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Appreciative Governance: Engagement and Innovation Throughout The Organization

Bernard Mohr & Neil Samuels

April 11, 2012

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Advising nonprofits in:

• Strategy

• Planning

• Organizational Development

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(617) 969-1881

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Today’s Speakers

Bernard MohrCo-Founder

Innovation Partners International

Hosting:

Sam Frank, Synthesis Partnership

Assisting with chat questions: April Hunt &

Riley Croft, Nonprofit Webinars

Neil SamuelsPresident

Profound Conversations, Inc.

Appreciative Governance for Nonprofits: Engagement and Innovation

Throughout The Organization

Bernard Mohr: Innovation Partners International

Neil Samuels: Profound Conversations, Inc.

5

GOALS & AGENDA

Agenda:

1. The need for new models of governance

2. How Appreciative Governance (AG) differs from traditional forms of Governance

3. So what – Benefits?

4. Principles for Designing Appreciative Governance Systems

5. Implementing AG through co-design

Takeaways from today’s Webinar:

• Understand the need for new models of governance

• Understand how Appreciative Governance (AG) differs from traditional

forms of Governance

• Understand the benefits of adopting this new form of governance

• Learn about a set Principles to guide the design of Appreciative

Governance for your organization

• Learn about a high-engagement methodology for designing

Appreciative Governance models

Some Background Information

1.How would you rate current governance systems in the non profit sector?

a) Very effective

b) Moderately effective

c) Slightly effective

d) Ineffective

e) Very ineffective2. How experienced are you in designing governance systems?

a) Very experienced

b) Moderately experienced

c) Slightly experienced

d) No experience

3. How familiar are you with Appreciative Inquiry?

a) Experienced practitioner of AI at whole organization level

b) Have used AI a number of times to drive results

c) Attended training and have tried it out a few times

d) Have been exposed to it – read about it.

e) I can spell AI

The Need for Governing Differently

1.An increasing pattern of Governance failure– Roman Catholic Church, the United Way, The American Red Cross, NAACP, the

American Cancer Society, and Toys for Tots (Gibelman & Gelman, 2000)

– Great Depression of 1929…. 2008 Wall Street crash

– Enron, MCI/Worldcom, Adelphia Communications, Arthur Andersen, Global

Crossing, Tyco

2.The “new normal” - Nilofer Merchant

– "Leadership" has changed when a decentralized group of people can take down a

government. E.g. Egypt, Tunisia

– "The Value Chain" has changed when the client is no longer just the “receiver of

services" but also a co-creator.

– "Human Resources" have changed when many of the people who create value for

your organization are neither hired nor paid by you.

– ”How work gets done and financed" has changed when individuals can create

value through a centralized network of resources: for example, designing a product

from anywhere, producing it through a 3D factory, financing it through community

and distribution from anywhere to anywhere.

3.Need for full engagement of heads, hearts, and minds-- “within the existing paradigm of “direct and control” the people assumed to be most

able to manage the accountability are those who sit at the top of the pyramid, the

Board of Directors”

Governance Comparison

Dimension TraditionalViewofGovernance AppreciativeGovernanceThrust Emphasizescontrollingor

preventingbehaviorthatisillegal,unethical,ordetrimentaltotheinterestsofshareholders.

Emphasizesmobilizingandencouragingbehaviorthatislegal,ethical,andpositivetothelong-terminterestsofshareholdersandstakeholderswhilemaintainingapostureofdeterrenceofbehaviorantitheticaltothoseinterests.AGilluminatesandmorebroadlyaccessestheorganization’sstrengths,resources,andassets.

KeyActors Viewstheboardofdirectorsasthekeyactorsingoverning

Acknowledgesthateveryoneintheorganizationcarriesoutgovernance—theboardofdirectors,management,andallotheremployees.

Focus Focusesonboardactivitiesofseniormanagementselectionandcompensation,advisingseniormanagement,andreviewingaccuracyoffinancialreportingandadequacyofcomplianceefforts.

Focusesontheorganization’sstructures,practices,andprocessesandthefullrangeofallemployees’behaviorsasrelatedtoParson’sfourfunctionsofgovernance(Adaptation,GoalAchievement,IntegrationandLongTermDevelopment).

Orientation Beginswithaproblem-preventionpointofviewandisadvocacydriven.

Beginsfromastrength-basedperspectiveandisinquirydriven.

Appreciative Governance – Def’n

Appreciative Governance (AG) refers to structures, practices, and

processes that:

• identify and align individual and organizational strengths;

• maximize collaboration, learning, and innovation; and

• create full engagement and accountability

…. resulting in an agile organization capable of rapid, effective

decisions at the most local levels and an innovative climate that

ensures mission sustainability.

Why Appreciative Governance?

What benefits do you see in adopting this

new form of governance?

– for employees and/or volunteer staff?

– for management?

– for clients/service recipients?

Benefits of Appreciative Governance?

• Increases adaptability through faster/better

decision making

• Distributes and deepens accountability

• More fully engages staff and volunteers

• Illuminates and more broadly accesses the

organization’s strengths and resources

• Broadens and deepens relationships

• Speeds knowledge transfer

• Encourages innovation

Principles of AG

How We Think of Principles:

1. A fundamental truth or proposition that

serves as the foundation for a system

of belief or behavior or for a chain of

reasoning.

2. The basis for design choices.

Principles for Designing AG

• Interdependent

• Mutually inclusive

• Create the fabric of the system

Principles for Designing AG

Implementing AG through Co-Design

4 G

ove

rnan

ce F

un

ctio

ns

(AG

IL)

Four “Surfaces” where Governance “Takes Place”

Adaptation

Goal Attainment

Integration

Long Term Sustainability

1. Within Work Group

2. Laterally –Work Group To

Work Group

3. Vertically –Along

Managerial Hierarchy

4. Organization And it’s

Environment

The Appreciative Governance Design Matrix(Based on Talcott Parson’s writings and adapted from work by John J Cotter and William O Lytle)

Implementing AG through Co-Design

Engage the organization in

making an informed

decision about where and

with whom in your

organization you want to

begin creating an

appreciative governance

system.

Start small, act

fast, reflect,

learn, adjust –

expand.

Board and Executive

Mng’t explore :

1.What does the “there”

that we most

want/need look like?

1.Why would we want to

get to “there”? what

would we gain? And

why not just stay as

we are?

3. What are the options

for moving from “here to

there” (i.e. what is the

design process for us?)

4. What are implications

for us and our

leadership

SUMMARY

1. Boards of Directors and Executive Management committees come to mind

whenever we mention organizational governance. This premise that those at the

top are the only ones “governing” has less and less face validity.

1. Wherever people work together, they make choices that set standards of

relationship, behavior and accountability …with consequences for organizational

success.

1. Why not then engage them in a governance system that explicitly supports

Adaptation, Goal Achievement, Integration, and Long Term Development at all levels

- i.e. – Appreciative Governance.

2. Appreciative Governance (AG) refers to structures, practices, and processes that:

• identify and align individual and organizational strengths;

• maximize collaboration, learning, and innovation; and

• create full engagement and accountability

…. resulting in an agile organization capable of rapid, effective decisions at the

most local levels and an innovative climate that ensures mission sustainability.

Contact Information

Bernard Mohr:

Innovation Partners International

www.InnovationPartners.com

207-874-0118

bjMohr@InnovationPartners.com

Neil Samuels:

Profound Conversations, Inc.

www.profoundconversations.com

630-605-4610

neil@profoundconversations.com

Create Shared Will

• Identify Positive Core

• Draft Shared Purpose

Model the New Governance

Architecture Relationally &

Structurally

Stress

Test

Iterate

Imagine

Connect-Explore

Act – Evolve

DeployReview and

Reconfigure

Mobilize

Refine the Model

And Design The

Act-Evolve

Process

AG SUMMIT Process*

• Based on work by the STS RT “Designing the Adaptive Enterprise.” Discovery Sub-Team (Doug Austrom, Don De Guerre, Bob Laliberte, Helen

Maupin, Bernard Mohr and Carolyn Ordowich), presented at New Orleans Annual Meeting of the STS Round Table, September 28 to Oct 1. 2011

An Accelerated AG Implementation Process

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