The best outcome Joep de Jong envisions around Appreciative Inquiry (AI) becoming a common business practice is that a healthy balance between planet, people and profit is finally realized.
“Our best stories are the ones whereby we either directly or indirectly create the feeling (and) image of balance, fairness and trust, and thus understand that our endless growth models are becoming old-fashioned, ” de Jong, an AI consultant based in the Netherlands, tells Axiom News.
De Jong says to achieve the necessary balance a shift is needed from embracing growth as the ultimate and sole aim, to focusing on the deeper and more encompassing concept of development in business, which includes supporting employees to realize their full potential and finding the company’s niche in the world.
Making development a core focus comes through “providing and creating the right circumstances” to foster the ongoing sharing of the “best stories” within a company in a way that triggers stakeholder-wide connecting, sharing and co-creating, de Jong adds.
“When AI becomes a common business practice we will see much more involvement from all stakeholders to create those circumstances,” he says.
That time may not be too far off. De Jong, who is CEO of the consulting firm Van Harte & Lingsma, is observing AI rapidly grow in use and impact in the Netherlands, noting that it was recently hailed on a national television show as the “latest and hottest business trend.”
De Jong has been providing AI consulting services since the mid 1990s, and says he is particularly inspired to observe organizations beginning to seriously engage their employees and treat them as their “No. 1 asset.”
“(It’s) something we have paid lip service to for a long time already,but we never really acted accordingly. I see that changing now, even within larger corporations.”
One organization he worked with prior to joining Van Harte and LIngsma has had noteworthy outcomes, including reduced sick leave, increased innovation and enhanced customer relations, that can be linked directly to their years-long commitment to AI.
De Jong says he is also intrigued to see organizations which have implemented AI now taking a growing interest in engaging their entire stakeholder community with the intent of taking a strength-based approach to “connecting, sharing and co-creating.”
The consultant adds he believes an upcoming AI event has great potential for advancing the movement worldwide and contributing to a healthier balance between people, planet and profit.
The AI Storython, slated for Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 in Washington, D.C., will include delegates sharing stories of how AI has had an impact on governments, corporations and individuals, as well as a discussion of what’s next for the approach.
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