When people feel pressured by the economic times, they are often doing more with less. They can fall into common pitfalls that can be avoided. They have a number of issues and concerns that absorb the majority of their time and because of they are multi-tasking many important things some things that need to be dealt with getting pushed aside and lead to larger problems later on, such as dealing with conflict or tracking results. They tend to be short on time and feel that they have limited resources and because of this they become short-sighted and only think short term. They fail to recognize that everything that they need is within their reach.

You might think that this is a big claim; however, by using a positive approach to change called Appreciative Inquiry businesses and organizations can get more creative in how they approach uncertainty and the change process. Appreciative Inquiry gives businesses and organizations the permission to dream and design an ideal future by tapping into their greatest resource – their people.

People come from all walks of life carrying with them different levels of knowledge, skills, abilities, and experiences. Imagine what would happen if you tap the into the best experiences and the richness of a person’s story and learn their strengths what that could do for your business or organization. Appreciative Inquiry uses a method of applying what people appreciate and from this, we can discover ways in which we can build it into our current existence and work toward the preferred future.

The process creates a vision for people to believe in and they will have a vested interest in helping your business or organization grow and achieve its goals. This approach gives people an opportunity to participate and engage in a whole new way. This is an opportunity for all levels of an organization to work together and learn together in pursuit of a common vision. Individuals want to believe they can be part of something so much bigger than their current everyday workload. Even though people are working with potentially fewer resources, appreciative inquiry gives them the opportunity to be creative and innovative with a new approach.

We can learn so much by asking positive questions. If people start to vent because they’ve had a poor experience, there is a lesson to be found. They obviously have the vision of what would be the preferred experience. By learning from this experience, and a new way of doing things can be discovered. Skeptics of appreciative inquiry may believe that because we are not focused on the weaknesses and threats facing businesses and organizations that we cannot achieve the greatness of our vision. However, as in positive psychology, you tend to get more of what you focus on. If your focus is on strengths, opportunities, aspirations, and results you will be much further ahead because that’s what you will be focused on.

Business and organizational leaders will learn that they don’t have to do everything by themselves and that their people can be trusted to carry through on the vision with their knowledge, skills, abilities, and most of all experiences. They don’t need to do everything by themselves and be the Lone Ranger. They can delegate to people who are skilled and have the expertise to carry through on projects. It is important for business and organizational leaders to have an understanding of how to do something but it does not mean they need to do it. They spend their time being the employee or the technician they are working in the business or organization versus on it and this will limit their growth. They need to be spending their time where their talents and efforts need to be placed in order for things to grow.

Take time to ask yourself what you appreciate. What are some of your best experiences? How can you learn from them? How would this help you avoid some of the common pitfalls that you catch yourself falling into? If someone gave you the permission to dream, what would you ask for?

DEBRA KASOWSKI, BScN CEC is an award-winning best-selling author, transformational speaker, blogger, and Certified Executive Coach. She has a heart of a teacher and is certified in Appreciative Inquiry and Emotional Intelligence. Her writing has been published in a variety of print and online magazines. Debra Kasowski International helps executives, entrepreneurs, and organizations boost their productivity, performance, and profits. It all starts with people and passion. Sign up the Success Secrets Newsletter and get your free mp3 download today! www.debrakasowski.com