1. First, some of our expertise can be known both to ourselves and to other people. These are publicly recognized areas of expertise; if well-used, they will have been a big part of our success strategy. We can celebrate these areas of expertise with our colleagues—and also be alert to over-use.
2. Second, we might personally be aware of other areas of expertise that we possess; however, other people might not be aware of these areas of expertise. These are our private areas of expertise. We may be aware of them, but they are rarely of much value to us, given that others never see them being used, like the poetry one may be writing in one’s mind. Evoking such private areas of expertise from our colleagues by listening attentively to their stories of past successes gives us a chance to encourage them to experiment and apply the lessons learned from these past successes to currently challenging situations.
3. The third possibility is one in which we are not fully aware of a distinctive strength we possess, whereas other people are aware. These are obscure areas of expertise. These areas of expertise are of little value to us until we have become fully acquainted with them and know how to put them to work. When a promotion feels undeserved and/or intimidating to a manager, it is often because they doesn’t see their own areas of expertise as clearly as their colleagues and superiors do.
4. Finally, there are areas of expertise we possess that have never been acknowledged by anyone—including ourselves. These are potential areas of expertise. They represent the farthest edge of our growth and development.
The process of appreciation, in which a collaborative setting is established plays a central role, expands the size of the public window by providing an opportunity – through appreciative support and feedback – to learn more about our observed areas of expertise. It also provides collaborative participants with an opportunity to reflect on the nature of their areas of expertise. The private window becomes smaller in a culture that is appreciative: We begin to feel more comfortable in sharing personal insights based on our distinctive areas of expertise and talents. The obscure window also shrinks with appreciation: We have access to clearer information regarding our distinctive areas of expertise when the climate allows us and other participants to feel comfortable in providing one another with such observations.
Finally, with both the private and obscure windows shrinking in size, the potential strength window grows smaller and feeds into the public one: Potential areas of expertise are recognized for the first time both by us and our colleagues. Effective, collaborative sharing of expertise relates directly to this process of expanding the public domain of our acknowledged areas of expertise. Structures that provide sanctuary and temporary settings for collaborative diversity (such as Future Search or Open Space) enable dynamic constructivism to take place—building on expanding recognition and use of participant expertise.
Communities of heart, buttressed by appreciative processes and attitudes, provide members of a group with a framework for reflection on their own areas of expertise. These processes and attitudes enable participants to receive feedback from other people regarding the areas of expertise that they most want to leverage for their own growth and for the collaborative enactment of a shared vision. In these settings, and with appreciative processes and attitudes in place, there is the remarkable (and rare) opportunity for hand-in-hand achievement of individual and collective goals.
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