The 1st children’s picture book on Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is going to be released within the next year, along with a teacher guide. The book, Stan and the Four Fantastic Powers, co-authored by Shira Reicher Levy MAPP ’14, has been working on the book for the past three years. This book is the culminating project of her 2014 capstone to translate Appreciative Inquiry into child-friendly language. Readers follow Stan through an adventure to discover his Four Fantastic Powers, the authors’ take on the 4-D AI Cycle. Shira is presenting on the translation of AI at the upcoming International Positive Education Network Festival in Dallas, TX, July 2016. Follow Stan on Facebook to stay tuned for updates regarding the book release, more information about the book, and free activities to use along with the book.

Both economists and the average citizen believe that we make decisions in a rational manner.  Bernoulli, (1738/1954), presented the expected utility theory which stated that: “decision makers evaluate outcomes by the utility of wealth positions” (Kahneman, 2003, p. 704).  In fact, people make decisions for a number of reasons, most of which are not objective.  Kahneman & Tversky (2004), in disproving Bernoulli’s theory, have highlighted four aspects of the phenomenon they call prospect theory: 1) when making decisions people assess based on gains vs. losses; 2) humans experience “loss aversion”; 3) the role of framing in making decisions; and that 4) every decision is relative (Schwartz, personal communication, December 6, 2008). First, prospect theory implies that choices are always made by considering gains and losses rather than final states.  The value function shown in Kahneman’s article (2003) is defined based… …

Dr. David Cooperrider (Case Western Reserve) has found his passion in the initiative to discover businesses who benefit others.  In his teaching at the University of Pennsylvania’s M.A.P.P. program (Master of Applied Positive Psychology) he assigned the students the task to find 10 communities or organizations who were doing good in the world.  In the hopes of inspiring our readers to find (or create) their own businesses, I include this list and corresponding descriptions.   1.         Greensburg, KS After a monster tornado devastated Greensburg, Kansas in 2008, this became the first city in the nation to pledge that all city-owned buildings larger than 4,000 square will get the highest rating of the U.S. Green Building Council, called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum. The buildings are expected to use 42% less energy than building code standards allow. There… …

“A vivid imagination compels the whole body to convey it.” –Aristotle (Cooperrider, personal communication, January 9, 2009)             Artists have never been short on imagination when applying it to their art, but more than ever before the commercial theater in New York is in need of inspiration, innovation, and imagination regarding its sustainability and future.  Broadway has an economic impact of over $2 billion dollars on New York City (retrieved from http://www.allianceforarts.org/pdfs/ArtsIndustry_2007.pdf on March 18, 2009).  With the economy is serious decline, multiple shows closing and ticket prices rising even higher, Broadway must look at its sustainability for the future – creating a new audience base and exploring the possibilities of making theater more affordable while at the same time profitable as well.  I believe that an Appreciative Inquiry (AI) Summit, while ambitious, is the answer to the question:  How… …

        In order for employees to be more productive and fulfilled at work they need to know and apply their strengths and be in the flow more often. Therefore, I argue that Peterson’s ideas about strengths and Csikszentmihalyi’s ideas about flow are directly applicable to corporate training. Identifying signature strengths and using them in new ways is a positive intervention that would be extremely effective in corporate training (Peterson et al., 2005a).  This intervention is crucial in corporate settings where frequently the deficit mode of thinking dominates.  Shifting to an abundance mode of thinking could transform both performance evaluations and the entire work experience – productivity and work satisfaction.  Being in ‘flow’ during the workday has already been shown to increase productivity (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990).  If employers were to combine using signature strengths with creating flow during the workday,… …