Comments on: Positive Vision and Questions in Libraries

By: Ask better questions – Home | teacherstech.net

Ask better questions – Home | teacherstech.net — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 07:58:37 +0000

[...] a lot recently about the power of questions in creating meaningful change in organizations. I posted earlier about taking a 6 week online class about Appreciative Inquiry. One of the principles of AI states [...]

By: Ask The Right Questions | Information Tyrannosaur

Ask The Right Questions | Information Tyrannosaur — Thu, 24 May 2012 20:12:00 +0000

By: Andy Burkhardt

Andy Burkhardt — Wed, 02 May 2012 19:01:44 +0000

Steven, great article. I love hearing more of that perspective. Interestingly enough, I thought of you when I was digging deeper into AI. AI and more broadly positive organizational development is pretty interdisciplinary and draws on fields of psychology, sociology, medicine, but also design-thinking. Actually IDEO has shifted from not just product design, but to organizational development as well. IF you take a look at this article (page 25) it discussed some of the design influence on the field: Positive Organizational Development. I'd love to explore further some of the similarities and differences between the design thinking process and the AI processes and how those could be used in concert for enacting change.

By: Andy Burkhardt

Andy Burkhardt — Wed, 02 May 2012 18:46:29 +0000

Didi, I really appreciate it. Appreciative Inquiry can be a really useful tool among others to focus on the strengths as opposed to just the problems. It, along with other schools of thought like positive psychology, are focusing not on deficit-based thinking (what’s wrong with us, what’s missing). Instead these schools of thought are a shift in focusing on human flourishing and what are our strengths and what do we look like at our best. It seems more inspirational to me than a “change or die” mentality. Thanks for the comment.

By: Andy Burkhardt

Andy Burkhardt — Wed, 02 May 2012 18:41:38 +0000

Mary, I can understand your shifting out of librarianship because of the hand-wringing. I think that it can be frustrating, but I also think you raise a great point about telling positive stories. I think that can be a way to combat the negativity. Peter Drucker said “the task of leadership is to create an alignment of strengths, making our weaknesses irrelevant.” There are so many positive things libraries do and so many strengths. We just need to work to align them and drown out the (sometimes vocal) weaknesses.

By: StevenB

StevenB — Wed, 02 May 2012 17:46:30 +0000

Once again we are having a similar perspective on a library issue.I shared my thoughts about steering away from the negativity and instead staying focused on what we do well – and how that helps us to succeed (albeit with more of a higher ed flavor).
http://bit.ly/IEFHTr

I had not thought much about an AI approach, so thanks for sharing some of your workshop experience.

AI might be one path to creating the necessary focus and I will pay more attention to it. BTW, the Weatherhead School is one of the few B-schools that integrates design thinking into its curriculum (though I don’t think there is a connection between DT and AI). We have a faculty member from Weatherhead who started a design & innovation center at our B-school – and we have developed a relationship with them – so we are learning more about the design approach. I think it offers another path to stay focused on the good work we do and will help us answer confront our wicked problems.

By: Didi Yunginger

Didi Yunginger — Wed, 02 May 2012 13:36:52 +0000

I always enjoy your posts, Andy, but like this one especially. Hadn’t come across Appreciative Inquiry – at least not by that name. But interesting and I appreciate the relationship to librarianship. I come to this a little peripherally – from the agency part of the information ecosystem. But in the big picture we’re dealing, obviously, with the same issues and I believe we have the same opportunities to see potential vs. obstacle. Thanks!

By: Mary Evangeliste

Mary Evangeliste — Tue, 01 May 2012 22:32:16 +0000

Hi Andy !
I too enjoy the Appreciative Inquiry model. I was introduced to it by my boss at American University Library.We used it at AU for strategic planning.Some people think it is wimpy but I think it is great! I also now use it in my consulting practice. One of the reasons that I am no longer a librarian full time is all the hand wringing and worry that you speak of… I just could not stand it anymore. I think if we could tell more compelling positive stories about the library we would be less in a pickle. But before we can tell exciting stories we have to get out of this negativity that some, but not all librarian adhere to…

By: Andy Burkhardt

Andy Burkhardt — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 20:17:27 +0000

Sarah, I really enjoyed that post you linked to. I love how they were dreaming up what a great discovery service would look like. We often get caught up in the day to day of having to implement things without understanding why. Like you said it is just constantly solving problems. Instead exercises like the one you shared allow us to articulate a positive vision of the future together. When you have that shared positive vision and keep it alive, you are not just solving problems, your working to make the vision a reality! Thanks for sharing that post.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 18:52:21 +0000

Great post, Andy! I write over at Chasing Reference, and my co-blogger Amy made a great post along these lines ( http://chasingreference.wordpress.com/2012/04/30/this-isnt-what-i-thought-it-was/ ). Along with a colleague, she asked a group of librarians to design the entire information ecosystem from scratch. These kind of exercises can help librarians to envision a positive future rather than just focusing on one problem after another!