On Friday afternoon, about 35 participants examined what it takes to tell great stories.\u00a0 A process called Appreciative Inquiry (AI) was used.<\/p>\n
AI is grounded in research that demonstrates a radical notion: when you focus on what’s working and hopes and aspirations, you achieve more, do it faster, and sustain it longer than when you focus on problem solving.\u00a0 It is a reversal of the commonly held belief that we learn most from our failures.\u00a0 In other words, AI has shown that when we study our successes and our aspirations with as much zeal as we study our problems and failures, we get better results!<\/p>\n
For example, Avon Mexico wanted to address the problem of sexual harassment.\u00a0 By asking \u201cwhat do you really want?\u201d the focus of their work became creating high quality cross-gender work relationships.\u00a0 Through interviewing employees who already had great cross-gender work relationships, many stories of success were uncovered.\u00a0 By widely adopting what they learned from these stories, their work won them an award as the best place in the country for women to work.<\/p>\n
What does this have to do with journalists?\u00a0 AI provides several important insights:<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n Stories shape our beliefs and actions.<\/span> Journalists, as our national storytellers, dramatically influence the stories we tell ourselves.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Asking questions is an intervention<\/span>.\u00a0 By directing our focus, through what is asked and what remains unexamined, journalists shape what is seen and what remains invisible.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n The communication system is the lifeblood of change.<\/span> At the heart of our communications system, journalists impact the direction in which our culture evolves.<\/p>\n As our national storytellers, who ask questions on our behalf, at the heart of our communications system, journalists hold a significant public trust.<\/p>\n Friday\u2019s process began with paired interviews using these two questions:<\/p>\n After the interviews, five groups of six to eight people discussed the meanings of their stories and identified the essential elements of telling great stories.\u00a0 In brief, here is what they found:<\/p>\n For more information on Appreciative Inquiry, visit http:\/\/appreciativeinquiry.cwru.edu\/<\/a><\/p>\n On Saturday, the conference agenda was generated in real-time by conference participants using a process called Open Space Technology (OST).\u00a0 OST works with groups of any size to address complex, important issues and accomplish something meaningful.<\/p>\n It has been used all over the world in thousands of diverse applications. The Boeing Company has used it to improve the design of airplane doors.\u00a0 The Italian foreign ministry and an Italian NGO manager from the Dionysia International Center used it to bring 25 Israelis and 25 Palestinians to Rome for 3 days in June, 2002 to talk about themselves, their future, and the possibilities of peace.<\/p>\n The essence of Open Space are four principles and one law:<\/p>\n The Law of Two Feet, also known as the law of personal responsibility, states that if you\u2019re neither contributing nor getting value where you are, use your two feet and go somewhere else.\u00a0 It also says to stand on your two feet to express what\u2019s important to you.\u00a0 It is fundamentally an invitation for individuals to act from passion and responsibility.<\/p>\n For more information, visit\u00a0www.openspaceworld.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" About the Process Day 1: Telling Great Stories On Friday afternoon, about 35 participants examined what it takes to tell great stories.\u00a0 A process called Appreciative Inquiry (AI) was used. AI is grounded in research that demonstrates a radical notion: … Continue reading \n
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Day 2 \u2013 Open Space Technology<\/h1>\n
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