World AI Conference 2012
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The AI conference utilized appreciative interviews and group work to help academic and non-academic staff at the university improve their research outputs and service delivery. Participants shared that the AI process helped them realize the importance of collaboration, listening to others, and finding meaning in their work. The conference concluded that AIs can help weave positivity into an organization and enhance transformation.
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World AI Conference 2012
- 1. ACTIONING Dr Renalde Huysamen AUTHENTICITY BY MEANS OF AN APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY AI CONFERENCE 2012 T: 051 401 9111 info@ufs.ac.za www.ufs.ac.za
- 2. BACKGROUND AND HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF THE FREE STATE 1945 – 1980 2009 M I 28 January 1904 1950: University of the Orange STUDENT HEAD COUNT 2009 GREY University College Free State 27241 7 Faculties PERMANENT STAFF: 2055 Transformation! New placement policy requirement
- 3. RESIDENCES
- 4. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND OF THE LEADERSHIP LEARNING COMMUNITY PURPOSE: Improvement of employees research outputs and service delivery MAIN OBJECTIVES: Utilise Training and Development to develop academic /non academic staff. Improvement in Research Outputs and Service Delivery Departement Sentrum • Department Centre UNIVERSITEIT VAN DIE VRYSTAAT • UNIVERSITY OF THE FREE STATE • YUNIVESITHI YA FREISTATA Tel (051) 401 3000 • E-mail: info@ufs.ac.za • www.ufs.ac.za
- 6. SOME COMMENTS “It made me realise that everybody experiences ups and downs in their lives and that it is possible to use the downs to our own advantage.” “Again to realise that every person is different. Their approaches to life and situations, their feelings and manners. Also that emotion is very important in life and in the workplace.” “I have learned to be humble, especially when I worked with other members of the community group.” “Learning to listen to others‟ opinions/stories, because my viewpoint is not necessarily the right one” “Most of the exercises involved teamwork and I took the tendency/habit with me to my work environment. “I feel more confident. I feel more confident. “It made me realise that one should not shy away from new situations just because you fear that you will fail.”
- 7. AI WORKSHOP FREDDIE ELSIE T: 051 401 9111 info@ufs.ac.za www.ufs.ac.za
- 8. AI: 4-D CYCLE discovery 'what gives life' dream destiny 'what might 'what will be' be' design 'how it can be' T: 051 401 9111 info@ufs.ac.za www.ufs.ac.za Departement Sentrum • Department Centre UNIVERSITEIT VAN DIE VRYSTAAT • UNIVERSITY OF THE FREE STATE • YUNIVESITHI YA FREISTATA Tel (051) 401 3000 • E-mail: info@ufs.ac.za • www.ufs.ac.za
- 9. ACTIONING AUTHENTICITY BY MEANS OF AI • “The idea that research could be both elegant and a joyous experience for me this was vital to hear because I thought research could only be done by certain people.” • “In our initial correspondence there was something mentioned about a team spirit and I have experienced that this weekend, this is a safe environment for learning.” • “Throughout the course I have observed the whole process unfolding and this course brought the light to everything what we were working towards. I have a purpose.” • “The way in which the workshop was conducted was effective, you made us learn without us really knowing it. We are excited about we are going to do.” • “Coming from a legal background, where everything is scientific and the human environment is thrown out, I have learned the importance of the human environment in all aspects of life.” • “I agree that the human side of what we do, even if we are doctors, we need to start to listen to people. This helped me to realise once again that the human element should be part of everything we do, even something like research. Some research done with cancer patients, they took photographs to show their life stories and the CEO wrote short stories of these people lives, they sell them and plough the money back to the community or the patients. „Finding meaning in whatever life bestows on us‟. Starting the story with Victor Frankle uplifted the experience for me.”
- 10. ELSIE‟S STORY
- 11. ELSIE PROCEEDED TO FACILITATE AN AI AT EMILY HOBHOUSE IN SUCH A WAY THAT IT PRODUCED THE FOLLOWING POSITIVE OUTCOMES • Respect for cultures, learning new languages • A sense of belonging to a sisterhood, acceptance not only tolerated each other • Spiritual growth – we are connected, religion does not divide us, it brings us to together • Getting involved with each other - experience of support across cultures
- 12. CONCLUSION By participating in an AI, the LLC-participants were given an opportunity not only to experience the quality and texture of this life-giving process (cf. Cooperrider & Avital, 2004) first hand, but by facilitating their own AIs they were able to „weave‟ positivity into the social fabric of the university system, with the possibility of broadening the thinking and action repertoires of its stakeholders and building its resources, enhancing transformation in general and racial harmony in particular on the UFS campus (cf. Frederickson, 2003).
- 14. T: 051 401 9111 info@ufs.ac.za www.ufs.ac.za
Editor's Notes
- . Soon after the start of the university’s academic year in 2008, a video, shot by four students from a men’s residence, found its way onto the Internet. The video, made in protest of the university’s integration policies, depicted a mock initiation into the residence’s activities, humiliating five black staff members of whom four were females. Apart from evoking a national and international outcry, it plunged the university into racial turmoil. Students, clearly, had lost their moral compass, classes were disrupted and lecturers very worried about throughput rates.
- It is therefore significant that when the university’s Division: Performance Management and Staff Development decided to implement a year-long Leadership Learning Community programme (LLC) for academic and support staff, its developers opted for the work of George (2007), on authentic leadership, as the most appropriate for meaningful capacity building. George conceived the concept of True North as a metaphor for authentic leadership, where true north serves as an internal compass that guides a person successfully through life. The True North concept is related to authenticity as it is a representation of one’s inner core, what the “I” would consider to be the “real” me. This kind of leadership is not about positional power. LLC applicants were accepted once they and their respective supervisors had formally agreed to commit to the programme. A financial incentive was promised to those who successfully completed the programme by delivering an output, either in the form of a research paper, or the design and implementation of a project.2 concepts, Leadership and AI: The idea was to put together Authentic Leadership as a Concept and the AI process as a concept in a innovative and complimentary wayPROBLEM: HE– isolation, diversity, new demands, lack of leadership capabilities leads to unmotivated staff, self doubt, fear of failure, and poor communication due to silo syndromeMistakes, stress, burnout, poor performance in all areas, job dissatisfaction, low motivation.Leadership – research born or developed, then skills development, latest focus back to discovery of the authentic self. Researchers found that authentic leaders inspire trust and loyalty. They perform at superior levels because they are intensely focused on a powerful purpose for their leadership. They are also able to pick themselves up and keep moving even after the most devastating setbacks.Project focused on uniqueness, authentic capabilities, so that a leader could handle the challenges in a Global Higher Education EnvironmentOUTCOME: Academic and non-Academics need to compete and engage in the global Higher Education Environment
- The programme started in February 2009 with a two-day retreat at a country lodge where, by means of a workbook, participants were introduced to authentic leadership theory and participated in related exercises and activities. This was followed up with three more workshops where the participants continued to immerse themselves in authentic leadership theory and practice, of which the third included an equine-assisted activity.
- An analysis of responses to a questionnaire and reflections on the participants’ subjective experiences of the first half of the programme indicated that they were able to value and develop their capacity for authenticity in general and authentic leadership in particular. Nevertheless, how does one ‘action’ authenticity? The developers of the LLC programme were of the opinion that Appreciative Inquiry (AI) (cf. Cooperrider, Whitney & Stavros, 2008), as a form of positive action research (Cummings & Worley, 2001), provided the answer to this question.
- The AI component of the LLC programme started with a two-day retreat on a guest farm. There, participants were introduced to the historical development of AI, as well as its underlying principles and practices. It was emphasised that AI differs from the classical approach to development and change which is problem focused, mechanistic, and therefore analytical and reductionistic by nature. AI is more contextual by nature (Crous, 2005) and as such is synthetic (generative). This provides for novel and unique actions and pattern formation in a multitude of contexts. The participants were challenged to consider AI not only as a form of positive action research, but as a research framework (Reed, 2007). They were subsequently introduced to several scholarly articles for which AI was used as the research method.
- After the orientation the participants took part in an AI based on the “4-D” cycle of Discovery (appreciating the best of “what gives life”), Dream (envisioning “what might be”), Design (co-constructing “how it can be”) and Destiny (innovating “what will be”) (Cooperrider et al., 2008). The affirmative topic chosen for introducing the AI process framed research as a life-giving endeavour. For the Discovery phase, unconditional positive questions were crafted in such a way that the participants were able to share their stories of positive past experiences related to research they conducted; research done by others whom they admire; what they value about their respective disciplines, the university, their colleagues, themselves, their students; and what “gives life” to their institution. They shared their hopes and wishes regarding research relevance and excellence. From these stories they elicited positive, strong themes after which they voted for the six themes that they regarded as being the positive core (True North?) of research. In a deviation from AI’s participative approach, the Dream phase was facilitated as an individual exercise. Each participant was requested to consider the outcome of the Discovery phase (the positive core of research, constructed collectively) and their personal “True North”, for coming up with a unique topic/theme which they wanted to explore by means of the AI method. In addition, they were requested to craft positive questions (both generic and topic-specific). During the Design phase participants presented their proposals to the larger group, thus providing an opportunity for constructive feedback. The cycle was concluded with a session where each participant committed to facilitate positive change by means of their respective AIs, after which each delegate was given an opportunity to request assistance with the execution of their AIs and to offer assistance in response to the requests made (cf. Watkins, Mohr & Kelly, 2011). The AI retreat ended with a valuation (as opposed to an evaluation) (Watkins et al., 2001).
- The participants spent the rest of the semester refining their AI designs and their execution. AIs were done in respect of topics such as the establishment of a conducive academic culture, the positive impact of legislation on the ethical behaviour of financial planners, the pedagogic attributes of an exemplary teacher, involvement in e-learning, the creation of new learning pathways for the digital age, establishing the UFS as the university of choice for students with disabilities, and first-year experiences of university life. Elsie Danhauser’s AI, however, serves as a high-impact case.
- Elsie, the manager of the Emily Hobhouse women’s residence, was a committed and engaged participant. It therefore came as a surprise when, at the onset of the AI Dream phase, Elsie spoke up: “Sorry, I’m not sure that I will be able to continue, because I don’t have a dream.” Elsie went on to explain that hardship and trauma in her personal life had undermined her capacity to dream. In the spirit of True North and AI the other participants rallied around, comforting her. Elsie eventually came to the realisation that although she might not have a dream for herself, she does have a dream for the women’s residence which she heads. Emily Hobhouse residence has a rich history, but as an almost exclusive Afrikaans residence it was facing the challenge (issued by the university’s new placement policy requirement) that at least 50 per cent of the new intake should consist of black students. She became convinced that AI, with its emphasis on showing appreciation for the past, present and future, would be an appropriate (if not ideal) vehicle for both residential officials and students (black and white) to overcome their resistance to change and collaborate towards positive transformation.
- They have a new Res song, consisting of three different languages, written and composed by these students, proud of itOther residences are now involved in similar exercises - WelwitchiaUniversity came with ‘cultural renewal programme’ a while ago, but this res asked that they should rather do AI again, they are now seniors in the res.In August 2010, Elsie delivered a paper on the AI she had facilitated for Emily Hobhouse at the South African chapter of the Association of Colleges and Universities’ Housing Officials International. She won a Best Presenters Award and received a grant to deliver her paper at the association’s international conference. Her presentation at the 2011 conference in New Orleans was well received.