Nilambur Panchayat in Kerala is
embarking a Transformation Journey. They are launching a
project called GOOD TO GREAT- a Transformation
Initiative to Eradicate Dowry. The Panchayat in the past
have demonstrated strengths, by becoming the first
Panchayat where everyone has literacy level equal to the
literacy level of class 4.
There are threats and problems related to income, dowry
and harmony. The interesting part of this initiative is
the methodology. We are using Appreciative Inquiry, the
collective inquiry process that is to look at the
strengths and build on that to reach the collective
dreams by focusing and expanding the strengths.
This methodology works well when all the stakeholders of
a system are present or participate in the inquiry
process. In this case of the Panchayath, Government
Officials, Media representatives, Religious leaders and
representatives, Educational leaders, Political party
representatives,NGOs, Women organization
representatives, Students
Representatives of neighborhood groups, and the Members
of Grama Panchayath board are the microcosm
participating in the project.
Good to Great, this three day process happening on 14,
15th and 16th of January will create powerful strategies
and action plans involving everyone in the system. A
dedicated and committed core team that would be formed
in these three days will drive the strategies and action
plans that would eradicate dowry.
We have been using Appreciative Inquiry or organisation
change and team building for sometime now. This is
radically different from other change initiatives as the
focus is on what is working within the system instead of
focusing on problems. It is a concept and approach
conceived and described in the work of Dr. David
Cooperrider and his colleagues at Case Western Reserve’s
school of Organization Behavior. The positive, affirming
nature of Appreciative Inquiry, where people discover
and then build on the root causes of success rather than
dissect problems, can be a powerful stimulus to change.
It’s non-threatening and empowering
Appreciative Inquiry utilizes a 4-stage process focusing
on:
DISCOVER: The identification of organizational processes
that work well.
DREAM: The envisioning of processes that would work well
in the future.
DESIGN: Planning and prioritizing processes that would
work well.
DESTINY (or DELIVER): The implementation (execution) of
the proposed design.
The discovery phase starts with a question like this.
Think of a time when you were on a hugely successful
team, a time that you felt energized, fulfilled and most
effective-when you were able to accomplish even more
than you imagined. What made it such a great team? Tell
the story about the situation, the people involved, and
how the team achieved its breakthrough. This immediately
put the team members into positive mental state.
Remember you tend to see and get what you focus on. Go
back to the day you bought your new car and went out.
Chances are that you saw the same brand of cars more on
that day in the streets.
Once the life giving force in the system, organisation
is identified, the group moves on to the dream phase
where they look at the future and ideal scenarios. Here
we always ask the participants to act out the ideal
future in groups or create presentations.
The once the future is clearly visualized and
established the group moves on to creating processes and
systems that would lead the organisation to the desired
future and create action plans to create the destiny.
I have found that an appreciative inquiry, where people
listen to each other’s stories about micro moments in
organizational life where the best in us is touched, can
create a unique climate for collective dreaming where
the forces of ridicule and repression are momentarily
suspended.
Though we have also done this for smaller teams (around
25 people), the real energy could be tapped only when we
do this as a large group intervention. Imagine Three
hundred people of an organisation going through a two
and half-day offsite where everyone participates to co
create the organisation’s future.
Here you do not have to worry about “cascading down’ the
strategy or change initiative as everyone is present and
contributing already.
- Santhosh Babu
