We are all faced with another period of transition. Shortly, doors will reopen and ‘live’ programmes will restart. There are still no guarantees, and if you’re anything like me, being among lots of people is both a delight and a bit bewildering at the moment. I have been wondering about the implications of this strange phase and it seems to me it is more concerned with questions than it is answers.
How do organisations of whatever shape and size keep adapting? I think this is about adopting an inquiry based approach, which starts from the basis of asking the best questions. Our planning approaches need to change, our illusion of control has been harshly shattered and we now know a catastrophe can happen on a scale we might not have imagined before. This is likely to have an ongoing impact on how we plan and how we regard risk. Building an organisational culture that embraces inquiry might be one way of addressing the challenges and opportunities we now face.
A culture of inquiry is an organizational culture and environment where there is a zeal for questioning and learning; a quest to understand and constantly improve the status quo. (Stichler, 2018)
How many of the following can you claim genuinely characterise your team/s or organization?
- Our senior team/s (including the governing body) question everything
- We are comfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity
- We encourage critical thinking
- We value questions as well as answers
- We reward questioning
- We take time and space to ask great questions
- We appoint and support curious people
- Tools and support are given to help people question well
- We encourage people to be curious and inquisitive
- Our approach is non-judgemental
If you are unsure, or haven’t been able to answer some or all of them positively what might you do to change that? If you have achieved these characteristics what have you done that has enabled them?
There are a wide range of frameworks like Appreciate Inquiry, Action Research, Action Learning, Community of Inquiry, Delphi Inquiry, and others that can support curiosity based organisations. We will cover some of these approaches in our next few blogs. If there is something that has worked well for you in recent months please let us know.
Having an inquisitive mind is an important step in creating change.(Stichler, 2018)
References
STICHLER, J. F. 2018. Creating a Culture of Inquiry in Your Organization. HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal, 11, 7-13.