1. UNITED METHODISt WOMEN
METRO WEST District Leadership Training
February 9, 2008

2. Appreciative Inquiry & Asset mapping
DREAMING THE FUTURE
Appreciative Inquiry &
Asset mapping

3. PURPOSE OF OUR TIME TOGETHER
To provide you with processes (Appreciative Inquiry and Asset Mapping) to use with your local units to help you live into a new future. You will have an opportunity to practice the processes and identify assets your unit can use for dreaming the future.
Read
As I was working on this I read the goal the leadership team had suggested: simple and easily understood.
I would guess that any time we deal with a new concept or way of thinking – no matter how simple it is – it feels difficult – just like Freida and Franny.
But we’ll see where we get today.

4. Our Starting Point
The Mission of The United Methodist Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. The local churches provide the most significant arena through which disciple-making occurs.
¶ 120 The Book of Discipline
Everything we do in the Church needs to be seen through this lens of disciplemaking. This seems like a dah, but in reality it is a huge shift in thinking – so as you work today I invite you to keep in mind: does this activity, this program help me and others to grow as disciples for the transformation of the world?

5. Strategic Purpose of the Minnesota Annual Conference:
Building GREAT Churches
Growing in Christ-likeness
Reaching the least, lost and left out
Expecting God to do great things
Asking people into a life changing relationship with Jesus Christ
Telling about our transformed lives

6. Building GREAT Churches
We want to build GREAT churches that are rooted in and living out the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. We will do this by creating new faith communities and revitalizing existing congregations to be:

7. Building GREAT Churches
Purposeful: they have a clear, compelling answer to why church matters.
Practicing: the means of grace
Passionate: they are excited, enthusiastic, engaged, and willing to invite someone else to share what they have experienced.

8. Building GREAT Churches
Personifying: Open Hearts, Open Minds and Open Doors.
Empowering: they call forth and send out people to be leaders in to the church and the world.

9. Building GREAT Churches
Signs that we are accomplishing our purpose will be people and churches who are implementing the Gospel Imperatives:

10. Building GREAT Churches
Cultivating Spiritual Vitality

11. Building GREAT Churches
Reaching New People

12. IMPLEMENTING THE GOSPEL IMPERATIVES
Practice Radical Hospitality
Passionate Worship
Intentional Faith Development
Empowered Laity
Prayer-filled Evangelism
Risk-Taking Mission and Service
Extravagant Generosity
Which of these practices focus specifically on the 2 imperatives?
Spend time with each of the next slides defining practice and ask for examples of that practice from their experience.

13. Building GREAT Churches
Minnesota UMW units can be a vital part of building GREAT Churches and implementing the Gospel Imperatives

14. Building GREAT Churches
The Purpose of United Methodist Women The organized unit of United Methodist Women shall be a community of women whose purpose is to know God and to experience freedom as whole persons through Jesus Christ; to develop a creative supportive fellowship; and to expand concepts of mission through participation in the global ministries of the church
You too fit into the Gospel Imperatives
Knowing God and experiencing freedom as whole persons through Christ
Concept of mission: reaching new people

15. A Philosophy of Change: The Beginning of an Adventure
APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY
A Philosophy of Change:
The Beginning of an Adventure

16. An Appreciative Inquiry … What is it?
… a change management process that calls forth the positive experiences of an organization through its stories and uses the energy of story-telling to bring about a new future for the organization.
The Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry
by Sue Hammond

17. What is it…. A philosophy, a way of thinking, a new mental model
The “appreciative eye”, a way of seeing
People, groups, and organizations as expressions of beauty and spirit
“Tackling problems” by doing more of what works
Giving time, energy to where we say “Yes”
The Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry
by Sue Hammond

18. Assumptions of Appreciative Inquiry
In every society, organization, or group, something works
What we focus on becomes our reality
Reality is created in the moment, and there are multiple realities
The Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry
by Sue Hammond
Assumptions: groups have a large number of assumptions operating at an unconscious level. Shared assumptions allow groups to work efficiently, but the group may fail to see new data that contradicts their belief and they may miss an opportunity to improve their effectiveness. So it is important to understand assumptions. Assumptions are statement or rules that explain what a group generally believes.
Assumptions explain the context of the group’s choices and behaviors.
Assumptions are usually not visible to or verbalized by the participants/members; rather they develop and exist.
Assumptions must be made visible and discussed before anyone can be sure of the group beliefs.
Once you begin the process of questioning assumptions, it may inspire others to dig deeply. 1st step in org. change. It may feel messy.

19. Assumptions continued . . .
The act of asking questions of an organization or groups influences the group in some way.
People have more confidence and comfort to journey to the future (the unknown) when they carry forward parts of the past (the known). (This is the power of the story!)

20. Assumptions continued . . .
If we carry parts of the past forward, they should be what is best about the past.
It is important to value differences
The language we use creates our reality
The Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry
by Sue Hammond

21. Our normal way of thinking is on the left focus on problems – the negative – that gets our negative energy vs AI valuing what is already working well – appreciating what is best; moving to what might be and then dialoguing together about what should be. Sometimes helpful to think about the end of the process – our vision of the future and then work backward to develop a plan!

23. Steps in the Process Interview Process with Questions
Share results with the Group to uncover common themes
Create a list of themes and examples of the best.
I will run through the process with you. In your handout you will find the questions and process for how to do this. After reviewing the process we will move to groups to experience the process in preparation for your leading in your local church. If you are here with others from your church, you will form a working group. If you are by yourself or are with only one or two others from your church, you will join with others. I have some suggestions about those of you who may be in relationship already or who may be geographically close. I would like you to select a leader/facilitator who will guide the process for your group at your table. Try to work through this process until it is time to gather for lunch. After lunch we will do some debriefing and then move into Asset mapping. Some of you will get further than others. Remember you are practicing a process – it doesn’t have to be perfect. You are learning what this is all about so stop in the process if you have questions and figure the process out – the end product is not what is important!

24. Steps in the Process Creating Provocative Propositions
“Provocative propositions describe an ideal state of circumstances that will foster the climate that create the possibilities to do more of what works.”
The Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry
by Sue Hammond
Envision what might be. Write an affirmative statement that describes the idealized future as if it were already happening.

25. Provocative Propositions
Statements that bridge the best of “what is” with your speculations of what “might be”…Provocative Propositions are statements . . .
That challenge the status quo, stretch or interrupt it.
That are grounded in examples of actual experience.
The Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry
by Sue Hammond

26. Provocative Propositions
That describe a desired or preferred future; answer the “what if. . .” question.
That are worded in the affirmative and in bold terms
That illustrate the ideal as a real possibility
The Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry
by Sue Hammond

27. Appreciative Inquiry Interview Questions
Tell a story about the best experience you have had in a UMW unit or other UMW gathering. Looking at your entire experience with UMW, recall a time when you felt most alive, most involved, or most excited about your involvement. What made it a stimulating experience? Who was involved? Describe the event in detail?

28. Interview Questions
Without being humble, describe what you value most about yourself, your work in the church, your work with UMW.
What aspects of your life and experience as a member of UMW do you deeply value? What are the things that matter most to you? Look deeply inside you and try to avoid the “expected” answers.

29. Interview Questions
4. Describe your three concrete wishes for the future of the local units of UMW.

30. Provocative Propositions
Questions to help form the Provocative Propositions:
What are the “glimmers” of possibility”? What do we want more of?
What are the most enlivening and affirming possibilities for your local UMW unit?

31. Provocative Propositions
What is the inspiration that is supporting the UMW in your church? What are you passionate about?
What is God calling your UMW to become? How do these dream statements support the disciple-making practices of your congregation?

32. Sharing of Propositions
DREAMING THE FUTURE

33. Developing the Next Steps
ASSET MAPPING
Again, I will run through the process and then set you together in the same groups to work through the quick and simple Asset Experience. The top page of your handout has specific instructions. I have placed on your tables markers and post-it notes to have do the asset naming. I will bring around sheets of paper for you to post your assets. You may want to move to a wall where you can put up your assets. Use your provocative propositions as the focus of this activity.

34. ASSET MAPPING EXPERIENCE
From The Power of Asset Mapping: How Your Congregation Can Act on Its Gifts by Luther K. Snow. Copyright ©2004 by The Alban Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

35. ASSET MAPPING EXPERIENCE
STEPS IN THE PROCESS
Recognize Your Assets
Identifying the assets of your UMW unit, congregation, individuals, and community
Congregational Asset mapping starts by looking at the assets we have in our UMW units: the gifts we have in abundance. Our cups really are half-full! This gives us the power to do far more than we could ask or imagine by utilizing exciting, new, positive energy by breaking us open to new possibilities. We break out of the negative cycles of need, dependency, and inaction that we sometimes experience. the individual gifts you each bring is the starting place. We connect our gifts with each other – doing the things we love to do to motivate us into a new future together. We look for God’s will! Asset mapping empowers people to do what their hearts tell them to do. It’s a way of thinking and acting.

36. ASSET MAPPING EXPERIENCE
REMINDER LIST OF BASIC ASSETS
- Physical assets
Individual assets
Associations
Institutions
Economic assets
See page 5

37. ASSET MAPPING EXPERIENCE
STEPS IN THE PROCESS
Connect the Dots
Think about actions like projects, events, campaign, protests, celebrations, demonstration, making or growing or fixing things that will help you live into your dreams
No bad ideas – be creative

38. ASSET MAPPING EXPERIENCE
STEPS IN THE PROCESS
Connect the Dots to do God’s will.
What would happen if you connected two or more assets on the wall?
Brainstorm Ideas
Highlight networks – add assets if necessary

39. ASSET MAPPING EXPERIENCE
STEPS IN THE PROCESS
Connect the Dots to do God’s will.
Develop Actions/Projects
Give each a name

40. ASSET MAPPING EXPERIENCE
STEPS IN THE PROCESS
Vote with Your Feet
Follow your heart into action
The whole is greater than the sum of the parts

41. ASSET MAPPING EXPERIENCE
STEPS IN THE PROCESS
Learning by doing
Impressions, power of community, recognizing results, thinking about open-sum dynamics

42. ASSET MAPPING EXPERIENCE
OPEN-SUM DYNAMICS
How much faith is there in the world? If I get more faith, does it come out of your supply? Or does your faith strengthen mine, and my faith increase yours and our faith grow on others?
Your gain is my gain is our gain.
The Power of Asset Mapping

43. Can you do this back home?
EVALUATION OF THE DAY
Can you do this back home?

44. CHARGE AND SENDING FORTH

45. Bibliography
The Power of Asset Mapping: How Your Congregation Can Act on Its Gifts by Luther K. Snow. Copyright ©2004 by The Alban Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.
The Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry by Sue Annis Hammond. The Thin Book Publishing Company.