Appreciative Inquiry

I’ve always been a pretty avid reader, but that has changed this year with the second job.  Time is short, sleep is scarce, and my eyes are usually closed when not in active use.  Nevertheless, I recently finished “The Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry” by Sue Annis Hammond (1996).   I ran across this little book in my primary work, where there’s been substantial talk about adopting such techniques.  (Note, however, that little associated action has been observed, at least in my trench.)  Towards the end of a particularly crappy work day, on the heels of a similarly poor day, I gave the book its shot.  Here, the core essence (the numenon?) of a change management technique known as “Appreciative Inquiry” is presented.  Having outlined Appreciative Inquiry’s main concepts, the author left the responsibility to act further with the reader, in an elegant manner, by acknowledging that simply by reading the book the reader has demonstrated an interest in change/something different .  She indicated her honor and respect for each reader’s chosen path.    I had indeed read the book in one sitting, and I recognized myself as a person at least interested in change. 

So it was clearly time to ask myself, “Why am I doing some of the stuff I’m doing?  Why have I largely forsaken extra family time, reading time, and 'yea verily' fishing time, for a second job that really doesn’t pay? And why do I feel compelled to blog?  How are these things related?”
     

I’m certainly no Newton or Einstein, and I mean no offense to Heisenberg, but I may have uncovered a personally unifying principle.  This may have helped crystalize (to me) why I’m doing/pursuing/enjoying certain things…and it has let me accept these activities as good and productive.

I’ve not really engaged these activities to solve specific problems.  Rather, these efforts are simply displacing what I perceive to be problems or deficiencies with more fulfilling options.  I’m letting the good displace the problematic.  These efforts look like a perfect fit with the concepts of Appreciative Inquiry.  From my understanding, here’s how Appreciative Inquiry can help effect positive change:

·       Emphasize the positive and work with our strengths.  Recognize success, and do more of what works well!  We should fill our endeavors with meaning and satisfaction.  Let the contagion of this satisfaction and resultant enthusiasm build up, and then let the momentum roll.  It’s a living process, there is no end; let it lead you to a desired goal.

·       Group Assumptions are commonly-held beliefs that provide the motivation to act for the interest of a group.  Let’s be aware of their existence, specifically identify them, and evaluate their legitimacy. With this evaluation, can come the acceptance (or expectation or desire) of change.  I suspect I’ll have more to say about this later.   

·       Appreciative Inquiry is based on experience/reality and so is believable and leads to real (visualized) results; as opposed to targets based on wishes/dreams.  Appreciative Inquiry maintains a real connection to history, tradition, and the past, while dreams are not as motivating since they are not necessarily seen as attainable. 

·       Develop tangible Provocative Propositions to highlight what has worked actually well and what we can focus on.  These will allow us to do more of what works well!  Because they are tangible (they are written and are based on reality) we maintain consciousness of them!  These propositions should force us to stretch and grow, yet need to be based in reality and be currently attainable.  They should lead us in a desired direction, i.e., towards something we want.

Finally, act on these propositions to transform!  What could be simpler?

A key point singled out in the book is an appreciation for diversity, i.e. valuing difference.  After all, how can things improve if they don’t change?    Am I willing to accept that I’m as happy as I’ll ever be?  Of course not; I want to be happier.  I want all my family, friends and co-workers to be happier.  I want a fairer political system and well-cared for children and oldsters.  I want a lot.  But none of this will happen by itself; progress towards these will require change.  Our best prospects lay in our active management of that change.

So, why have I taken on the second job?  A cursory look at my current retailing endeavor would simply reveal lots of work for a small bit of money.  But I decided long ago, it wasn’t about the money.  I’m clearly getting lots more out of it.  In contrast to my primary job, I like taking on multiple manageable and resolvable issues in a given shift.  The position recognizes (somewhat) the value of my fishing experience and enthusiasm, and it provides a forum to share this experience and soak in the experiences of others.  There are many small victories, and the defeats are ephemeral.  We’ve shared some actual team-work, in a generally positive, happy atmosphere.  It’s often simply fun.  My efforts are actual action, i.e., I’m busy doing, and this has provided for actual change for me, from the physical benefits of the light (restorative) physical movement,  to a little pocket cash and some new opportunities (fishing and social.)  Most importantly, this effort has provided a dimension of reality/attainability to some of my desires for the future.

What am I getting out of blogging?  I’m capturing a little bit of my history, sharing small pieces of humor, and developing increased self-awareness.  It has provided a somewhat creative outlet and a spark for occasional conversations with those I love.  I’ve developed a respect for the challenge of matching a phrase or a photo with a memory or idea.  It’s a fun, new modern tool to remind me of where I’ve been; and an activity to let me take on and consider occasional questions of personal importance.

I know there’s more.  At the very least, these two efforts have helped me legitimately develop some Provocative Propositions that might get me to an improved future/better place. And so I leave you with the following:

·       What would it be like … to feel as though I can deserve and afford an occasional blue-water vacation?

·       What would it be like … to share my fishing lifestyle dreams as reality with those I care about?

·       What would it be like … to use these extra efforts and experiences as a real steppingstone to my next career?

·       What would it be like … to report to work on my own boat?

Today’s Bottom Line; I’m a very fortunate guy, but it’s still OK for me to want a better future.  I might as well manage my options, and who am I to argue with positive, constructive techniques such as Appreciative Inquiry?

2013 World Series Musings

2013 World Series Musings

Written over the course of the last eight days…in diary form and not re-visited (except for spelling and grammar.)

October 23, 2013

Over the last couple of months I’ve grown a powerful Red Sox Beard and they’ve responded well; so well in fact, that they play host to the Cardinals for Games 1 and 2 (and 6 and 7?) of the 2013 World Series.  Of course, I’d prefer that the Sox win the Series; and I predict they will in 6 games.  But I don’t really care if they win.  They’ve provided a fine season, with fine character.  I’m not going to let a specific outcome (Series Won or Series Lost) tarnish my appreciation for the process by which they’ve restored The Faith to Boston and Red Sox Nation.

What a different feeling from 1975, 1986, or 2004; not to mention 1978 or 2003.  How liberating!  The NEED to Win has been replaced by a Healthy Desire to Win, and this Desire is a much more amenable team-mate.  The Sox have now been there before, and I suspect they’ll be there again.  So on World Series Eve, I’m willing to just enjoy the games, to let the outcome be decided on the field, to not get too invested, and to reasonably manage my sleep schedule.

October 25, 2013

The Series is tied, 1-1, after a couple of games in which the defenses faltered.  I think Defense is the most interesting aspect of baseball.  The outcome of a batted ball, in play, rests in the balance of the defense’s execution, and the drama persists until the play is over.  Much of the games’ beauty and athletic expression resides in this execution.  Defensive failure typically doesn’t add to my enjoyment of the game, but I’m OK with the split, originally thinking that this will likely take six games.  But I do have to specifically note that the Cardinals’ tying and winning runs in Game 2 scored on an extremely ugly play involving possibly the shallowest World Series sacrifice fly ever, a dropped ball and an over-throw.   The Sox seemed like a Team of Destiny when Ortiz broke the Game 2 shut-out with a lead-changing 2-run homer; but their mortality was revealed by this play.

October 28, 2013

The Series is now tied, 2-2, after two more very interesting, although strange, games.  Each ended in a fashion unbecoming of the stage, each in a different team’s favor.  The Series will be decided in Boston (which I applaud), and I’m still on track with my original prediction.

Game 3 ended in an “Obstruction” call which awarded home plate to the Cardinals for the winning run in the bottom of the 9^th inning.  It was a true walk-off in that the play was dead, the outcome already decided.  I’m pretty sure that Cardinals’ 3^rd Base Coach Jose Oquendo should be credited with a steal of home, because I think his protests provided the notice and motivation for the call.  I’m not disagreeing with the call; everything was too fast, confused and subjective to argue against it.  It was just disheartening to see a World Series Game decided in a manner outside of the hands of the players. 

This play encompassed a lot!  It’s simply hard not to acknowledge the awareness and athleticism of both Pedroia and Nava.  These players (by which I mean all players at this level) are good!  They pretty routinely pull off plays that are beyond what can be expected from normal humans.  A truly unique 4-2-5-7-2 double play, with both outs at the plate(!), simultaneously unfolded and was erased by the umpire’s call.  One beautiful thing about baseball; you never know what you’re going to see.  Another Baseball Truism illustrated there-in is that the ball will find you.  Middlebrooks, cold off the bench and in at third base as a defensive replacement, was found Guilty of Obstruction, and the entire inning had been set up by an infield hit to Bogaerts (moved from third to short to accommodate Middlebrooks) and a scooting double, within reach, but under Middlebrooks’ glove.

The play also evoked memories of Baseball’s Hopeless Bystander.  I had several seasons end as a spectator on the field or in the on-deck circle, powerless to affect or continue the play.  This feeling is one of the big reasons I’m currently a fan of objective individual sports (swimming, track and field, etc.), because you can’t really blame the clock.  But perhaps a worse feeling is that of Participant in a famous or decisive play.  I’m no Billy Buckner, but my High School baseball career ended with a probable bunt situation, an exploding line drive to third, a ricochet off the knee into the stands, and the awarding of two bases to each runner…thereby plating the tying and winning runs and determining the league’s playoff participants.  Can you guess who had been shifted from short to third to defend the bunt?

Finally, the ump called Obstruction and so Obstruction indeed took place.  No arguments here.  And yet, our understanding of this concept comes from a Rule Book (with its limitations in wording, scope, anticipation, and understanding) and the implementation of the rules.  Does this fully capture the innate truth, the core essence, the Numenon of what physically took place?  Or does this simply provide a theoretical construct /Real-World Paradigm for us to evaluate our surroundings?  I think by definition, this is the case; thrown balls and running men mean nothing without the context of the rules.  They at least mean something within a specified context.  But let’s face it, the ump could have just as easily NOT called obstruction; and we’d have an entirely different interpretation of reality with exactly the same set of physical events.  Are our perceived realities really this fragile? 

Like I said, this play encompassed a lot!

Game 4 ended with the tying run at the plate, in the form of Carlos Beltran.  He’s got quite the October resume.  But then the bat was taken out of his hands when a Cardinal got picked off first base.  This just shouldn’t happen, but it did! Based on his reaction, I’m not sure anybody was more surprised than the Sox’ pitcher, Uehara, but he’s operating at a different level these days.   This felt like a decisive play.  Decisive, not only in the sense of this game; but for the Series.

October 29, 2013

Game 5 was simply a pleasure to watch.  It featured:

·       Two Aces, each throwing well;

·       A little pressure relieved early on, with Pedroia and Ortiz both doubling in the first for a one-run lead;

·       No real sense of urgency after Holladay’s long drive to tie the score; 

·       Only a single, meaningful walk combined, and no defensive errors; and

·       A new, joyful Hero-of-the-Night (Ross) for the Sox with his double down the line for the go-ahead run in the seventh. 

All in all it was a satisfying, comprehensive team victory that was earned, and not bequeathed by an overly generous opponent. 

So now it’s back to Boston with a chance for the Sox to clinch a World Series at Fenway for the first time since 1918.   I can appreciate 95 years; that’s older than any living relative I can claim, and I doubt there’s anybody who can prove they were there when Babe Ruth’s Red Sox last won at home.  I doubly doubt that said person would be able to throw out Wednesday’s First Pitch, but I’d love to see it.

October 30, 2013

It makes sense to end it tonight.  The weather forecast for tonight is seasonable, but there’s a bunch of rain on the horizon, and I remember the long wait for Game 6 in 1975.  I don’t see anything good arising from any weather-induced rumination periods, and I’d hate to see weather/field conditions play a deciding role in the Series’ outcome.  So here’s to a quick, clean game tonight.  Will the Sox have Carlton Fisk, Luis Tiant, Freddy Lynn or Bernie Carbo throw out the First Pitch in celebration of Fenway Game 6?  Regardless, I look forward to watching the game’s end after my shift with The Man, catching a satisfying night’s sleep, and wearing my Sox pullover to work tomorrow.  I can always claim I’m dressed as Napoli, Gomes or Ross for Halloween.

October 31, 2013

I couldn’t help but recall Game 6 of the 1986 World Series last night.  My work kept me away from watching most of that game, but I recall that the Sox were comfortably ahead with Cy Young-winning Clemens on the mound as I returned home; the score was tied as I turned the game on; and events were leading up to The Billy Buckner Play and a subsequent 18-year wait for another Series Opportunity.

But the 2013 Sox held on to their lead as I travelled home last night, and when the Cardinals’ rally fizzled in the 7^th (5 runs short; could only a Red Sox fan envision a Holladay 3-run homer, followed by a collapsed bullpen and who knows what else?), the day’s drama was over.  The rest of the game played out concisely and according to script.

Most baseball players are pretty lame Public Speakers and most don’t seem to know how to comfortably celebrate in public, so events after the last out seemed pretty anti-climactic.  It’s all just a game, and so all non-invested adults should know that the outcome really doesn’t matter in the big scheme of things.  But I have to admit, “Winning” is generally better than “Losing”, and a World Championship probably does have some tangible benefits for the City of Boston and its citizenry.  Personally, it was awfully nice to share the rare moments of family snuggling in the late-night glow of the TV as the games were played.  Finally, there is beauty in witnessing any group of professionals at the very pinnacle of their field; it’s awesome to acknowledge any complete, successful team effort; and my Red Sox Beard has been a fun way to publicly participate in this.

Now every good Red Sox Beard has a name, and I’m pretty sure mine is “The Alienator”.  With the season now complete, I can go take a shave; but first I have to consider any repercussions for the local Lady Pioneers and their current efforts in winning their State Swimming Championship; and I can just picture what the Bruins would look like in late May, should they adopt The Beard in the quest for a Stanley Cup.

Decent Fish

I recently had the pleasure of catching my first decent fish in a while.  Limited time on the water and a possibly misdirected mania for muskellunge have really pinched my numbers.  This recent fish wasn’t the biggest, most dangerous or unpredictable quarry, but it was the largest targeted game fish of the day.  The day was just unpleasant enough (weather-wise), and the fishing just difficult enough (by which I mean it wasn’t Stupid Easy) to make me think I earned the encounter.  I shared the day with a good friend, who was just pleasant enough to not get tossed overboard (by which I mean he was on his game in relentlessly attacking my abilities and character, as only a brother or true friend could.)  So really, what else could I ask for?  Time on the water, a few fish, a successfully executed plan, some laughs, a picture and providing for a shared meal; these are all good things. 

So while my first impression was that this was a decent fish, further reflection indicates that it is clearly more than that.

Pretty decent!

For the record, she came from a local, urban lake and measured 32 inches.  She ate a gold and black Husky Jerk HJ12 presented on two colors of lead, trolled with an in-line board off the break line at typical pike speed (2.2 -2.7 mph).

Jars

I was recently at an industrial facility for my real job, waiting on somebody.  As I checked out my surroundings, a worn and weathered bulletin board item caught my eye.  It was someone’s summary of “the most important thing (s)he learned in college”, and it went along these lines.  (My summary is probably in no manner original, but it was a simple gift to reflect on this for a few moments while at work.)

A professor presented a large, empty jar to his class.  He proceeded to fill it up with golf balls.  When he asked the class if it was full, the unanimous consent was “Yes!”  (I’m willing to admit that this was probably not a class in the physical sciences.)  The professor then alternately added gravel and shook the jar.  The “full” jar accepted quite a lot.  When he could get no more gravel into the jar, the class again agreed that the jar was, indeed, full.  The professor then continued by using the same techniques to get a bunch of fine sand into the jar.  Full again?  Wrong – the jar easily accepted the contents of a couple of beer cans.  

At this point, all were in agreement that the jar was full.  His point(s):

·       

The jar represents our life.  We want to lead lives that are as full as possible.  If we don’t fill it ourselves, it will get filled for us.

·       

The golf balls represent the important things in our life; i.e., Maslow’s basic needs of food, shelter, safety and health; our family and friends; community and passion.  We should try to squeeze as much of these things into our lives as possible, and these should occupy us the most.

·      

The gravel represents the nice things in life; our hobbies and prized possessions, time for their use, time for play, pleasure and self-reflection.  Once the most important aspects of our lives are in order, take advantage of these!

·       

The sand represents our daily tasks, aggravations and annoyances.  We’ll never get rid of these, but we should try to minimize them; and especially try to minimize their negative impact on us.  We have no control over most of these; so let’s tolerate and manage these aspects of our lives while focusing our real efforts and attentions to other, more important matters.

·       

Finally, the beer is simply beer.  It’s a reminder that there’s apparently always some room left in our lives for a couple of beers (or similar substitute of choice) with a chosen companion. 

Thanks to all who have helped me realize these things.  I know that these are not “shattering” conclusions or intellectual leaps in philosophy, but I think I’m getting this right, and I appreciate being able to recognize that.  I’m doubly appreciative to accept it.

Class dismissed!