DICK BARKLEY: Try to find what went wrong

Let’s talk change and “Appreciative Inquiry.”

There are two methods of change:

Focus on what is wrong and do less of it. 

Focus on what is right and do more of it.

I find businesses all too often ask “What went wrong, how do we fix it? What steps can we take to prevent this from happening again?” In other words, people are focusing on what is wrong rather than what is right.

Celebrating successes is not commonplace and tends to get overlooked, but there is no reason not to celebrate successes. This change will begin to positively impact your business through positively impacting your people.

I believe people genuinely want to perform, do good things, and have a feeling of contributing. Always focusing on the wrong might compromise their desire to do what is right. They might begin to look for answers to what is wrong and forget about replicating what is right within the organization.

Take a moment to reflect. Where is your focus? 

If the focus is always on fixing something, I suggest opportunities abound to look for what is right with any given individual and the organization.

“Appreciative Inquiry” is a philosophy and methodology to consider.