I’m currently taking the last course in my series of courses at the U.N. University for Peace’s Centre for Executive Education, for the online Diploma in Social Innovation.

This last course is so fitting to my life right now, in flux, on a leave of absence. The fun part: I’m trying out new things, with pretty much my own schedule. Plus the challenges: my dad, across the ocean, being very ill; our living situation being somewhat undecided; our dog being a handful (yes…); the future of my work situation being uncertain, and so on.

So far, I’ve learned the following:  Don’t start  with a problem… but:

What is the smallest change with the biggest impact?

 

We are also going to follow the idea of the Appreciative Inquiry. It has 4 components, or steps:

What’s working well?

What is the dream?

How to design the dream?

How do we make it stick?

As a part of the course, we will need to journal every day about the 3 points above. As I will do, in this blog, as at tomorrow. They say this will change everything. Let’s experiment, and see:

1. Things to be grateful for that day.

2. A positive message to someone.

3. The most meaningful experience of the past 24 hours.