We at GlobalDenmark are currently involved in an internal development programme that aims at generating new business scenarios for the next 5-10 years. The process facilitator is Claus Bjørnelund, who is a skilled coach and also a member of our Board. In this project, Claus uses Appreciative Inquiry (AI) as the basis for liberating us from operational constraints and unproductive scepticism. This has been a great challenge, even if – or because – it builds on what really works now rather than what doesn’t.
At one stage, we were invited to “dream”: how do we ideally see the company in five years’ time? There wasn’t much dreaming there: We were all so realistic and terribly sensible. Our dreams were inhibited by our current reality, expressed in a sense of profound loyalty and commitment. Whereas that in itself was gratifying, the dreaming was no “giant leap” forward.
Claus Bjørnelund then invited members of the network with the wonderful name “Passende Forstyrrelser” (“Appropriate Disturbances”) to join us for a “fish bowl” exercise. After a short introduction to our history, activities, self-perception etc., our guests sat in a circle and “dreamed” on our behalf. We were only to listen to a 40-minute conversation. We heard what kind of company GlobalDenmark might be in five years. Ideas, projects and possibilities were brought up in ways that were new to us, and yet possible for us to identify with.
Our guests, obviously trained in the tough discipline of uninhibited, yet tangible and productive conversation, were a marvellous experience. “Wow, is that really our company? I would love to work there,” one of our colleagues blurted out. Our guests’ generous, sharp-witted and insightful contribution to our internal development project was a moment for us to cherish.
GlobalDenmark 