When working with teams or small groups (as described in the book Practical Appreciative Inquiry), a ‘provocative proposition’ or ‘possibility statement’ provides a summary of the Dream vision for the future that’s easily remembered and acts as an aspirational slogan or strapline to act as a bridge between the best of what has been Discovered, and the desired future that will be Designed and Delivered in the other stages of the 4-D cycle.
Provocative propositions can work equally well for individuals, both as a reminder of their Dream when they are dealing with the challenges of everyday life, and as a motto or guiding light to live by. In this week’s article I’ll give some examples and provide a checklist for effective provocative propositions; next week I’ll share some starter phrases and a step-by-step procedure to help your client (or yourself) to formulate them.
Some examples:
– “I am an inspiring leader”
– “I craft beautiful furniture that will be loved for generations”
– “I help people rekindle the spark in their relationships”
– “Clearing the obstacles on the road to enlightenment”
The most powerful provocative propositions have these characteristics:
It’s positively worded. The images the provocative proposition evokes in the client’s mind should be affirming and encouraging. No ‘problem language’ should be included, even to negate it. For example, “I am not indecisive” (for someone whose dream is to be more decisive) would not work as a provocative proposition. Even though in logical terms it works as a statement of what they want to be, our imagination and emotional responses don’t work on logic. In order to form a mental image of what ‘not indecisive’ would be like, we have to imagine images of indecisiveness – probably of ourselves being indecisive. As we tend to move towards the images we have of the future, this image would be taking the client in the opposite direction to where they want to go.
It’s aspirational. The provocative proposition expresses what we want to become and where we want to get to, rather than what and where we are now. Therefore it should be a stretch from where we are now (this is why it’s ‘provocative’), representing progress, development and evolution. Of course, the idea of the provocative proposition needs to be framed to the client as aspirational, to avoid them feeling that they have failed for not being like that all the time now. The Dream, and the provocative proposition that crystallises it, are a direction rather than a description, or even an end goal. Even if the client only ever gets half way there (which might happen, given that life isn’t perfect), that’s a 50% improvement on where they are now.
It’s expressed in the present tense. This makes it easier for the client to imagine themselves in the desired future and associate into it. If the wording of the proposition were to start “I will be…” or “I will…”, the mental image it conjures up would tend to be something that we see at some distance in the future, so that we’re looking at the Dream future in a detached way, with less intense emotional responses, rather than experiencing it.
It’s relevant, exciting and engaging. The proposition won’t find motivate and guide the client, or even be remembered for very long, if it doesn’t resonate with their most important values and what they feel to be right for them. To be more engaging, the language it’s expressed in should be sensory rather than abstract, evoking images that they can see, hear, or feel.
It’s grounded in real-life examples. This, I think, is an interesting one. There’s provocative, and then there’s completely unrealistic and ridiculous. If the proposition seems entirely detached from the client’s lived experience up to this point, they won’t believe in it or even relate to it. Consequently, it should be supported by reference experiences of times when the aspiration expressed in the provocative proposition actually happened, even if only in part. If the client can remember examples of themselves being or acting as the proposition describes, that will make it credible.
Next: a step-by-step procedure for how to formulate provocative propositions