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I am a recovering extremist. When faced with problems, I usually see 2 solutions and they are polar opposites. Recently, I’ve been learning to reframe my problems and solutions.

I shifted from problem solving to solution development. It seems a matter of semantics, but here’s the key. When I’m in problem solving mode, I harp on the problem. I have to dismantle it. Find the source. Figure out all the reasons why it’s a problem. Don’t get me wrong, problem solving is effective. However, I have to get down and dirty into the grit of the problem and sometimes I find myself wallowing there. It takes a while to get to the solution.

After learning about Appreciative Inquiry a few months ago, I decided to shift into solution development. In Appreciative Inquiry, rather than determine the problem and analyze it, questions are asked to determine what’s working, how to create more of it, and what the desired outcomes are.

So now, I identify a problem, think of what I want, then fluff it out to find a solution. Here’s an example. I wanted to start interviewing bloggers this year. When I secured my first interviewee, all the questions about logistics came up. How am I going to get everything that’s said written down for the blog? What about audio? How do I podcast? How do I get to know someone just by emails? For a while, I was mired in the problem and I just kept getting more questions.

Then I decided to shift my focus to what I wanted. What I really wanted were engaging interviews where my readers really got to know the interviewee. I wanted the essence of the interviewee to come through. I wanted them to share a different perspective of applying spirituality to life, and I wanted my readers to really latch onto another source of great insights.

Rather than answer the individual questions that comprised the problem, I turned my attention to the ultimate solution. The result was that, instead of individual independent solutions that might cause another problem, I found practical solutions that interlaced to give the envisioned outcome.

In this case, I decided to send 10 questions so that I could get to know the blogger better, capture the answers in written form, and give the interviewee time to think about their answers. I followed up with a phone conversation so that I could fill in the blanks in the 10 questions, build the story around the interview, and deepen my relationship with the blogger. The results: an energetic interview with the Relationship Geek, and a poetic interview with a couple in love.

Appreciative Inquiry is applied in corporations as an alternative problem solving methodology. However, as individuals we can use the same principle to shift from dwelling on our problems to living the solutions.

In Spirit,
Nneka