All right. Welcome back to the podcast everybody. This is the science of Appreciative Inquiry. It's important to know that this is just a jumping off point, a strategy that I have found that works really well in business. It was first introduced to appreciative inquiry in the book of Appreciative Inquiry by one of my coaches, Lisa Folger. At a time when I was just biting, I was snappy, I was judging, I was having a really hard time with my ex-business partners and it wasn't a good look on me and I needed a different way and I thought that they needed to change and everyone else around me needed to change. And it was really hard and very confronting when my coach said that what I actually needed was to learn the art and science of appreciative inquiry because I said they should be different. Why should I be appreciating them?

They are the challenge, they're the issues. And this happens all the time in business and it usually, usually a deflection like that is what happens right before a massive transformation. And in my case, it was a huge transformation. So today I want to delve into the concept of appreciative inquiry, which is really a model that shifts organizational change from focusing on the problems which I had many back then with my ex-business partners, to identifying and building on core strengths, which at the time I had to do. And so often we really should orient ourselves around doing it. Number one, it'll help us solve the situation faster. Number two, it'll often bring up other people's baggage faster so that others can see who they are for who they are. In my case, I was partnered with a couple of pretty pathological narcissists, which is not often talked about in business.

It's often seen as something that's very positive when you're a narcissist or thinking about yourself or advancing your own vision, and you can often disguise it in many different ways. Certainly the folks that I was partnered with did until one of my shareholders actually saw them without the mask and then was able to see that what I was saying the whole time was actually true. I would say that a big part of that revelation and the freedom that came with it was because I had started doing the work of appreciative inquiry. It's wild how these things pan out that when you actually start to appreciate and practice in particular appreciative inquiry, things become clearer. So yeah, I want to explore the foundations and principles of appreciative inquiry and how this approach can really, let's say revolutionize the way companies you and the way your retreats in your business can develop.

So I think it's important to understand that appreciative inquiry is not a tool for when things are tough. Appreciative inquiry is a shift in mindset that helps you and your company to focus on possibilities rather than problems which cultivate an environment of growth and innovation. This is particularly challenging to do when you're up against it, but if you can cultivate it, and by the way, you can't fake this. We recently had a really rough sales month at Imiloa, and I was actually really grateful for it. I chose to appreciate what was happening and the people and how hard the people were working, and you can't phone that in managers, leaders, executives. If shit hits the fan and you don't have leverage on your mindset, you cannot fake it because if you have a team that's at all conscious, they are going to sniff you out and they may have some reservations about calling you out because you haven't created a feedback based environment or a culture where it's safe to do that.

But do not underestimate the impact of inconsistency with your team members if you haven't actually spent the time to cultivate this and really be in a place of strength in your mindset. People are going to see your rah rah speeches as just fake news. And I know this because it was fake news for a lot of while. For me, it was a lot of fake it till you make it. And that is not what I suggest. That is not what we teach, that's not what we suggest. We suggest in being in the truth of whatever matter is in front of us so that we get to focus on what's right in front of us so that the past gets put in the past where it alongs, not phoning it in, phoning a friend, fake faking it till you make it as very passe practices that don't actually deal with the whole human being. And we find that when you deal with the whole human being, evolutionary purpose gets to lead the way rather than your own ego or rather than data.

The core principles in appreciative inquiry. A few things to think about. And again, I'm by no means an expert. I'm sharing what it is I've been so generously given so that you can start to think about these things, go deeper into the conversations on the backend with us and our coaches start to bring some of these strategies and tactics into the work that you're doing. So I don't want to purport that I'm an expert on this. I just know that it has caused our organization and many that I've seen and worked with, it's caused us all to elevate. So some core principles are there's the constructionist principle, which is an appreciative inquiry that basically says that change within a human being or an organization begins the moment we ask a question. It's one of the reasons why we teach that the quality of the questions, the determine the quality of your life.

It also is why such a big part of our sales process, and you can learn more about this in the sales genius section, is asking questions. If you are doing an enrollment conversation or a sales call or whatever you want to call it for your organization, and you are not silent most of the time, and when you are speaking at least 80% of the time you're asking questions, you've lost the game even before you can play it. This is why we say the quality of the questions determines the quality of our life. It determines the quality of our businesses, what it is we're up to in the world. And the construction is principle and appreciative. Inquiry says that reality is socially constructed through the language and conversations. The principle of simultaneously says that change begins the moment we ask a question. I think I combined both of those things.

So I'm talking about two principles at the same time. Here. The constructionist principle says that reality is socially constructed through the language and conversations. So we're creating reality through language and conversations, all possibility lives in a conversation. The principle of simul simultaneity simultaneously, I dropped out of college all. I'm so sorry. That is the second part of appreciative inquiry, and that's really talking about how change begins the moment we ask a question, which is why I went into the question. Quality of the question determines the quality of our life. So reality is constructed through language and conversation. Change begins the moment we ask a question, so we better be asking the right questions. The third part of appreciative inquiry is the poetic principle that we can choose what we study and the stories that we tell. So if we're asking questions and telling stories, we get to choose what stories we're telling about another person, about a current situation.

And the stories that we're telling goes back to the constructionist principle, which is the stories that we're telling is actually creating reality. Reality is socially constructed through the language and conversations. Do you see how important this is? The last part of, or the last core principle, let's say, of appreciative inquiry is the positive principle, which means assume positive intent and positive questions lead to positive change. So when your sales team misses its sales numbers or your social media person is acting like a fool, assume positive intent even though the data might show otherwise. Believe me, I'm there with y'all. I like to go down that rabbit hole and I do, and I got a team that's strong enough now that is saying, don't go there, Jake. Don't do it. Assume positive intent. You must, because it's my mindset that's at risk and at stake. And when I do ask questions, ask positive questions because that can lead to positive change.

So there is a process with the appreciative inquiry method, and again, I'm going on the surface and the reason why I'm doing this is because if this is resonant, sorry, I touched the microphone. If this is resonant with you or your business, go in deeper. If you think this can be useful, go in deeper. Have the conversations that matter in the community forums. Let's talk about it. Let's talk about this on the live calls. Let's noodle through what's working and what's not working, where you'd like to be using appreciative inquiry more as a way to transform yourself and your business. So there's a four D cycle as it relates to appreciative inquiry. One is discovery, which is you identify the processes that work well or what the person that's doing that you're having a challenge with, what's working well, you dream, you envision the processes that would work well in the future, you design, which means you plan and prioritize processes that would work well. And for destiny, you implement the proposed designs. It's the four D process, the four D cycle. We're going to have an article about this as well in foundations so that way you can get really clear on the principles and you can start integrating it with real life examples.

So some case studies for appreciative inquiry through ai, appreciative inquiry, organizations like British Airways and Roadway Express have transformed their corporate cultures. I've transformed our corporate culture by improving they I improve employee satisfaction and overall productivity. It has challenges. There is initial resistance. There was by me because I'm so triggered at the beginning when I was first invited to use appreciative inquiry. I was so triggered in the moments that I was being asked to use it that I couldn't get over the trigger. And so you can sometimes want to move things faster than appreciative inquiry process will allow, and that can be really challenging. I think if you have a good coach or good people, you can reframe that. But it is tricky in the beginning to start really diving deep into this Appreciative inquiry is really more than just a methodology. It's a powerful way to unleash and you can actually drive substantial positive change. It encourages us to look beyond what we're currently seeing as a problem or as a challenge or even as an opportunity and to reimagine what's possible. So I'd encourage a conversation around what this would look like for you and your retreat business and your impact driven business, and continue to be a part of the conversation with us in the community as well. I'm really excited to see how y'all are evolving with appreciative inquiry, and I'm excited to learn more about it for myself and the company as well.