This month has flown by.  Last month we mentioned that we are going to the World AI Conference to present an important project -  a large scale inquiry (over 4000 people)  with an K-12 system in the US. We leave in two days as put this newsletter to bed!  

We are feeling the warmth of spring urging us to go outside an experience the goodness, that feeling you get when everything seems new. Change we love.  Before long it will be summer - in the desert. Change we might not love so much and some not at all.

The angst of change is all around of. More than a decade ago I recall an employee telling me, "I don't want any more change"!  I think we all feel that at times.

Jim Pulliam, who is a retired college president reflecting upon his leadership role, told me that so often the conversation centered around "things, buildings, material, resources. But, not much about what was most important - the collective WE. That is what he identified as the importance of an Inquiry - it is not necessarily about the outcomes, but about providing  VOICE".   What do you want more of?    Tell me a story?   It is about us, all of us." Our presentation focus  is Bibb County Schools and they are experiencing the positive and the negative of change.  They are getting quite a bit of press lately and we see this as a time to look at the larger picture of education in the U.S. and in the world - the urgency, the complexity and how out of balance we in our ability to collaborate and dialogue. What narrative do we want to be part of and to leave as our legacy?  We encourage you to read the short articles

"There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things." ~ Niccolo Machiavelli

~ Yours friends at the Company of Experts

Company of Experts is pleased to introduce its newest Certified Appreciative Inquiry Facilitators (CAIF) to its growing AI family. 

The individual(s) listed below participated in our 4-day Appreciative Inquiry Facilitator Training (AIFT) program and submitted a practicum demonstrating their knowledge and application of Appreciative Inquiry. In reading their practicums, we are able to celebrate in their achievements and observe how Appreciative Inquiry has positively influenced their lives - personally and professionally.

• James Blades, "Stories to Build Dreams Upon"
• Rebecca Blackwell, "Community Assistance Program (CAP): Valuing Where You Work"
• Cynthia Fry and Anna Marie Butrie, "Utilizing AI in a System-Wide Capacity"
• Rev. Katherine Chepulis, "Expanding Our Data Toolkit"
• Stephen Gray, "Power of Support, Appreciation, and Positive Communication"
• Marguerite Sacco Turner, "Creating an Innovative and Creative Team, Empowered and Willing to Embrace Organizational Transformation"
• Paul MacLeod and Rebecca Hatherley, "Working Well Together"  

New practicums are frequently posted to our blog, so check back often to see what new stories have been posted. Click here for more practicums.  

Read an issue of our "Words Create Worlds" (WCW) - a periodical compilation of success stories collected from AIFT participants from around the world. Words Create Worlds illustrates how AIFT participants have used words to help shape their world and the world of others - resulting in positive change.

If you wish to read our WCW publications, please click here.

In the previous blog entry, I pondered how Appreciative Inquiry (AI), as a philosophy, transcends the duality of "positive" and "negative". On a slightly different note; however, I have been thinking how one might stay true to the principles of AI when the "going gets tough".

Say, for example, one experiences a number of challenges in one's life. For argument's sake, say a loved one dies, a relationship ends, one is in an accident, one is physically hurt, one's computer crashes days before a deadline is due, one's apartment floods, etc. Say all of these things happen pretty much at the same time (as it did for me). Can one stay honest AND inquire appreciatively into the situation? Is AI simply a nice perspective for sunshine days or is it a real life philosophy applicable in any given situation? Read Full Article>> 

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend a free webinar. While I found the webinar helpful, and the presenter engaging, there was one word that the presenter used that did not resonate well with me. This particular word still bothers me even after having a week to reflect on it.  As an employee, a graduate student in a management program, a labor union activist and later as a Human Resources Manager, I always found this word troublesome.  The word I am referring to is "subordinate". As an HR manager and union leader, I often encountered the word in contract negotiations, company handbooks, professional development articles, renowned publications, and conversations with executive leadership.

For the past several years I have had the opportunity to teach a 4-day Appreciative Inquiry Facilitator Training� (AIFT), offered by the Center for Appreciative Inquiry. Over the course of that time, I have learned how powerful language is. Language "can be inclusive, exclusive, demeaning, respectful, hostile, rewarding, judging, caring and oppositional.  It can incite and unite." As a result I am mindful of the words I use in my daily life - including electronically (e.g. email, text message, tweets), which can be easily overlooked. Read Full Article>> 

For those of you who are in education and attending the WAIC in Belgium, I encourage you to attend the session on the 4500 person summit that Bibb County Schools (Macon, GA) hosted to develop a strategic plan to design a new education system that works: The Macon Miracle.

This effort is highly controversial in the city where it is happening. It is charged to begin with because the new superintendent, Dr. Romain Dallemand, is creating transformative change-people resist radical change (that's natural). It is further charged by politics and race-in case any of you have seen or read the news coming from Macon, GA, USA.

The superintendent and his team are truly working for a miracle in systems change. They are leading at the systems level and Appreciative Inquiry and self-efficacy and positivity are at the heart of implementing evidence-based educational strategies, engaging the whole, and empowering students, teachers, parents, and administrators. But when people don't understand the concepts that are behind the changes, fear drives their actions. This is threatening a lot of folks, scaring a lot of folks, and totally confusing many. Read Full Article>>

• Improve navigation within and amongst each website to allow users to quickly find the content they are looking for;
• Enhance support and provide information to answer your most common questions;
• Update our website with relevant articles, resources, and events on a consistent basis.  
• Provide a greater emphasis on the range of products and services we offer.
• Expand ways in which we communicate with the World by embracing Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Skype and other social media outlets.  

Our websites have the same url address. If you have our websites bookmarked, you may need to delete them and then re-bookmark our site. We invite you to browse our websites. While they are still in the process of having information added to them, we welcome feedback on how we can improve our websites to better serve you.

*NEW* Company of Experts, Inc. -- View New Website>> 

*NEW* Center for Appreciative Inquiry -- View New Website>> 

*NEW* Department Chair Institute (DCI) -- View New Website>> 

*NEW* Leadership Development Institute (LDI) -- View New Website>> 

• Positive Renewal: Can You Even Keep Going? (Case Western) Leadership is hard, but can be very rewarding. Fortunately, the human body and mind have a built mechanism for renewal in the experiences of hope, mindfulness, compassion and playfulness. 
• Building Critical Thinking Skills to Enhance Employee Comprehension and Decision Making (Majorium) Through inquiry, employees can use questions to help foster a deeper understanding of material, information, key concepts or issues.    
• Embracing What's Wrong to Get to What's Right (HBR Blog) When you acknowledge that status quo or the old way is no longer working, it makes room for innovation; creativity; and opportunity. Appreciative inquiry (focusing on what's right) helps you move from old methods of thinking to create inspiring, collaborative processes that empower others.
• Active and Passive Learning in Organizations (The Performance Improvement Blog) Engaging your staff through action learning techniques, such as appreciative inquiry, is a great way to help them understand their roles and how they support the organization's goals.
• Helping, Fixing, or Serving? (Daily Good) Did you know there's a difference between helping, fixing, and serving? Service is not an experience of strength or expertise; service is an experience of mystery, surrender and awe. Appreciative Inquiry has been used successfully to help organizations, leaders, and staff serve others.
• Train Your Brain to Focus (HBR Blog) Tame your focus, apply the brakes, and shift your mindset---the 3 steps to gaining better clarity. Appreciative inquiry is another tool that can help you and the organization you work for gain clarity and focus. 

Department of Veterans Affairs, Employee Education System (EES) is conducting "Market Research" ONLY for the Educational services of a vendor who facilitation methodology is relevant and has immediate and direct real-life applications that have specifically tailored to the unique culture within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). The purpose of the Joint VA/DOD Airborne Hazards Symposium is to disseminate lessons learned to health care teams (and other stakeholders) and bring key subject matter and policy experts together to guide a joint response on post-deployment health related issues that is being developed jointly by the two Departments.

The contractor shall provide all labor, supervision and other resources required to Facilitate VA and DOD staff involved in treatments regarding Airborne Hazards in Formulating communications to inform current practices and improve future efforts In environmental exposure assessment, clinical surveillance, medical testing, and Research, ultimately improving the health of our deployed forces. Three (3) Facilitators are needed for this event. This event, The Joint VA/DOD Airborne Hazards Symposium, is tentatively scheduled for August 7, 8, and 9, 2012 in the Washington DC or Baltimore, MD area.

If you are interested in learning more about this opportunity, please contact Brenda Bowder at [email protected] no later than Tuesday, May 1, 2012.

To view a list of our webinar recordings, please click here. 

@ExpertCompany: Create a culture and community where time is not wasted, opinions are shared freely and honestly, individuals are... http://fb.me/1iqFbdeRp  

@ExpertCompany: You flex your management muscle all the time; now it's time to learn how to flex your leadership muscles. http://fb.me/1OnEiYSX8  

@Center_For_AI: All communication problems r because we don't listen to understand. We listen only to reply. Act of the day: authentically listen to others

@Center_for_AI: How do great leaders weather a perfect storm? They change the way the look at the weather... http://fb.me/1sYuRK 

@Center_for_AI: "If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear as it is, INFINITE." --William Blake TY @youCANchoose_ for the gr8 quote

Whole Systems Healing - Interview with Diana Whitney  

Description: An interview with Diana Whitney about Whole Systems Healing and Appreciative Inquiry.

Appreciative Inquiry in the Working Place 

Description: Prof. John Hayes discusses Appreciative Inquiry and its use in the workplace.  

Appreciative Inquiry in Churches 

Description: a temporary pastor talks about using Ai as a way to transition from old 'traditional' ways to developing a new culture and selecting a new minister

Kathy Becker, is the president of the Company of Experts, Inc. With over thirty years of professional experience in K-12 and higher education, she has served as a Human Resources Officer, Staff Development Coordinator and Equal Employment Opportunity Officer. She has had direct responsibility for labor contract negotiations, sexual harassment training, discrimination investigation, mediation and conflict resolution, discipline and grievance, professional training and leadership development.  

Kathy is a trained Appreciative Inquiry Facilitator/Trainer and incorporates AI into her consulting and training. With her background in the public and private sectors as well as a strong commitment to customer service and developing learning organizations, Kathy brings real-world experience to her consulting, trainings, and workshops.   

In 2011, Kathy won the Helen Burnstad International Leadership Award at the 2011 NCSPOD Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Helen Burnstad Award recognizes Kathy's  significant contributions in writing, research, leadership, and advocacy that promotes the goals of staff, program, and/or organizational development at the national or international level in higher education. Learn More>   

Interested in becoming an Expert on Call? Learn more here. 

"Your life is the sum result of all the choices you make, both consciously and unconsciously. If you can control the process of choosing, you can take control of all aspects of your life. You can find the freedom that comes from being in charge of yourself." 

~ Robert Foster Bennett 

"Life experiences set our beliefs. Our beliefs cause us to attribute value; what we value motivates ourselves. And when leaders understand what motivates, unexpected and exceptional results follow."    

~ Author Unknown 

"Redefine your self-concept by challenging everything that you've held to be true about yourself up until now. Be open to examining everything you've previously thought limited you in any way. Affirm: I place no limits and no restrictions on all that I intend to accomplish and become from here on in." 

~ Dr Wayne W. Dyer