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Authentic Partnership™ Read a more detailed description of Authentic Partnership™ and Description Authentic Partnership™* is a systematic approach to communication that increases the likelihood of meaningful and sustained change. It focuses on the quality and integrity of relationships and the commitment that is crucial for learning and for action based on that learning. On an individual basis, the approach expands our communication choices through increased understanding of our present habits and effective alternatives. In addition, the Authentic Partnership key values and guidelines provide more effective options for the design of individual meetings, internal communications, outreach efforts, and planning processes. The values and guidelines also provide a framework for analyzing current and proposed organizational policies and procedures. Authentic Partnership increases the effectiveness of our work as leaders, managers, coaches, facilitators, and colleagues. The Authentic Partnership™ ModelThe graphic below illustrates the parts of the model and the relationship among the parts.
Two Key Values lie at the heart of Authentic Partnership™ The Authentic Partnership approach relies on two key values: maximum information and maximum choice.
Both values together establish adequate conditions for developing commitment. All the information in the world will not lead to our commitment if we are not able to choose to make the proposed change. All the choice in the world will not lead to our commitment if we have inadequate, incomplete or misleading information about the choice we are making. Five Guidelines put the values into practice The five guidelines offer concrete and specific directions for keeping our actions consistent with the two key values of Authentic Partnership. The guidelines reveal the underlying notions of the key values and put those notions in practical terms.
The first three guidelines are most directly related to maximum information. The last two are most directly related to maximum choice. Here is a bit more detail about each of the guidelines. Share all relevant information We cannot share all information, so we must judge what information to share. “Relevant” means any information that is potentially useful in making a decision about a proposed change. When I work to follow this guideline, the implicit question that guides my actions is:
Explain your reasoning and intent This guideline expands on the kind of information to be shared, and moves toward fuller disclosure. When I work to follow this guideline, the implicit question that guides my actions is:
Test assumptions and inferences We all make assumptions about what we are about to experience, and we all draw inferences from what we are experiencing. Often we do not notice that this is what we are doing. This guideline means that we raise our level of awareness about when we are making assumptions and inferences, and that we check out assumptions and inferences that could materially affect our efforts to bring about change. When I work to follow this guideline, a series of implicit questions guides my actions:
Combine advocacy with inquiry This guideline is crucial for maximum choice. The “advocacy” part happens when I explain all the reasons why I believe something needs to be done. The “inquiry” part happens when I seek to understand how you view the situation. The two together create partnership. When I work to follow this guideline, the implicit question that guides my actions is:
Jointly design next steps We are all familiar with making decisions at the end of a conversation or meeting (whether with one person or with a group) about what to do next to move a project forward and to plan for the next meeting. This guideline applies to those situations, and also includes the many small decisions that we make about the ongoing process during a conversation or meeting. In a sense, this guideline applies the previous guideline -- combine advocacy with inquiry -- to decisions about how we will work together. When I work to follow this guideline, the implicit question that guides my actions is:
Authentic Partnership begins and ends with maximum information and maximum choice The Authentic Partnership approach encourages us to provide maximum information and maximum choice to others and to ourselves. Others Authentic Partnership encourages us to look at the benefits of providing maximum information and maximum choice to others in order to gain their commitment to meaningful change. Ourselves Authentic Partnership encourages us to provide ourselves maximum information about our communication practices and habits and about possible alternatives to those habits. We then give ourselves maximum choice about whether changes in those practices and habits will lead us toward increased communication effectiveness. Training Training in understanding and using the Authentic Partnership approach is typically structured as a one-day or two-day initial training and a series of half-day follow-up sessions that reinforce understanding of the model and the ability to apply the model to ongoing efforts. Participants in the training learn a model for effective communication, and they learn a related way to analyze their present interactions and develop practical options for dealing with both ordinary and challenging situations. The training emphasizes continuously improved performance by each participant and by the groups they compose. The initial training contains a minimal essential presentation of materials designed to equip participants for guided practice in applying the approach to authentic situations. Guided practice, which constitutes the balance of the initial training and the bulk of all follow-up sessions, allows the training to be tailored completely to the specific needs and practical experiences of the participants. The presentation of materials in the initial session includes a description of the Authentic Partnership model and its elements (based on the description provided above), and introduction to two other tools for understanding that are described below: motivating beliefs and split page examples. Motivating beliefs Although we usually do not stop to think about it, we all operate from a set of motivating beliefs about how we can be most effective in relating to others. These motivating beliefs guide the specific actions we take. We can look at our own specific actions (and the patterns that repeated actions create) to see and understand the motivating beliefs that actually guide our actions. The illustration below presents a contrast between motivating beliefs in a control mode and motivating beliefs in a partnership mode. The illustration includes a basic motivating belief and related beliefs about goals, knowledge, and intentions.
The arrows in the box indicate that we can locate our own beliefs somewhere on a spectrum between the two ends that the modes represent. From the Authentic Partnership perspective, communication based on beliefs that are closer to the Partnership end of the spectrum is much more likely to lead to lasting and meaningful change because the key values and guidelines are consistent with Partnership Mode motivating beliefs. Split page examples Split page examples help us understand our current habits, consider their possible limitations, and identify alternatives that might be more effective. They provide one way to look at our own habits from a deeper perspective.
Any interaction can be charted as a split page example. To do so, on the right side of a two-column page record what you and one or more persons said. On the left side record what you were thinking and feeling when each person spoke. Here is a brief interaction between an owner (Jim) and an employee (Mac) charted as the owner’s split page example.
To improve his practice, Jim would compare the words he spoke with the thoughts and feelings behind the words to see if he missed opportunities to use a Partnership approach that might have been more effective. He might ask himself one or more of the following questions:
*Authentic Partnership has its roots in the extensive research and organizational development work of Chris Argyris and his associates, and the related application of that work to facilitation by Roger Schwarz and his associates. Authentic Partnership adapts, modifies, and builds on the framework they developed. The Partnership for Kentucky Schools supported extensive work to develop Authentic Partnership training. Read a more detailed description of Authentic Partnership™ and Authentic Partnership™ coaching and training. Download, (390kb, pdf) |
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