Appreciative inquiry is an area of psychological study that is, at this stage, more anecdotal than academic. Its roots are found in positive psychology, an area that should be of particular interest to financial advisors when counselling their clients through the ups and downs of markets and the successes and shortfalls of planning strategies and tactics.

Ed Jacobson, author of Appreciative Moments: Stories and practices for living and working appreciatively, is a psychologist and business coach who writes a weekly e-mail column about appreciative inquiry. This book is a snappy introduction to the subject.

As the subject’s name suggests, appreciative inquiry has two dimensions. First is “appreciation”; in this case, it means seeing the best in each person and situation, as well as yourself, and building on the possibilities when all are positively aligned. The “inquiry” part comes from the questions we ask of others and ourselves to bring out the most favourable aspects of people, so that we can make the best of any situation we encounter.

Such questions are the very foundation of appreciative inquiry. For example, we could simply ask someone: “How are you doing today?” In that case, we would not be surprised to get a response such as: “Fine.” While polite, that is neither particularly informative nor inspiring.

In contrast, “What has been the highlight of your day so far?” is likely to lead to a more enthusiastic description of something that is important and energizing for that individual. The latter question better communicates our sincere interest in the person’s well-being.

An example closer to home could be a financial advisor asking a client: “Are we doing a good job for you?” Even though you may get a positive response, it is not going to be as useful or as uplifting for either party as if you had asked: “What part of our work together over the past year do you feel best about?”

Until it becomes natural, we must put ourselves in the right frame of mind in order to demonstrate appreciative inquiry effectively. For this reason, the author suggests developing a drill — for example, prior to a client meeting — in which you take a few minutes to bring yourself to a calm, centred and balanced state. During that time, you would also visualize the client, with a focus on the positive aspects of his or her personality, talents or situation. This “mini-meditation” serves to elevate the tone of the upcoming conversation to a higher level.

Appreciative inquiry would also be valuable in the discovery process with clients around the topic of retirement planning, for example, or its more sophisticated brother, life planning. In the first instance, we could ask the client what he or she hopes will be the most interesting, fun or rewarding aspects of the intended retirement rather than simply having the client recite a list of activities in which he or she intends to engage after ceasing to work full-time. In the life-planning process, appreciative inquiry questions might include:

> “When are you at your best as a person?”

> “Can you think of a specific time when the way you were acting, feeling and thinking was you at your very best?”

> “How can you be at your best more of the time?”

> “What are the circumstances we should plan for to enable you to be at your best most of the time?”

On a more personal level, appreciative inquiry can also serve us well in times of stress. The recommended tactic in this instance is to take a minute before reacting to a stressful situation to ask ourselves “What would [insert name of your favourite hero] do in this circumstance?” Taking into account what you would anticipate to be his or her wise counsel increases the likelihood that you will be satisfied with how you handle the situation.

You may be getting the impression that this book has all the answers to make everything right in the world. Of course, it does not. In fact, Jacobson readily admits that he is personally unable to practise what he preaches consistently. However, there should be little doubt that a more positive approach to people, business and the world in general is likely to achieve better results overall. Furthermore, there is very strong evidence that positive emotions lead to better health and longer life.

@page_break@Appreciative Moments lives up to its title. There are 35 chapters of no more than two to three pages each, each with a short lesson and specific suggestions on how to practise the concepts presented. It is this sort of a book that you might want to keep on the corner of your desk or your bedside table so that you can take advantage of its teachings in five to 10 minutes snippets just when they might be needed. IE