As many of you know its not often that I have the opportunity to just sit and reflect on much of anything during my usual workday. That said I had several quiet, reflective, moments this month in my work with an amazing organization, aptly named, “The Opportunity Center.” The Opportunity Center is, in practical terms, a county work center for folks with developmental disabilities located in Prairie du Chien.

The Director was seeking support with a planning process to create a new vision for the future of the organization. After many discussions we decided to stray from the typical SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis and try some activities that would really bring out the organization’s best – the moments in time when things really worked. We used a process called “Appreciative Inquiry.”

Appreciative Inquiry is based on the idea that talking about what we’re doing RIGHT allows us to create a more positive vision for the future. In this process, everyone’s ideas are valued and everyone’s story is important. The process brings out the characteristics of the organization as a WHOLE. By the end of the workshop the room was buzzing with affirmations of the great work that had been done, the successful social events, the appreciations of hard work and quirky personalities.

As most of us know, discussions about “caring relationships” are not par for the course in our day to day work. But given the losses and uncertainly in our communities these days, I couldn’t help but feel that just a little appreciation can go a long way.