people reach positions of influence and power through their use too. Yet these behaviours do not lead to quality thought or healthy relationships - they tend more to drive us apart and keep us apart.

Using the principles above and returning to more effective behaviours to host meaningful conversations must be a goal for all of us who have the responsibility to lead organisations through change.

Gordon Loraine - 60th Anniversary tribute

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 17:29:00 +0000

Today, Tuesday 29th January, represents the 60th anniversary of the date my late father, (Thomas) Gordon Loraine, started his career in local government. He served the people of several communities in the north-east of England and in Hertfordshire for 40 years, before taking an early 'retirement' to begin another career in the commercial sector and finally run an antiques business with my mother.

It's easy when times are as fast-paced as they are now, and our lives seemingly lacking in sufficient time and space for reflection, to forget what it takes to build and sustain a long and successful career in any field, let alone local government service. A service, which despite the cheap shots that many commentators and 'phone-in' 'pundits' take at it, remains as relevant, valuable and necessary now as it was in 1948; a time when the country was rebuilding after the war and its people suffering quite severe deprivations.

I became aware of and started to understand this thing called 'local government' quite early on in my teens. I came to learn about it variously as something that my father did, spoke of, and as a place where he went daily (and in the evenings for committee meetings) that I didn't see yet I gradually appreciated its purpose. I was able to join him at times in my school holidays, helping out in the post room of Bushey Urban District Council. That was followed by longer pieces of more official holiday work and then a permanent post when I joined Hertsmere District Council, as it had become after local government reorganisation in 1974, from my first authority, the London Borough of Brent.

I was very fortunate to have my father as a mentor in those early years in local government, and more latterly as a keen supporter and enourager of my intentions take a risk and set up a company when I was reaching my most productive years as a senior officer. That shift of career has worked out so far, and to his passing day my father retained an avid interest in how the local governance field was changing and developing. He did often though comment that whilst he recognised the general structure of local government, its various and many recent changes had rendered it quite a mysterious place to him at times - a notion many of my current clients might subscribe to!

There are a number of enduring values and attributes that I learnt from my father and try to practice in the way he did; values such as fairness, the need for balance and to seek to exercise sound judgement, and attributes like self-reliance and personal resilience. He taught me those things early on and as my career developed, in some ways mirroring his, they have stood me in good stead. A career that for me has now passed the 30 years mark, both in permanent roles and now in leading a company that provides services for local government.

So, 60 years has passed since Gordon Loraine first walked into the then Seaham UDC Council Offices, and as I walk through the door of the County Hall where I have an assignment today, I shall offer a silent word of thanks to my father, for introducing me to local government, and on behalf of all of those he served and worked with, for the fantastic and unsung service he gave for those 40 years.

Emotions affect your thinking - more support for appreciative approaches

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 22:44:00 +0000

Reading Fisher and Shapiro's new book, Beyond Reason, we found more support for the appreciative view of life delivering more and better, this time in negotiations. Consider this:"When you feel disappointment or anger, your head clogs with negative thoughts. You may criticise yourself or blame others. Negative thinking crowds out space in your brain for learning, thinking, and remembering. In fact, some negotiators become so wrapped up in their own emotions and thoughts that they fail to hear their conterpart make an important concession.When you feel positive emotions, in contrast, your thoughts often centre on what's right about you, others, or ideas. With little anxiety that you will be exploited, your thinking becomes more open, creative, and flexible. You become inclined not to reject ideas but to invent workable options."

Even the bad times...

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 07:00:00 +0000

I'm reading an excellent collection of essays and articles by wilderness author and mountaineer Cameron Mc Neish. A short description of a particularly difficult moment on a climb struck me as insightful; describing a few moments of very hard and committing climbing in a wilderness area, knowing he could not reverse his moves to escape, not being certain of the terrain ahead and appreciating that he was many miles from any assistance if things went wrong, he got through the moves ok and the vista thus revealed to him was a fabulous one. His reflection on those very tense moments was that "...even the bad times can offer teachable moments in which we can grow and further equip ourselves from that great storehouse known as experience." Words that should resonate for many more than just mountaineers!

Understanding your Value

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 21:50:00 +0000

Just a short piece today. Gary Younge, writing in the Guardian on 29.10.07 about politics in USA at the moment, made a statement that struck me as having a much wider relevance to those active in leadership roles. He wrote. "All politics is negotiation. It goes without saying that if you set your price too high, or walk away too soon, you could miss out on a great deal. It is equally self-evident that if you set your price too low, or your counterpart knows you will never walk away, you will sell out far too cheaply. But there are few as powerful in negotiation as those who understand their value and are prepared to walk away."

Strengths not Deficits

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 21:21:00 +0000

I was working with one of our coaching clients today and a description of how his organisation at times tended to respond elaborately to presenting matters, paying attention to the problems and looking for the quickest fixes, reminded me of the developing debate around strengths and deficits.

Many of our actions as managers and leaders seem to be prompted by a failure or 'deficit' and too often we are encouraged to believe that action to reduce those deficits is the key purpose of or value from our role, i.e. the need 'to put things right.' Indeed, our own managers and leaders almost demand our value is exhibited by the number of 'fixes' and solutions we implement.

Our work with the strengths approach suggests there is another way; that by concentrating more on the organisation's talents and strengths, by recognising and nurturing those strengths and using them in an environment that appreciates what works well, and to do more of those things, you will cope better with most of the deficits. You will also cope in a more calm and organised manner when the inevitable 'crises' hit. Strengths-led organisations don't ignore problems, or 'wicked issues', it is important to recognise and record them. And then put your people's talents to work to develop strengths and thus reduce the deficits.

Its' not always an easy route to take; if it was, more organisations would consciously be acting in this way. It demands persistence of effort and consistent behaviours, sometimes under the pressure to act very differently, both in the context of having a clear and compelling vision. A vision that demands of leaders and senior managers that they concentrate as much attention as practicable on the important and significant over the immediate.

We would recommend looking at the work of the late Donald O. Clifton, and also Marcus Buckingham of the Gallup Organisation, for a clear exposition of the strengths approach to individual and organisational development.

Appreciative Inquiry Masterclass

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 21:40:00 +0000

I had the honour and pleasure this week to attend a masterclass in Appreciative Inquiry facilitated by David Cooperrider, the co-founder of AI. It was a full and energising day, covering the science and application of an approach to change that our company is using more frequently. Indeed, for the past three years and more our commitment to and use of AI in corporate, team and individual settings has been a growing feature of our interventions.

The material used by David Cooperrider was up to the minute, and whilst not yet available for wider use, several of his presentations are available on the AI Commons website at Case Western Reserve University. This an excellent, free, resource for use by anyone interested in learning about and using AI.

Our recent applications of AI have been at the corporate level with Nottingham City Council's vision programme and with the West Midlands Fire Service's management board, who are implementing the classic AI 4-D approach to their visioning work. These are both ground-breaking pieces of work by the respective organisations.

For more information on this work and other exciting uses of AI, please contact us on 01827 331331

Steve Loraine

Welcome to the Oi blog

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 09:58:00 +0000

Welcome to Optimum Interventions Ltd and our new blog. It's a pleasure to be able to share thoughts quickly and continue the healthy daily dialogue we have with our clients and colleagues. This blog will also help us to add news and thoughts to our website offering in a more accessible format than our enewsletter.

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 14:53:00 +0000

Welcome to the new Optimum Interventions Blog!