Extract from "Model of Discernment for the Election of Leadership" by William Nordenbrock, C.PP.S. (Pages 50-52)
Appreciative Discernment is a “baptized” version of the change theory
of Appreciative Inquiry (AI). As a theory of organizational dynamics,
AI began at Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, OH) in the late 1980s. While this article does not allow for a full description of the
theory, it offers a radical different way of understanding organizations. When “baptized”
and used as a process of discernment, it is
rooted in several important beliefs.
The first is that we are to participate in the plan of God and be co-creators of the Reign of God. We are not passive recipients of the Good News of the Reign of God—we are called to create it. Discerning
our faithfulness, individually and as a community, is to recognize that we
have a particular vocation or mission in that plan of God. Secondly, God
will always be faithful to us; God will not leave us orphaned. In terms of the discernment of our future, what this means is that God will give us the gifts that we need to fulfill our mission. Faithfulness is not that we do
everything, but that we use our gifts or charism to the fullest. When we have
identified our charism, we have identified our mission.
The process of Appreciative Discernment is illustrated in the
diagram on the next page. The process begins with Discovery. In this phase
of the process, which is focused and revolves around a positive topic such as
A Faithful Future with Good Leadership, we look to the past and the present
to discover the ways that God has blessed us. What gifts has God given us that we are to use to build the Reign of God? We discover our positive
core or charism−what do we look like at our best? We do this through the
soliciting of stories of our best experiences of community and ministry.
The second phase is to engage our imagination and to Dream.
Through sharing and dialogue as a community we arrive at a shared vision
for a hopeful future that stretches us beyond the good that is already
present in the community. A guiding question is, “If we take all the gifts/
blessings that God gives to us and use those gifts to the fullest, what would
be possible?” It is in this phase of the process that we define the community
context in which we must elect leadership. Here we answer the question,
“Leadership for what?”
When we have defined a dream or vision of our faithful future, we must then Design the way to live our dream into reality. What has to
happen for the dream to be realized? Are there changes that we need to
make to our structures, policies, procedures, practices so that the dream can
be realized? Here we begin to acknowledge the ways in which the leadership
relationship is lived out and the various faithful ways that individuals share in the responsibility. This is about
accepting the responsibility to be the co-
creators of our community. We are able to
construct/create the community that God
calls us to be.
It is here that we start to ask,
“What kind of leadership is needed for
the community to live towards the dream
that we have chosen?” More than a list of
qualities that we hope the superior will have, it is also about how all the members of the community can fulfill
their shared leadership responsibility. In the design process we must plan
concretely for the future. Through specific plans of action, with assigned
responsibility and accountability, we set our course for the future.
Finally, we know that having a plan is of no benefit unless we
implement that plan and start to Do it. In this phase of the process the emphasis is on what the individual is able and willing to do to effect the
implementation of the design to live our dream into reality. We ask the
members to identify their personal gifts and determine how they might be used most beneficially in helping the community. For what part of the action plans will they accept responsibility? The task is to invite and
encourage all in the community to make a commitment to bring their gifts
to the service and leadership of the community.
As stated above, the Appreciative Discernment process is only one
possible approach. While other approaches can be used, the necessary and
important step is that prior to discerning their selection of leadership, the
community accept the responsibility to define the desired future of the
community, because it is only within that context that we can answer the
question, “What are we electing leadership for?”
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