by Sarah Kear Peel
Appreciative Inquiry helps teams focus on what is possible
For a description of the Appreciative Inquiry approach, please visit my earlier posting: Glass Half Full or Half Empty?
I have had the pleasure of working with several social entrepreneurs at the start-up phase of their development. Banyan Tree was one of them. The three founders met while working on a project bringing inner-city youth, green buildings and job training together. Banyan Tree’s idea was to form a business that specialized in “deconstruction waste management”. As construction and demolition sites produced a lot of re-usable waste, they saw a business opportunity in the collection and reselling of this waste. They also saw an opportunity to train youth for the emerging green collar job market. What they had going for them was passion, a wide-open market, a great network of contacts, and a wealth of ideas about what to do next. What they didn’t have was a unified vision and funding.
They asked me to help them create a focused vision that they all could rally around, and to map out specific plan of action that would lead them to the outcomes they wanted (i.e. a profitable, well-run business plus social and environmental benefits). I used an Appreciative Inquiry approach to help them Discover the best of their prior experiences, Dream their vision, and Design their roadmap. This approach not only served to solidify Banyan Tree as a team, but also allowed them to go about strategic planning in a structured, yet reflective, affirmative, and dare I say, fun way. By focusing on their Bright Spots, they created a strong foundation to build on for the next steps of their enterprise.
© 2012 
