When taken to an extreme, each of the three preferences tends to be ineffective in some settings and to create more problems than it solves. Reflection must be balanced against action. Furthermore, the period of reflection must provide opportunities for both the collection of new information and the clarification of existing intentions. An appreciative balancing and integration of reflection and action requires that action produces information and is based on information, that actions inform and clarify intentions, and that reflection leads to decision and action.
Concluding Comments
How does an organization fully release its human capital? How are members of an organization given a setting in which they can engage their inherent appreciative talents? The culture of appreciation is created primarily through attitude-based strategies, while appreciative management is a product of successful appreciative processes. Yet, reliance on either changes that are made in process or changes in attitude that are not complimented by changes in organizational structure. I have identified six structural strategies of appreciation that I believe help an organization create and sustain a culture of appreciation, as well as create and nourish appreciative leadership. The next series of essays on closely-held enterprises are devoted to a description of these appreciative strategies.
