Appreciative inquiry

[pic 1][pic 2]

 [pic 3]

[pic 4]

[pic 5]

[pic 6][pic 7]

[pic 8]

[pic 9]

[pic 10]

[pic 11]

[pic 12]

[pic 13]

[pic 14]

[pic 15]

[pic 16][pic 17]

[pic 18]

[pic 19]

[pic 20]

[pic 21]

[pic 22]

[pic 23]

[pic 24]

[pic 25]

[pic 26]

The Achievement Tool

This tool has two main purposes:

1. To record, inquire into and celebrate a person’s achievement

1. To gather rich information about the person that will help to feed into other Person Centred Thinking and Planning Tools such as a One Page Profile or an Essential Lifestyle Plan

The traditional system-centred model of thinking has always focussed on the deficiencies of people that use services. It has seen people as problems to be coped with, rather than as people who go out and achieve things in their own lives. This has led to people being labelled, devalued, segregated and excluded. Person Centred Planning has shown that it is focussing on the person’s gifts, skills and achievements that helps provide the energy and ideas to overcome this exclusion and help the person win back control over the direction and quality of their lives.

It is very worthwhile to use this tool just for this first purpose, but it becomes even more useful when we use it to gather information that will contribute to further person centred thinking.

Using the tool we record, inquire into and celebrate together something the person sees as an achievement, something they are proud of. We hope that this will help us learn with the person more about what is important to them, what is likeable and admirable about them, and what makes really good support for them, by thinking about what is happening when they are achieving things, when they are at their best.

The tool will be something that can be added to a person centred portfolio, along with the person’s One Page Profile,  records of other achievements and other person centred thinking and planning tools.

How It Works

If the person is willing to talk about their achievements or successes, use the questions to help them tell the story of an achievement, and explore what helped them achieve it. Keep a record of the discussion – perhaps in a graphical form, picturing the person’s story through it’s various stages, then thinking about the future, recording the imagery and metaphors the person uses, and the most memorable quotes from their story.

The tool is inspired by ideas from ‘Appreciative Inquiry’ which suggests that if we can inquire into, learn and understand what helps us be at our best, do our best work and be most successful, then we can do what is necessary to re-create these conditions more often, and that we will find more and more of what we are looking for: If we look for all a person’s deficiencies, we will find ever more of them, if we search for all a person’s strengths, gifts and achievements, we will find ever more of these too.

The Questions:

You don’t necessarily need to ask all the questions, and you may think of questions of your own – do what makes sense for the person, what helps them tell their story best.

“An achievement I am proud of, a success, something I am pleased I did” 

this can be a big life changing achievement, or a smaller everyday achievement. The kind of achievement you choose to think about could be determined by the purpose of your planning – if you are thinking with the person and their allies about how the person can make major changes to their life, perhaps a big achievement from the past will give clues, and evidence about what else they can do to change their lives. If you are thinking about how to support a person in their everyday life, perhaps smaller, everyday achievements will be more relevant.

Angela felt proud that she had overcome her fear of flying by taking a trip to Mexico

What Made Me Do It?

We don’t always choose the circumstances where we achieve, sometimes our biggest achievements happen in situations thrust upon us where we have to make unwelcome and difficult decisions, at other times we can plan for our achievements and build them based on our deepest dreams and ambitions.

List here the various things that led the person to do what they did – these can be both internal motivations and external factors. They can reveal what really matters to the person – in Angela’s case, we learned that her exotic holiday and her boyfriend really mattered to her, as not being a prisoner of her fears.

Angela really wanted to go to Mexico, she wanted a great holiday with her boyfriend, she did not want her fear to hold her back. Her boyfriend encouraged her to face up to her fear.

How I felt beforehand

Remembering these feelings is important, especially when compared with ‘How I felt afterward’.  These can be strong and deep emotions. If it was easier, it wouldn’t have been such an achievement!

Angela felt as if she was going to die on the plane – she felt out of control and vulnerable

How I prepared

...