Appreciation is exhibited in a more constructive manner through the ongoing interaction between those engaged in the building of collective expertise. It involves mutual respect and active engagement, accompanied by a natural flow of feedback, and an exchange of ideas. More specifically, appreciation is evident in not only the processes being engaged, but also the attitudes accompanying these appreciative tools regarding the nature and purpose of work done on behalf of building collective expertise.
These are the three most common uses of the term appreciation. We appreciate the expertise offered by other people through seeking to understand them, through valuing them, and through being attentive and thoughtful in acknowledging their ongoing contributions to the organization. The appreciative perspective can also be engaged in three additional ways that are distinctive—yet closely related to the first three. These three appreciative strategies offer a bridge between expertise-enhancing processes and expertise-enhancing attitudes.
Establishing a Positive Collective Image of the Future
Appreciation can refer to the establishment of a positive image of the future among those engaged in the building of collective expertise. We grow to appreciate our collective effort by investing it with optimism. We invest it with a sense of hope about its own future and the valuable role potentially it plays in our organization or society. Effective appreciative participation in a collaborative venture must be “not only concerned with what is but also with what might be.” (Frost and Egri, 1990, p. 305) We come to appreciate our own role and that of other people with whom we are participating regarding the contributions we make jointly in helping to realize these images, purposes and values.
An appreciative perspective is always leaning into the future. There is consistent and frequent attention to what will happen (anticipation) and what should happen (aspirations) in the days and years ahead. Rather than focusing conversations on reconstructed narrative of the past, the conversations are directed toward construction of a new narrative concerning the future. While we appreciate that which has been successful in the past, we don’t dwell with nostalgia on the past, but instead continually trace out the implications of shared expertise, acquired wisdom and past successes regarding our vision of the future. We will have much more to say about this appreciative perspective in the next section of this essay—for it provides the foundation for an expertise-enhancing attitude as well as being a key to expertise-enhancing processes.
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