Is it Positivity or Delusion?
Positivity and the need to think Positively seems to be a “thing” and whilst I am all for the power of the positive, I do wonder when positivity is as unhelpful as negativity.
You may be surprised to hear me say so, given my belief in the power of Appreciative Inquiry (AI) and Strengths-based approaches. They both rely on focusing on the positive.
The purpose of these approaches is to explore and understand the very best of what exists, find ways to create more of it, and accelerate the opportunity to thrive. There are several principles integral to this, but the two I want to focus on in this post are wholeness and focus.
Wholeness
When contemplating growth and development it is important to (firstly) see the whole. That means the flaws and faults as well as what is working and energizing the system. The whole picture includes as many of the perspectives as possible. Ie. Multiple Perspectives
With this awareness, you then consciously choose what to focus on, depending on where you want to head.
Focus
This is also known in the AI community as the Anticipatory Principle. It is about where you choose to focus, within the whole. If you can only see the negative and are unwilling or unable to see rest of the story you are likely to get stuck. You may not be able to see a way forward and will be left with feelings of helplessness.
Similarly, if you choose to only see the positive without the whole you risk delusion. Whilst this may engender happy feelings, it is not enough to enable sustained growth or development.
However, and maybe this is where the confusion is coming from – sustainable growth and development come quicker from a place of positivity, rather than negativity.
The point of a Strengths-based approach is to generate sustainable change. Which is why, in the global AI community the language is shifting from Positivity to Generativity. Because to see the best in something and appreciate it also makes it grow in value.
Generativity and Appreciative Inquiry
Crafting a Generative (appreciative) question takes practice and experimentation. It also requires an understanding of what you want to create (the hope), without being attached to a pre-specified version.
Here is a simple example to demonstrate. You might like to think of an equivalent one for an organisational context:
Purpose of inquiry: You are trying to help a struggling student who is selecting their subjects for next year in the hope that they may ultimately pursue a rewarding career.
Positive question: What subjects make you feel good? OR What subjects are you best at?
Generative questioning: What subject at school has ever made you want to learn more? Why? What jobs or career might it link to?
Think about what the person is required to think about and what action it might generate.
One may elicit a happy response, but it could be for any number of irrelevant reasons – feeding delusion. The other will elicit information about what engages the student and shed light on how to create more of that. It still comes from positivity but it highlights possibilities that are more likely to generate relevant choices and action.
