Continuing on from my previous blog on Ease, in this series on the Thinking Environment, I share my thoughts and experiences on the component of Appreciation in this one.
Definition
From Nancy’s explanation: Noticing what is good and saying it The human mind works best in the presence of appreciation.
In discussions, therefore, we focus first, and sometimes only, on things that are not working. Consequently, because the brain requires appreciation to work well, our thinking is often specious.
The Thinking Environment recognises the right ratio of appreciation to challenge so that individuals and groups can think at their best.
What does this definition mean to me?
Appreciation was one of the first components that I began practising when I learnt about the Thinking Environment. It seemed such a refreshing departure from the narratives of “relentless pursuit of excellence” or “continuous improvement” that frequently drive people to become expert “gap finders”. I believe the pursuit of excellence is wonderful and that as humans we crave growth and thus crave to improve. But what I realised as I came in contact with the Thinking Environment principles is that I’ve got it backwards. This is where the appreciation to challenge ratio was a game changing idea for me. As Nancy says, for every criticism, we need 5 instances of appreciation!
As I went back from the foundation course, my pair and I immediately agreed that we should aim to create a culture of appreciation in our team. As a practice, it was as simple as it was profound. We embedded the practice of appreciation in different ways in our ways of working:
In 1:1s, we ensured that we actively look for strengths and qualities of the person that came through in the conversation or as a pattern. And we made it a point to finish the conversations by expressing the appreciation verbally.
In our planning and governance calls, we kept a special slot for our leads to appreciate their own team members. And we in turn also had a slot to share specific appreciation with our leads in these calls.
We held several reflective dialogues with our group of leads, where we spent a good amount of time having everyone share appreciation for the other leads and often times for their stakeholders as well
Now, any learning or reflection spaces we design, we are sure to make space for appreciation
What followed was an unwavering sense of trust and deeply felt psychological safety for our team. Over and over again, we’ve heard from our leads that they felt truly valued and safe in the group. The team produced fantastic results during this time - which demolishes the assumption that you have to give a lot of “critical feedback” to people for them to be high performers. I think the conventional assumption is that people become complacent when they are appreciated, whereas what I have found is the opposite. People show up with more rigour and openness in an environment where they know they are appreciated for who they are.
I have long been perceived as the “tough” leader, someone who has very high standards. I’ve felt conflicted about this perception - I have felt both pride and guilt about it at the same time. I’ve wondered if I am just too harsh or demanding with my standards. But as I have added the component of appreciation in my leadership philosophy, I find that I have not once had to compromise on my standards. But the people I work with perceive me differently now - as someone who won’t compromise on excellence but will also hold and encourage you in the process of getting there. I found that my team became much more open to suggestions for change and difficult feedback when the need arose to have these conversations.
The shift I have experienced through living this component is remarkable. In one of those “strengths assessment” tests I took recently, I was told that I am an excellent gap finder! Go figure! And yet I’ve found it quite easy to embed Appreciation into my work, because unlike cookie cutter frameworks, in TTT appreciation is meant to be succinct and genuine. That’s what kept it real and sustainable for me. I don’t have to deliver a speech or embellish with fancy words to appreciate - a single sentence is enough!
In fact I find that having the “gap finding” mindset along with a deep commitment to Appreciation makes for a powerful leadership and facilitation approach.
Appreciation is like the wind beneath someone’s wings. It uplifts people, even when they are carrying baggage.
For me, I think appreciation is one of the simplest and most actionable of the components of the Thinking Environment. And it goes a long way in facilitating Ease as well. I have come to believe appreciation is healing. It’s a form of loving kindness that allows people to recognize their own worth, and hopefully their own nobility. Can you imagine the world we would build if enough of us practised it?
I also find that the practice of appreciation of what is good, evokes gratitude and a recognition of one’s own privilege and good luck, especially in the midst of difficulty. It has been a valuable coping tool for me in such times.
Paradox: Appreciation cuts through the noise of the inner and outer critic, while accomplishing what the outcome the critic thought they were facilitating? (but without the toxicity) .
n my next blog, I share my thoughts on the component of Equality.
Credit: Illustration by Chitra