learning

People often ask why "appreciative enquiry" is not our methodology of choice, and why so many negative stories, archetypes and values surface in our processes.  One of the key arguments is that humans don't tend to learn from other people's success as it is very difficult to replicate, we can however learn much from other's mistakes as it tells us what to avoid. 

This great post by Shawn from Anecdote about the "non-crime hotline" serves to illustrate.

Why are we so afraid to admit to making a mistake?  Failure, it seems, is universally seen as something to be avoided at all costs.  In a recent project where we investigated safety practices in mining, one of the key issues we identified was the tendency to try to hide failure by shifting blame, not reporting near misses, and scape-goating.  This, in an industry where learning from other's mistakes can save lives.