This is the second in a series of articles on the Neighborhoods, USA (NUSA) Conference held in Houston, Texas, in May 2015. NUSA is a national non-profit organization committed to building and strengthening neighborhood organizations.
One of the workshops at the conference was titled “Appreciative Inquiry,” a process which some describe as “building on strengths."
Bolivar Fraga of Neighborhood Centers Inc. spoke about Appreciative Inquiry. It is defined as the cooperative search for the best in people, their organizations, and the world around them. It involves systematic discovery of what gives a system 'life' when it is most effective and capable in economic, ecological, and human terms.
Fraga explained the following: We get what we ask. What we ask is what we find. What we find is how we talk. How we talk is what we can imagine. What we can imagine is what we can achieve. So it is important to keep our thoughts, ideas, plans, etc., positive.
A great way to do this is to ask the following types of questions: What do we love about our community? What do we have going that benefits us? How do we improve upon what we are already doing well?
Similar types of questions can also help with recruitment. For example, you could ask, What would inspire you to get involved? What could the organization do to interest you? What are you willing to do to make this (project of choice) happen? What can we do to support our neighborhood leadership? All of these are positive, forward thinking questions that might inspire others to really be invested and involved if they feel connected to the neighborhood.
Once you ask all of these questions and you find what you are good at, there are several follow-up processes the group can go through. One of these is the 4D process that can help with problem solving. You start with Discovering – What gives life? Dreaming – What might be? Designing – What could be? And lastly, Delivering – What will make this happen?
The philosophy is that you cannot build on what is broken, so find out what your strengths are and relentlessly follow that path!
--- Debbie Sharp, Assistant Neighborhoods Coordinator