WFED578:

Lesson 3: Clients and Their Problems

Lesson 3 Overview (1 of 7)
Lesson 3 Overview

Lesson 3 Overview

In this lesson, we will discuss the process of active questioning and listening. This process is important because it allows the client to reveal as much information about the problem as possible while gaining confidence. This will lead to status equilibrium between the consultant and the client, which in turn will result in a solid psychological contract. We will also discuss the levels of inquiry, the timing of shifting from one level to another, and the use of metaphors of change.

It is important that the consultant know who the client is at any given moment. For example, the contact client may not be the primary client or the ultimate client. The consultant must also recognize that there are different types of clients. The consultant should also be aware of how the intervention will impact all of the various types of clients, and they should make the primary client aware of that impact.

Lesson Objectives

After successfully completing this lesson, you should be able to

Lesson Readings and Activities

By the end of this lesson, make sure you have completed the readings and activities found in the Lesson 3 Course Schedule.

Active Inquiry and Listening (2 of 7)
Active Inquiry and Listening

Active Inquiry and Listening

The goal of active inquiry and listening is to build a relationship with the client that creates status equilibrium and helps the client with the diagnosis and solution. This process serves several purposes:

  1. It increases the client’s status and confidence.
  2. As much information as possible about the situation is gathered.
  3. The client is involved in the diagnosis and action planning.
  4. It creates an environment where the client feels safe revealing anxiety-provoking information and feelings.

During active inquiry and listening, the consultant encourages the client to tell the story as completely as possible and listens in a neutral and nonjudgmental way. “Active but nonjudgmental listening also serves to legitimize the potentially anxiety-provoking revelations of the client” (Schein, 1999, p. 43). The relationship between the client and consultant should be a safe container in which it is possible to handle issues that may be too hot to handle under ordinary circumstances.

Schein (1999) describes three types of active inquiry: pure inquiry, exploratory diagnostic inquiry, and confrontive inquiry. We will discuss each of the three types further.

Schein (1999) also points out the perspective of appreciative inquiry to engage in the process in a more positive way:

The helping process has so far been conceptualized in terms of problems or issues that the client brings to the helper. In an important modification of this point of view, a number of author/consultants have argued for a process of “appreciative inquiry” which puts a more positive frame around “problems.” (p. 56)

Watch Video 3.1. Appreciative Inquiry: A Conversation with David Cooperrider

David Cooperrider lays the conceptual groundwork for what is appreciative inquiry.

Video 3.1. Length: 00:03:53. 3.1 Appreciative Inquiry: A Conversation with David Cooperrider Video Transcript

SPEAKER 1: I think we're very lucky to have somebody like Professor Cooperrider come teach, because he is one of the most sought-after consultants in the world right now.

SPEAKER 2: What we want to do in at least the first day here is we want to begin to lay the conceptual groundwork for what is appreciative inquiry. How can it help us unlock innovation and creativity and bring people together in ways that other change management processes cannot do? [MUSIC PLAYING]

SPEAKER 2: In our management courses, we all teach that strengths perform. But what about this simple, new idea this strengths do more than perform, they transform? So many companies, they think, we'll do a low morale survey to document the low morale in order to create a high engagement and highly energetic and passionate company. And it's just not going to happen. Why? All the studies in the world of low morale will not tell us one thing about what creates the high-engagement, high-commitment work system. What appreciative inquiry is doing and the positive psychology work that's happening and research that's very sound, it's reversing that. It's saying, instead of 80% of our attention on what's wrong, what's broken, on depression, and so on, that leading change is all about strengths. That's all. It has nothing to do with weaknesses.

When I talk with CEOs and executives in every industry today where there's just white-knuckle change, where there's totally unexpected change, change for which most of these institutions and organizations are scarcely prepared and have no roadmap. So I think we're living in a time where it's imperative to have an eye that can appreciate. An eye that can see and surface the true, the good, the better, the possible, everything that brings asset and strength to a system. So one very important part of appreciative inquiry is a set of theories and tools and research all about the elevation, concentration, connection, creating new combinations and chemistries of strengths in a way that builds more positive institutions that bring our highest human strengths to the customer and to the world and so on.

The Drucker School, I think, is a very, very fertile place for this kind of thinking, because Peter Drucker really did feel that management and business and the kind of management that he was talking about, that is probably the most positive force in a society. We can't have a non-totalitarian society, for example, without free and trustworthy institutions that are creating and following up on their word, and creating value. And it's management and managers that do that. I sat down with Peter Drucker, and he wanted to hear about the theory and the practice of appreciative inquiry, and the design of more positive institutions that we were working on. And at the end of the day I said, but Peter, you've written more on management and leadership than anybody in history. Can you put it in a nutshell? What is the essence of management and leadership? And he said, David, that's simple and it's ageless in its essence. He said, the task of leadership is to create an alignment of strengths in ways that make a system's weaknesses irrelevant. What an amazing time to be a manager. It's a time where there is this tremendous need for new models and thinking about change.

Watch Video 3.2. Appreciative Inquiry - John Hayes

John Hayes shows how to use appreciative inquiry in the workplace.

Video 3.2. Length: 00:03:53. 3.2 Appreciative Inquiry: John Hayes Video Transcript

[MUSIC PLAYING] PROFESSOR JOHN HAYES: Hello, I'm John Hayes. I'm Professor of Management at Leeds University Business School in the UK. I work with Aarhus Business School and have been doing so for several years now. And this morning what I'm going to talk to you about is appreciative inquiry. It's a rather different approach to looking at organizations and trying to change what's happening in organizations. Instead of trying to focus attention on what's wrong and then trying to fix it, this approach looks at what's right and then tries to accentuate it. So it's accentuating the positive rather than eliminating the negative. The world out there is a social construction. We view the world in different ways.

Think of the Middle East crisis, for example. People in Israel or Palestine or elsewhere, they have clear views about what's going on, but they have different views. Similarly, in our organizations, different people have different views about what's happening in those organizations. So we have different constructions of reality. And these constructions of reality are open to change. And appreciative inquiry is actually trying to change the way we view the world. So instead of viewing the world from a deficiency perspective and focusing on what's wrong, we try and view the world more positively, and we try and identify opportunities that can be embraced. Just as plants grow towards the light, so organizations grow and develop towards whatever it is which is the life-giving force in the organization. So rather than focus on problems, we focus on opportunities. We focus on what's going well.

And what appreciative inquiry involves, it involves discovering the best of what is and then, going one step further, and trying to understand why is the best the best. What is it that-- what are the circumstances that are creating these conditions? And then exploring possibilities for amplifying the best. So we try and work out what it is that's working. And then we say, what would the organization be like if this exceptional set of circumstances, if we could actually make that the norm and not the exception? And that's the way that we intervene.

If in your organization you're trying to understand why it is that you've got high labor turnover and people are leaving, rather than seeing it as a problem and focus on why people leave through exit interviews or however else you might investigate that, switch attention to why it is that some people are staying. What is it about their experience at work that turns them on, that creates and develops their commitment to the organization? And then can we amplify that? Can we spread that across the organization? When we look at problems, people get defensive. It's not my fault. It's their fault. People are reluctant to share information. People find it difficult to learn in those circumstances. Alternatively, when we focus attention on what's working well, people get excited. They're prepared to talk about that. They get engaged. This enthusiasm, this excitement, it spreads to others. And we can get a lot of energy behind trying to produce change in organizations. Give it a try sometime. [MUSIC PLAYING]

References

Schein, E. (1999). Process consultation revisited: Building the helping relationship. Addison-Wesley.

Pure Inquiry (3 of 7)
Pure Inquiry

Pure Inquiry

Pure inquiry implies that the client controls both the process and content of the conversation. The role of the consultant is to remain silent and listen carefully and neutrally. If silence does not elicit the story, the consultant can choose any of the following prompts as may seem appropriate (Schein, 1999, pp. 44–45):

It is important not to impose questions that presuppose a problem. The focus is on what is going on, and not on why it is going on. Furthermore, the goal is full disclosure. The consultant needs to enhance their understanding.

References

Schein, E. (1999). Process consultation revisited: Building the helping relationship. Addison-Wesley.

Exploratory Diagnostic Inquiry (4 of 7)
Exploratory Diagnostic Inquiry

Exploratory Diagnostic Inquiry

After the pure inquiry has been completed, the consultant begins to manage the process of how the content is analyzed and elaborated but does not insert content ideas, suggestions, advice, or options. “In this form of inquiry, the consultant begins to influence the client’s mental process by deliberately focusing on issues other than the ones the client chose to report in telling the story” (Schein, 1999, p. 46). These questions do not influence the content of the story but rather the focus of attention within the story. There are three versions of this inquiry.

Exploring Emotional Responses: Feelings and Reactions

The purpose of exploring emotional responses is to focus clients on their feelings and reactions in response to the events described. This focus is accomplished by asking questions such as the following (Schein, 1999, p. 46):

Exploring Reasons for Actions and Events (Hypotheses for Causes)

The purpose of exploring for reasons behind actions and events is to focus clients on their own hypotheses about why things might have happened the way they did. You can explore for reasons by asking questions such as the following (Schein, 1999, p. 46):

Exploring Actions Taken or Contemplated (Past, Present, and Future)

The purpose of exploring actions is to focus the client on what they or others in the story did, are thinking about doing, or are planning to do in the future, because often the story will not reveal past, present, or future actions either by the client or others in the story. To explore actions taken or contemplated, ask questions such as the following (Schein, 1999, p. 47):

References

Schein, E. (1999). Process consultation revisited: Building the helping relationship. Addison-Wesley.

Confrontive Inquiry (5 of 7)
Confrontive Inquiry

Confrontive Inquiry

At this point, the consultant begins to share their own ideas about and reactions to the process and content of the story. By sharing their own ideas, consultants “confront” the client to think about the situation from a new perspective.

The essence of confrontive inquiry is that the consultant inserts their own ideas about the process or content of the story into the conversation. Instead of merely forcing the client to elaborate, the consultant now makes suggestions or offers options that may not have occurred to the client. The consultant now asks questions such as the following (Schein, 1999, p. 47):

When formulating confrontive inquiry questions, the consultant can key in on either process or content ideas.

The following are process ideas (ideas on how things are said and done):

The following are content ideas (ideas on what is said and done):

References

Schein, E. (1999). Process consultation revisited: Building the helping relationship. Addison-Wesley.

Constructive Opportunism (6 of 7)
Constructive Opportunism

Constructive Opportunism

Timing is crucial when switching from one type of inquiry to another. “There are no simple criteria for deciding when the time is right” (Schein, 1999, p. 48). When deciding the timing and the type of inquiry, the consultant also keeps in mind the first six principles—be helpful, deal with reality, access one’s ignorance, remember that every question is an intervention, let the client own the problem, and go with the flow (Schein, 1999). The consultant should resist the temptation to jump in with insights and suggestions until the time is right.

On occasion the consultant will make an error in either the timing of the intervention or the level of the intervention, which may cause the client to reject the intervention. However, the consultant must treat any error as an opportunity to learn. This gives the consultant information about themselves, an opportunity to consider what might have been done better, and a better understanding of the client. This is summarized in Principles 7 through 9.

Summary of Principles 7, 8, and 9

Principle 7: Timing Is Crucial

Any given intervention might work at one time or another. Therefore, the consultant must remain constantly diagnostic and look for moments when the client’s attention seems to be available.

Principle 8: Be Constructively Opportunistic With Confrontive Interventions

All client systems have areas of instability and openness where motivation to change exists. The consultant must find and build on existing motivations and cultural strengths (go with the flow), and at the same time seize targets of opportunity to provide new insights and alternatives. Going with the flow must be balanced with taking some risks in intervening.

Principle 9: Everything Is Data; Errors Will Always Occur and Are the Prime Source for Learning

No matter how carefully the consultant observes Principle 7 and 8, the consultant will say and do things that produce unexpected and undesirable reactions in the client. The consultant must learn from them and at all costs avoid defensiveness, shame, or guilt. The consultant can never know enough of the client’s reality to avoid errors, but each error produces reactions from which to learn a great deal about the client’s reality.

Quoted from Schein, 1999, pp. 49–50.

Errors will occur. Errors can be learned from. Errors in content must be distinguished from errors in timing or presentation.

Status Equilibrium

As the client becomes less dependent and vulnerable, the relationship with the consultant approaches equilibrium. The relationship reaches the point where it meets the mutual expectations of both the client and the consultant, and both feel comfortable with what they can give and receive. The client is now an active learner and welcomes input from the consultant as well as other sources.

Consultants often find themselves at a point where they do not know what to do next or what something means. From a process consultation point of view, it is completely appropriate to share the problem with appropriate parts of the client’s system. This leads to the final principle.

Principle 10: When in Doubt, Share the Problem

Consultants will often be in situations where they do not know what to do next or what kind of intervention is appropriate. It is often appropriate in those situations to share the problem with the client and involve them in deciding what to do next.

References

Schein, E. (1999). Process consultation revisited: Building the helping relationship. Addison-Wesley.

Lesson 3 Activities (7 of 7)
Lesson 3 Activities

Lesson 3 Activities

Research-Based Article Abstract 2

Read all six of the articles in the reading for Lesson 3 on the schedule (if you haven't already) and choose one article. Write an abstract of a minimum of five pages and a maximum of six double-spaced pages using 12-point, Times New Roman font with 1-inch margins. Points will be deducted for responses that fall outside of these parameters. Your paper should be well written and logical. It should also adhere to the styles rules found in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.

Your abstract should do the following:

Lesson 3 Blog Reflection

Write and post a reflection of no more than three or four paragraphs on the following question. These blog postings will be shared with other people in the class.

Respond to two postings from your peers. Note: If two posts have been made to one peer, choose another peer's response for your posting. Responses and postings will be evaluated on the quantity and quality of your submissions.


Top of page