Harkin
DESIGNING THE IDEAL ORGANIZATION OF THE FUTURE
American communities spend an incredible amount of time and money trying to engage and understand youth. Youth are particularly vulnerable because they are targeted for inquiries into negative behaviors such as teen pregnancy, drug and alcohol use, violence, academic failure, and delinquency. These behaviors are studied and addressed with a myriad of policies and programs. Focusing exclusively on the negative has stifled opportunities for young people to be meaningfully and positively engaged in their communities. The prevailing sentiment of “guilt by association” has contributed to an erosion of opportunities for intergenerational dialogue and collaboration outside of the family system.
The on-going calculation of the negative has contributed to the undervaluing of young people in our communities. K.J. Gergan’s concept of “cultural enfeeblement” and its “cycle of progressive (societal) infirmity” is a powerful image of how our social consciousness has evolved into the realm of despair and hopelessness from deficient vocabularies used to describe young people. Youth have been allocated the role of “adults in waiting,” segregated from participating in the overall development of communities.
The preoccupation and association between youth and risk, reinforced by countless scientific inquiries into the negative, has much the same consequences as Samual Morton’s study of cranial size and his subsequent hierarchical rankings of race. How will kids ever have a chance to be as persuasive and influential as the community systems that persist in defining them in terms of weakness? How can they organize themselves in a manner that transmits their positive voice, feelings, images of self and community, and visions of their future? How can we create a systematic process of creating positive images of each other and our future together? How can we move forward together toward positive social change? I believe the answer lies in the real time strategic change value of Appreciative Inquiry as a guiding methodology for community dialogue, and the use of local media as a means of documenting and publicizing the creation of new visions and images of youth.
The Topics:
The topics of youth as resources and valued contributors, youth empowerment, and innovation and social entrepreneurship speak to the positive experiences of youth contributing to their communities. The purpose for choosing these areas of inquiry is to discover the elements that bring forth youth talent, creativity, strength and an awareness of their own positive power in the world. When they have the opportunity for leadership and participation in communities, their enthusiasm and energy can turn the mundane task of cleaning a yard into an exciting adventure of self-discovery. When discussing the environments we create for children and youth, the paradigm shift from the deficient mentality of “fixing problems”, to the intentional nurturing of life giving forces, is nothing short of a moral imperative.
Preparing for the Interviews:
A majority of my interviews were conducted at Search Institute’s annual conference. Search Institute is an organization seeking to promote positive youth development. I was given permission to conduct interviews by staff and was directed to the “Youth Forum”. The “Youth Forum” was a large conference room with ping pong and pool tables, computers, couches, bean bag chairs, loud music and food. It was a perfect setting. All I needed were participants willing to do an hour interview during a busy and exciting conference.
While preparing for the interviews, I asked for the input of three youth staff working at the computer station. They were quick to make suggestions and I proceeded to modify my protocol. They were particularly intrigued by the idea of young people as an economic, social and political force. This led to conversations about youth’s role in the history of social change in the United States - the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, and the Environmental Movement. They became increasingly interested in what I was studying and why. Ironically, I did not do any of my interviews with them because of conflicting schedules.
The Interviews:
The interviews were conducted with five youth, aged 15-20 years old. The participants were from different parts of the country (Montana, Indiana, Ohio and North Carolina), and came from a cross section of race, gender, socio-economic backgrounds, and family structures. The interviews ranged from just over an hour to four hours divided into two sessions. Examples of participation in the community ranged from service projects through school, starting and running a coffeehouse, hosting a radio talk show, being in a band, working at a camp, and being a friend to the unpopular kid at school.
Something that surprised me during the interviews was the numerous times eyes became slightly teary, cheeks flushed, and pupils dilated. It was especially true when the participants recalled helping others in difficult circumstances. When describing a child she met while doing a service project at battered women’s shelter, Sarah (17) “ felt so bad this little girl had to live at the shelter, but she was so happy people were there helping out, being friendly and smiling. At first, I wanted to finish the project on time, and then I just wanted to stay to keep her happy.” As she was talking, and relating the story, her cheeks flushed, she leaned forward and spoke more rapidly. I was surprised by the wave of energy that went from her to me. Similar experieces occurred repeatedly during every interview.
In addition to the assistance I received by youth staff, the interviews were improved primarily by the questions themselves. I attribute their willingness to “dig deep” in explaining the impact of their experience to a combination between the Positive Principle of Appreciative Inquiry and the Positive Pygmalion Dynamic. The affirming tone of the topic areas and questions made explicit my positive image and expectancy of youth and the possibility of their “extraordinariness” in an ordinary act. When I emphasized I was interested in any event that had deep meaning to them, they did not search long for examples of when they made a difference.
Most participants had not shared their stories in any detail with others. They surprised themselves with how powerful the experience had been for them at the time. Trena (15) shared an experience of a friend who “came out” during a radio show debate with a caller who was criticizing homosexuality. When I asked what skills she contributed to the situation, she responded “As a group (the youth staff at the radio station) we created a space that was safe for Nick to come out for the first time. All of us contributed something. I never felt my connection to people as intensely as I did then….I discovered, tapped something I kinda knew was there, but wasn’t sure.” She went on to talk about how the members of the radio station felt a shared sense of speaking for the “alternative crowd.” Her personal expectancy of her role representing the alternative voice brought about a sense of freedom and safety in standing up for her beliefs and for her friends. There were other examples of protecting or supporting others in the face of criticism or ostracism by others. This is paralleled by what Kast refers to as “symbiotic connectedness,” a state “of symbiosis (where) one feels taken care of, freed from fear of attack, slander and harm, and invested in promoting the health and vitality of others.” (Pg. 273)
Similar moments of self-enlightenment motivated participants to think more deeply about their experiences and to take the time to ponder the profound impact of a given moment. When met with enthusiastic inquisitiveness, they began to verbally walk through their feelings and thoughts and censored less and less as the interview progressed.
Some of the best stories youth shared were times when adults weren’t acting in a manner expected of them. One of the funniest stories was Adam (18) describing his summer job as a manager at a busy pizza shop. One of his delivery staff was an older man who would consistently not deliver pizzas. One particularly busy weekend, Adam confronted the deliveryman after he returned again with pizzas. His employee became angry and responded by throwing a baking pan at Adam. After laughing for a while I asked him what it was that made it comfortable to act as a leader in that situation. He responded by stating “People assume all adults are competent and think its just young people screwing up, but they do too. I am a hard worker and I knew this guy wasn’t doing his job.” In a similar vein, Alexis remembered working at a golf fund raising event and getting no direction from adults. It turned out to be a pivotal moment of leadership for her: “There was a fundraiser we were helping with and we carried golf bags. It seemed like the adults were just sitting there-I don’t even know what they were doing. Since no one took control, we just did what we thought was right. We just took it from nothing and orchestrated what to do. The golfers treated us equally because we told them what to do and they said okay. We acted like we knew what to do when we didn’t.”
The Ideal Community: Discovering and Promoting the Power of Youth:
The organizations I wish to create are communities that are “thriving centers of activity where young people are valued for their unique contribution to their families, neighborhoods, schools, work places and country.” If we use communities as the setting for generative communication though Appreciative Inquiry question design, systems can be drawn to a new calling and a renewal of purpose and effectiveness.
Sociorationalism affirms that “social knowledge resides in the interactive collectivity; it is created, maintained and put to use by the human group. Dialogue free from constraint or distortion, is necessary to determine the nature of things.” (Pg. 64) Dialogue based on provocative questions with multiple interpretations keeps the 7-S systems of community organizations in an adaptive and fluid state. Its flexibility helps foster and support the infinite possibilities of interpretation and response (Poetic Principle), and provides a level playing field for youth to contribute their valuable insights and understandings (Constructionist Principle).
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During my discussions, I also came to recognize The Principle of Simultaneity in action-“that inquiry and change are a simultaneous moment, we begin reflecting anew.” The immediate validation gained by a young person during an appreciative interview was evident in their demeanor as the interviews progressed. They began identifying strengths, qualities and capabilities about themselves and had an increased recognition of their positive influence or impact on a given situation. If a positive question can have such a powerful effect during a one on one interview, imagine the potential of hundreds of interviews in lunchrooms, church basements, gyms, or camp outings.
Bliss Browne of IMAGINE CHICAGO talks about the role of a question and its ability to transform: “Inquiry itself creates wonder. When I’m really in a mode of inquiry, appreciable worlds are discovered everywhere…..A good positive question, like Karl Weick’s notion of “small wins”, can change the world.” (Pg. 128) IMAGINE CHICAGO is a classic example of how questions framed in the positive generate new images of the self and “the other,” and has the potential of creating large scale “symbiotic connectedness.” In the case of IMAGINE CHICAGO, the interviews created an organic shifting within the 7-S model for the multiple systems of a large metropolitan city. The growing transformations within community culture had little to do with studies and data, and much to do with the relationships developed between people.
The process of creating ample moments of mutual discovery and appreciation is best achieved through real time strategic change methods. The real time strategic change process builds a critical mass by 1) promoting wide spread involvement, 2) intentional and proactive inclusion of multiple perspectives, and 3) creating shared understanding and values within an organization. I believe a way to begin this process is by mobilizing local media outlets to publicize the positive voices and images of youth. An initial activity, which could generate new images of youth, is through the development and implementation of documented community “fishbowls.”
During my interactions with youth at the Youth Forum, I realized the environment in which they spoke played a critical role in how they processed their experience. A conference dedicated to young people is a wonderful place to open up and celebrate your self. Communities do not always mirror this environment, and it is an important factor to consider when recruiting the participation of youth. When I asked the young people what would have had to occur in the future for young people to be valued as contributors, they replied: “When young people do something good, it would be visible for everyone to see,” “Even though adults have their doubts, they put that behind them and just tried something different,” “People are more accepting of difference and what they can gain from it.” “People were more open minded about what kids could do.”
Fishbowl dialogues are physically set up to allow an audience to listen in on the personal conversations and experiences of a group. In traditional applications among youth, discussions have revolved around risk related topics such as violence in schools, apathy and substance abuse. By changing the fundamental questions asked in this setting, a new youth-generated image of them selves can emerge and compete with imposed negative images and stereotypes.