p.2 [Charlie] Pellerin... reframed the situation [of the Hubble Telescope's
flawed primary mirror] as a project that was not yet finished, not as a completed project that had failed. He saw the potential
for a positive future situation - a working space telescope.
p.5-6 Appreciative Intelligence is the ability to perceive the positive
inherent generative potential within the present. Put in a simple way, Appreciative Intelligence is the ability to
see the mighty oak in the acorn... It is the capacity to see a strong trunk and countless leaves as emerging from the nut
as time unfolds. It is the ability to see a breakthrough product, top talent, or valuable solution of the future that is currently
hidden in the present situation.
p.6-7 In any act of perception or reframing, a person is faced with a series
of choices. He or she chooses to pay attention to one stimulus and, at least for the time being, to ignore the remaining stimuli...
the term appreciation specifically refers to a process of selectivity and judgment of something's positive value
or worth... People with high Appreciative Intelligence... see how the future unfolds from the present.
p.15 The real act of discovery consists not in finding new lands but seeing with new eyes.
-Marcel Proust (1871-1922)
p.19 According to psychologist Jonathan Schooler, "One critical
attribute involved in actively finding an alternative approach [to solving a problem] is simple perseverance....
because the direction in which one needs to go is unclear, one may have to search a long time before getting anywhere."
p.20 Overall, high-self-esteem (HSE) individuals have a greater tendency
to persist in the face of failure and obstacles.
p.21 Individuals with high Appreciative Intelligence pay better
attention to the cues in the environment and know that persevering for a goal is more important than persevering
for a particular approach or task. The resulting flexibility gives rise to more ways to succeed in a project or goal.
Some of the heads [of the program being discussed] ... changed strategies or tactics, shifting focus... In
other words, they paid attention to the changing environmental challenges and cues for solutions and adapted the program
to fit a dynamic context.
p.29-30 resilience is a quality present in an individual that allows
him or her to maintain a certain strength against adversity. A resilient individual makes positive adjustments when
circumstances become challenging.
p.51 Discovery consists of looking at the same thing as everyone else and thinking something different.
-Albert Szent-Gyorgi (1893-1986)
p.60 Framing is the psychological process inherent in perception
whereby a person constructs or puts an object, person, context, action, issue, or scenario into a certain context or sees
it in a certain way. It is a critical activity in the construction of a social reality because it helps shape the
perspectives through which people see the world by providing contextual cues that guide decision making and inferences.
Framing involves processes of including, excluding, and emphasizing particular parts of reality.
p.71 Vickers held that the first element of appreciation is the selectivity
in perception:
To account for the appreciated world... I postulate that experience,
especially the experience of human communication, develops in each of us a readiness to notice particular aspects
of our situation, to discriminate them in particular ways and to measure them against particular standards of comparison
[Freedom in a Rocking Boat, p.102]
p.71-72 For Vickers the model of an appreciative system was a continuous
and recurring loop in which people perceive reality, make a value judgment based on past experiences and values, and take
action based on those judgments.
p.72 By weaving together the ideas of Vickers with those of Adler
and Fagley, we create the possibility of an appreciative system in which people with a higher level of Appreciative
Intelligence (disposition) are able to frame everyday events (using positive value judgments) into great possibilities (action
judgments). Such individuals, over a period of time, become more mindful in their behavioral patterns and begin to
see more and more opportunities and generative possibilities in everyday encounters.
