Personal experience in the organisational setting
From the above description of appreciative inquiry, comes the most striking shift from the early industrial approaches to organisational management. The suggestion of collecting people’s stories shows the valuing of personal experience in the organisational development paradigm. Nilsson (2007) writes of the development of the concept of self-expression in the romantic era, “the unique and subjective flowering of inner exploration, as a central personal, social, and spiritual good” (p. 8). The shift from the traditional suppression of this expression in the workplace (Brown, 2013), to a modern landscape which places value in it, is of great importance in the context of an organisation engaging
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Society needs to build the capacity for repetition—over and over again, forever. (Westley, 2013, p. 3)
The elements of this resilient system are a self-organizing approach, the ability to withstand disruption and retain organisational identity, and a flexibility tied to continuously growing the learning capacity within the organisation (Moore & Westley, 2011). A highly contextually relevant quotation from Westley (2013), relating to this resilience, covers one primary basis for an organisational capacity for social innovation.
Of course, “managing for emergence” is easier in some cultures than others. Some cultures allow ideas to move freely and quickly, combining with other ideas in the kind of bricolage necessary for innovation. Studies of resilience at the community, organizational, and individual levels suggest that these same qualities characterize organizations and communities that are resilient to crisis and collapse. The characteristics that these organizations and communities share are low hierarchy, adequate diversity, an emphasis on learning over blame, room for experimentation, and mutual respect. These are all qualities that support general resilience. If they are attended to, the capacity for social innovation will also increase, creating a virtuous cycle that in turn builds the resilience of the entire society. (p.
Kelley,T. (2005, Oct.). The 10 faces of innovation. Fast Company, 74-77. Retrieved 6th March’ 2014 from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=9&sid=1d6a17b7-c5f7-4f00-bea4 db1d84cbef55%40sessionmgr10&hid=28&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=bth&AN=18386009
Kegan, R. & L. Laskow Lahey. (2009). Immunity to Change: How to overcome it and unlock potential in yourself and your organization. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press.
Kegan, R., & Laskow Lahey, L. (2009). Immunity to change. How to overcome it and unlock the potential in yourself and your organization. Boston: Harvard Business Press.
Resiliency is an important quality for successful leaders to have. However, leaders are often challenged with considerations of “how do I help others navigate the body slams of life? How do I help the organization and people I lead is recovered from changing market conditions, tragic circumstances, perplexing dilemmas? How do I bounce back and how do I help others do the same?” (Dees, 2013, p. 31). These among other considerations present a challenge to the leadership of an organization.
Resiliency is the ability to successfully overcome adversity (Seccombe, 2016). Learning resilience is a lifelong process. Elements at the macro and micro level produce the harsh conditions or recovery mechanisms (Seccombe, 2016). Macro-level elements include political and social systems. Micro-level elements consist of the family system and an individual’s characteristics. Additionally, it is these environmental factors and individual characteristics that foster either resignation or resilience (Seccombe, 2016). The book Louisa (Emmel, 2007), illustrates how a culture’s social policy was restrictive while the family structure and individual characteristics were the protective/recovery means that provided resilience.
An Appreciative Inquiry can be “as formal as a year-long, whole system process involving hundreds of employees and other stakeholder in interviews, dialogue and decision-making, Or it may be as informal as a conversation between a manager and an associate” (Cooperrider, Whitney, & Stavros,2008,p. 101). There are 5Ds- Definition, Discovery, Dream, Design and Destiny (Cooperider and Whitney, 2001) for participants to use in order to implement positive working
Appreciative Inquiry (AI) was pioneered in the 1980s by David Cooperrider and Suresh Srivastva. (TCFAI, 2014) Cooperrider was doing doctorial research under Srivastva at Case Westen Reserve University, using the Cleveland Clinic Foundation as the subject. The organization impressed him because of the cooperative way it functioned. When the Clinic Cooperrider was asked to help turn the hotel around. Instead of changing staff or sending them to training. He sent them to a hotel that was an excellent example of the way a hotel should operate. They then were to list all of the positive things they found, only the positives, no negatives. The staff returned energized and with many ideas. Thus AI was born. AI operates on the assumption that ...
What workers have to learn to be able to adapt to the constantly changing working environment is resilience. To be resilient means to know “how to design and implement positive adaptive behaviors quickly that are m...
Seelos, Christian and Johanna Mair (2012). “What Determines the Capacity for Continuous Innovation in Social Sector Organizations?” Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society
Bushe, G.R. (2011) Appreciative inquiry: Theory and critique. In Boje, D., Burnes, B. and Hassard, J.(eds.) The Routledge Companion To Organizational Change (pp. 87103).Oxford, UK: Routledge.
During my work experience at , I was fortunate enough to have experienced firsthand and learned, many different sides of what goes into a project, the general process of how a project is initially planned, developed and completed; as well as how much work and detail goes into every stage. Another valuable lesson I have learned during these 12 weeks, were the many different types of work an Engineer has to perform, which in turn, have provided me with more insight into the different types of roles and responsibilities that I could perform, as a Civil Engineer.
Resilience is the ability to cope with change. The resilience has long been touted as a essential capability for bouncing back from leadership setbacks. Resilience is not easily attainable in today’s ever-changing business environment. The faith that there will be an immediate solution when it’s not immediately evident, and the tenacity to carry-on despite a nagging gut feeling that the situation is hopeless; it requires courage to achieve such high level of success in one’s career. A strong leader tries to keep away frequent setbacks and new challenges in face of uncertainty. The practical knowledge that he/she gains through this learning experience guide the organization through difficult times.
Understanding all of the steps involved with innovation is essential for an organization to be successful. There are many aspects involved in managing technological innovation. While a technological innovation can help the organization be successful, it is important to consider social responsibility as well. Social responsibility has becoming an increasing more important as society evolves and moves forward. Organizations that desire long term success understand the importance of social responsibility and how it can affect their organization in a positive way, if executed
Establishing resilient communities is vital to maintaining a geographic location’s quality and standard of living. Alexander (2013) defines resilience as a positive reaction or adaptation (p. 2710). The integration of social resilience, economic resilience, institutional resilience, infrastructural resilience, and community capital while understanding how current governance practices influence the extent of their achievability, is essential to creating resilient communities.
The Value of Work Experience A summer or part-time job pays more than money. Even though the money earned is important, the work experience gained has a greater long-term value when one applies for a full-time job after graduation from school. Job application documents (the application blank and the personal data sheet) ask you to list jobs you have held and to list as references the names of individuals who supervised your work. Gieseking and Plawin, 1994, 22.