EDITORIAL
The world needs new answers, so let’s start asking different questions!
Change your intention in order to change your habits
We live in a world where the questions we ask often lead us closer to our problems. Why is that? Because we have a deep-seeded conviction that in better understanding our problems we will be able to fix them. Though while we might know them better, this understanding does not inspire solutions! Even if this way of thinking is very rational, it can very quickly become problematic - especially when we need to act in complex organizations or where complexity and rapidity render analysis obsolete.
Red points, green points, an essential choice
If this is the case, then what kinds of questions should we ask and on what basis should we begin constructing our future? The “red points” in our organizations? Problems, what dysfunctions, frustrations, and what is impossible are often confused with reality. But our reality is much bigger than this and our habits make us forget that our “green points” are still there – though they may be under-utilized or even unexploited. These green points are our aspirations (hidden by our frustrations), what is possible with what is available (instead of focusing on what is missing), our strengths and the energy they give us (rather than working overtime to eradicate weaknesses)…
It is time to change our focus and enlarge our vision of reality! And what if we considered our red points as new beginnings rather than transforming them into dead-ends by trying to resolve them without end?
Two conceptions of the development of leader and their organizations.
In our world today we have a choice – we can either consider people, teams and organizations as a sum of gaps to fill (between what they are and what they should be) or on the contrary, a sum of resources to amplify and intentionally going in search of all the resources that are available to us.
What you focus on grows ! So what do you choose to focus on ?
Approaches that are oriented towards strengths and solutions like Appreciative Inquiry, Solutions Focus, Positive Deviance, and Positive Psychology are powerful and subtil at the same time. They are not techniques or processes to put into place, they are a way of thinking and acting, a mindset to develop and a “muscle” to use. Helping to bring about transformation in our organizations means that change leaders and coaches who have worked on strengthening this muscle are essential.