Appreciative Inquiry

Why Appreciative Inquiry?

At Be Luminous Yoga, we are committed building our community in a way that creates life, health, vitality, and excellence. Through the Appreciative Inquiry Initiative, we want to affirm past and present strengths, assets and potentials, and search for new possibilities with a spirit of wonder. Through this exploration and discovery we will craft a strategic plan that will guide our growth.

What is Appreciative Inquiry?

Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is an approach to personal and organizational capacity building. It enhances organization-wide capacity for whole-system sustainable practices. It provides tools and methods to put organizational values into daily practice.
• Appreciative: carries a double meaning referring to both the act of recognition and the act of enhancing value.
• Inquiry: refers to the acts of exploration and discovery; being in a state of unknowing, wonder, and willingness to learn.

This process was brought to us by Toni Aspin – a business development consultant creating learning communities grounded in values of performance excellence, self leadership and relationship quality. As a member of the Be Luminous Yoga community, Toni noticed an opportunity to help us create powerful and lasting growth by listening to our constituency with inquisitiveness and joy.

The Process

Discovery: Through a series of one-on-one interviews, community members, staff and teachers at Be Luminous Yoga will have an opportunity to share your story. Your interviewer will guide you through a 45-minute interview, helping you uncover experiences and ideas that will help us understand the best of who Be Luminous Yoga has been and the best of who we can be.

Through the month of November, we will have 80 openings for Be Luminous Yogis and guests to be interviewed by specially trained community members. Scott and Michel will not be conducting any interviews rather they will be interviewees. All comments captured in the interview process will be anonymous but not confidential. In other words, stories and quotes will be shared but no names will be attached to them. The stories generated in this Discovery process will serve as the raw materials to begin to build the Dream phase of the AI process (see below). This is completely voluntary, and we want you to know we would be honored for you to share your voice with us; we value your input highly. Interviews can be scheduled in the studio by signing up for a pre-arranged time on the sign-up board. Please sign up early to ensure a spot that works for you.

Dream: In this phase, we will take all of the anonymous interview data and explore it. What are the dreams and visions of our community? What does Be Luminous Yoga look like at its best? How can we amplify the positive core of the organization? What can be created from this platform of strengths, assets and potentials? What does our vital future look like? While we are not certain of the precise logistics just yet, we will find a way to share this phase of the process with you. No matter how it turns out, we are certain this is going to be a bright, joyful and vitality-giving experience.

Design & Direction: From the dream phase, we will craft a new strategic plan for the growth, development and inspiration of Be Luminous Yoga. As we bring this plan to life in the studio, we will share frequently with the community about what we are up to, inviting you in where you can help us hone and realize the possibilities of our Appreciative Inquiry experience.

Working with Aspin & Co

As noted above, Appreciative Inquiry was introduced to us by Toni Aspin - a friend, BLY yogi, and business development consultant extraordinaire. Toni is helping us create and oversee the process through her newly launched consulting firm, Aspin & Co. Toni brings an extensive background as a leader in the both the profit and non-profit sectors. Most recently, Toni served as CEO of One Real and Teatro Zinanni. Prior to that, Toni has served as Managing Director of Richard Hugo House and consulted with the Seattle Symphony to create a business plan for Soundbridge. To learn more about Toni, visit her website at www.toniaspin.com.