It is in Macfarlane’s deep time perspective that we find the power (“vibrance”) of appreciation (“conviviality of being”). Diversity (“eerily various”) is alive and well. The world is seen as a system of dynamic complexity. The deep time perspective also calls for a “learning into the future” (Scharmer, 2009) – for the dynamic complexity is only fully seen and appreciated from a distance and in a slow and thoughtful manner (as Kahneman suggests). All of this speaks to the need and capacity of those engaged in appreciative decision-making to engage in planning that is long-term and agile. Contingency planning takes preference over either short-term tactical planning or long-term strategic planning that tends to be set in stone (even though, as Macfarlane notes, stone itself “pulses” when viewed over time!).
By establishing a deep time perspective, we discover the critical elements of a positive collective image of the future. An appreciative perspective is not just referring to successes in the past but also point forward to a vision of success in the future. It is in the enduring patterns of life that we find an image of the future that is both viable and compelling. Past is engaged so that it can be brought into the future. That which is positive and has enduring in the past can become the foundation for our future.
In essence appreciation refers to the establishment of a positive image of the future based on our appreciation of the past. the present and that which endures over time. We grow to appreciate our collective effort at finding and enforcing an enduring image of our world. We invest this effort with optimism and Macfarlane’s “vibrance”. Our own institutions, like the mountains, ebb and flow when viewed from a deep time perspective. We invest our world with a sense of hope about its own future and the valuable role potentially it plays in our organization or society. Effective appreciative participation in a collaborative decision-making venture must be “not only concerned with what is but also with what might be.” (Frost and Egri, 1990) We come to appreciate our own role and that of other people with whom we are participating regarding the contributions we make jointly in helping to realize these images, purposes and values.
Put somewhat differently, appreciative perspective is always leaning into the future. There is consistent and frequent attention to what will happen (anticipation) and what should happen (aspirations) in the days and years ahead. Rather than focusing conversations on reconstructed narrative of the past, the conversations are directed toward construction of a new narrative concerning the future that builds off the deep time analyses of enduring patters. While we appreciate that which has been successful in the past, we don’t dwell with nostalgia on the past, but instead continually trace out the implications of sustained and shared expertise, acquired wisdom and past successes regarding our vision of the future.
