“You don’t drown by falling in the water; you drown by staying there.” — Edwin Louis Cole

Unfortunately nursing has it all backwards. We assess, diagnose, plan, implement, and evaluate: this is the nursing process.

However universal law says: what we focus on, we get more of. If we focus on bad things (problems) we get more of them (problems). We attract what we put our attention to.

Now I know parts of the nursing process include planning, implementation, and evaluation- which one may argue is not all “bad”. However, the primary path is: have a problem, find a solution.

I see this not only in nursing at the bedside, but in leadership, program development, and organizational procedure. Committee work follows similar rules: “What’s the problem? How will we fix it?”

What I’d like to suggest to you today is to use a very different approach. Appreciative inquiry (AI) is a theory which focuses on what’s going well. Through inquiry, AI takes an asset-based approach. It asks instead: “What’s going well? What’s good about what I am currently doing?”

So how is this linked to this month’s theme of receptivity? Here’s how:

• A problem solving approach involves a lot of giving. We are ‘fixing’ the issue. We are creating a plan; there is a lot of ‘doing’ involved. This is a masculine energy.
• Appreciative inquiry takes the very opposite approach. Through evaluating what is going well, we invite more of the ‘good’ into our lives. We open ourselves up to receive, a feminine energy.

Let’s go back a moment to the universal law:

What we focus on, we get more of.

Through AI you focus on what’s going well. You pay attention to the good. You give energy to what’s working. This in turn is what you’ll get more of.

I encourage you, in your own life, where can you use more appreciation to open yourself up to receive? At work, can you find the good in situations? At home, what’s working for you and your family? In your relationships, where can you tap into the ‘best’ of situations to receive more good from people you love?

I’d love to hear your reactions or reflections below. Please leave a comment based on your own experiences with this concept. Share lessons learned, examples of practice, or how this may work in your own life. And if you’re interested in delving into this concept further, consider working with me. For more information, to get your questions answers, and to arrange a discovery session contact me: (410) 929-0081 or coachscala (at) livingsublimewellness (dot) com.