Conversations are the heart of what we do. The type of conversations we have impact all aspects of our business and personal life. Creative organizations have conversations that lead to creativity. In this episode, Dr. Cheri Torres shares how to engage in conversations that matter and how to help your organization be more creative. It is surprisingly simple and you can start implementing change immediately.
What You’ll Learn
- Four types of conversations and which ones to avoid
- The two simple Appreciative Inquiry practices
- The impact of conversations that matter and how one hospital went from low patient satisfaction scores to amazing within one quarter
About Cheri Torres, Ph.D.
Working with Cheri, people learn to use everyday conversation to dramatically improve outcomes for their organization and relationships. Leaders and team members develop their capacity to use Appreciative Inquiry to foster productive and meaningful engagement, even when facing complex problems. The success her clients experience is not magic. Her approach is grounded in the most current research in positive psychology and neurophysiology. Leaders working with her learn to create the kind of relational dynamics that ignite the full potential of their teams and organization, resulting in high performance, innovation, and goal achievement. Culture change and strategic planning become opportunities for engaging all stakeholders in conversations that create change from the inside out.
She has worked across all sectors: corporate, government, education, and social profit/NGOs, supporting their capacity for learning and innovation, shared leadership, teamwork and collective impact. She has trained thousands of trainers and teachers in the use and practice of Experiential Learning, Appreciative Inquiry, and other strength-based processes. In addition to North America, she has worked in India, Mexico, Canada, South America, and Europe.
Cheri holds a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology with a specialization in Collaborative Learning from the University of Tennessee. She also holds an MBA, a Masters in Transpersonal Psychology, Level 2 certification in Cultural Transformation Tools/Barrett Values Centre, and Level II certification in Spiral Dynamics Integral. She has authored numerous books and articles. Her most recent book, Conversations Worth Having: Using Appreciative Inquiry to Fuel Productive and Meaningful Engagement, was published by Berrett Koehler in May 2018.. She lives in Asheville, NC with her husband, Michael; their two dogs, Logan and Annabelle; and two cats, Ziggy and Lucy.
Resources
- Book: Conversations Worth Having
- Cheri’s website
- Karl Rohnke Creativity Award
- Leave a review on iTunes
Weekly Challenge
Pay attention to the conversations you have this week. When you find yourself in a negative conversation, ask a generative question. See what happens and how it flips the conversation into something with a more positive, hopeful, and productive spin.
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