11. Enablers of a Circular Economy: A Strength-Based Stakeholder Engagement Approach

Appreciative inquiry is a constructive inquiry process that looks at what is of value to organisations, communities and larger human systems when they are functioning at their best (Thatchenkery et al., 2010). It is both a form of study and a mode of practice. As a form of study, appreciative inquiry adopts a systematic search for capacities, processes, language and practices that give life to a living system. It seeks to increase our understanding of the types of practices that support human growth, increased awareness and capacity-building (Bushe & Marshak, 2009, 2014). As a mode of practice, appreciative inquiry is a process through which people are invited to discover what is working well, to dream and envision what might be, to design what should be and to define the plan to achieve what is designed (Cooperrider & Srivastava, 1987; Cooperrider & Whitney, 2005; Whitney, 2010).

In empirical research, appreciative inquiry refers to action research that combines studying and changing social systems using social constructionist principles to draw attention to the power of positive language in creating desired futures (Gergen & Thatchenkery, 2004). In empirical inquiries, researchers collaborate with people engaged in the study to identify the future potential and create action plans in the focal organisation. Laszlo and Cooperrider (2010) demonstrated that appreciative inquiry strengthened a system’s capacity to apprehend, anticipate and heighten positive potential. Drawing on their experiences at an appreciative inquiry summit that was designed to facilitate collaborative discovery with a strengths-based approach, they argued that involving stakeholders in imagining what is possible fosters co-learning, co-development and responding to complex situations creatively and holistically (ibid.). Studies conducted in Finnish organisations comprised appreciative inquiry in public, private and non-governmental organisations (Holma et al., 2015; Lehtimäki et al., 2013; Parkkali et al., 2015; Parkkinen et al., 2015). The studies indicated how appreciative inquiry supports developing a customer-oriented culture through bottom-up processes, engaging the members of an organisation and middle management in organisational change processes and enhancing communication and focusing on positive potential in post-merger situations.

Appreciative intelligence refers to the ability to perceive the positive potential in a situation and to act purposively to transform that potential into outcomes (Thatchenkery & Metzker, 2006). Appreciative intelligence has three components: reframing, appreciating the positive and seeing how the future unfolds from the present. We will describe each of these in the following.

Reframing refers to seeing problems in a new light and creating alternatives that have not occurred within the old framework. It involves shifting a frame so that new relationships and dependencies become apparent. As an example, Thatchenkery and Metzker (2006) demonstrated that Silicon Valley entrepreneurs thought differently (with respect to the content of their thoughts and the processes they employ) by intentionally reframing market signs and opportunities. Reframing is necessary in leadership, as continuous problem-solving and crisis management are what leaders face often. Over a period, the firefighting mindset may inhibit the appreciative intelligence of leaders and trap them in a path of a single-trajectory problem-solving style. Opportunities for innovation and creativity might be lost and time is spent attending to what is urgent as opposed to what is important. As an example, in the transition from a linear to a circular economy, the default mode is the deficit conversation such as warnings about the looming ecological disaster originating from the irreversible climate change. Even though the science about climate change is solid, the doomsday crisis mentality generally pushes people to resort to a reactive way of thinking and responding. Reframing means, seeing the circular economy as a novel purpose for joint action across organisations to create opportunities for sustainable innovation. It encourages new relationships and dependencies among stakeholders from the public and private sectors and government agencies.

Appreciating the positive, the second component of appreciative intelligence is based on social constructionist philosophy. Appreciating the positive is about intentionally seeking the generative vocabulary that looks at what works in a system as opposed to what does not. Appreciating the positives must become a habit if it is to have a lasting impact. Most well-meaning participants in a circular economy are unconsciously participating in all-pervasive deficit discourse with a vocabulary consisting of hundreds of negative words about the ecological crisis awaiting us. Circular economy activists will have to observe with an open mind and truly believe that positive possibilities can be brought to the surface with intentional reframing. Appreciating the positives allows for shifting the viewpoint from visibly insurmountable macro-level issues to small changes that are possible to attend to at the individual and local levels. Such reframing encourages action towards a sustainable future instead of helplessness and procrastination in the face of incomprehensible change.

Seeing how the future unfolds from the present is the third component of appreciative intelligence. It is not enough to reframe or recognise positive possibilities. We must know what to do at the present moment, akin to a state of being mindful (Kabat-Zinn, 2005). The future possibility must be realised in the current reality through purposive action, very similar to the process of the enactment of possibilities (Weick, 1988). It becomes easier to join the action rather than remain an outsider and criticise, dismiss, or neglect the sustainability transition. For example, climate activist Greta Thunberg has demonstrated the power of individual initiatives to create and transcend global movements. With appreciative intelligence, we start noticing and valuing the actions that are taken by investors in for-profit corporations for the public good and by the citizens and legislators at the societal, national and global levels.

In addition to the three components mentioned above, appreciative intelligence leads to four qualities in individuals (Thatchenkery & Metzker, 2006), namely persistence, conviction that one’s actions matter, tolerance of uncertainty and irrepressible resilience. Persistence is the ability to stick with a project or problem to its fruitful completion. There are two types of persistence. The first one, behavioural persistence, is the external manifestation of visible actions that are sustained over a period to accomplish a goal. The second one is cognitive persistence, where an individual continues to think about a goal that may continue long after behaviour to accomplish it has stopped.

Conviction that one’s actions matter creates confidence in our abilities to mobilise the mental resources and plan of action needed to accomplish a task. Overall, people with high self-esteem have a greater tendency to persist in the face of failure and challenges. They are also more likely to reframe and see the presence of alternatives to achieve a goal. The creative ideas and actions that individuals pursue create uncertainty or ambiguity. Moreover, people with high appreciative intelligence exhibit a high tolerance of uncertainty, ambiguity and cognitive dissonance (Thatchenkery, 2015). Beyond tolerating their own uncertainty, they help other people to address uncertainty, often by reframing situations to help them see what was positive. Finally, individuals possessing high appreciative intelligence exhibit irrepressible resilience and can bounce back from a difficult situation or a challenge with renewed energy (Thatchenkery & Metzker, 2006).

Appreciative intelligence also relates to cognition and opportunity recognition, two important facets of a circular economy. Gaglio and Katz (2001) suggested that successful entrepreneurs possess a cognitive schema called ‘entrepreneurial alertness’, which helps them to stay in a mental state of being alert to opportunities. They hypothesised that entrepreneurs possessing such a schema are predisposed to searching for and noticing market disequilibria and possibly reframing to see new positive possibilities, for example, for a circular economy. Entrepreneurially alert individuals will thus be more able to ‘think outside the box’ than people with a lower level of alertness. This line of thinking is consistent with the characteristics of people with high appreciative intelligence who have narrated stories regarding how they reframed problem situations, recognised opportunities and overcame challenges, all by recognising the generative potential in them and engaging in immediate actions to help unfold the future of the circular economy. The potential for enhancing a circular economy vitality by creating a robust appreciative intelligence development programme for stakeholders is clear.

The responses reflected an understanding that, as an individual, one can have an impact but that appreciation for a slow change is necessary. The respondents described that individual motivation gives a sense of value as a change agent and that the work on a circular economy is rewarding. These actions help in reframing and focusing on what is possible. At the individual level, emotions and feelings of appreciation were important. The interviewees described a variety of emotions they experienced, namely pride, satisfaction, empowerment, inspiration, humility, enthusiasm, belief, capability and appreciation. The circular economy specialists also described a variety of positive feelings of themselves while working on issues related to a sustainable future. These feelings included satisfaction, tranquillity, empowerment and a sense of doing the right thing. Appreciation of stakeholder engagement supported self-efficacy.

Also, the sense of being able to set an example in the sustainability transition in society at large was considered important. The interviewees appreciated the notion of being among the forerunners in the sustainable circular economy. They described the importance of being able to demonstrate how solutions can be identified and applied. They were also proud of being among those who are applying the sustainable circular economy principles and being in a position of awakening others about the importance of sustainable development in public and private organisations and in society at large.

The latest example is from this week, when I got a government official to change his mind and approve an alternative construction material manufactured by our member organisation as part of their project. The material is not purely circular economy but involves the use of recycled materials. I also got appreciation from the company for getting deeply involved in this and for giving clear guidelines. (Interview 20FE20)

The responses indicate that learning to appreciate routines and practices in stakeholder engagement for sustaining continuous communication and learning with stakeholders so that the desired future can start to unfold from the current reality was important. Moments of success that the interviewees described included success in creating collaboration across organisational boundaries and winning competitions. The respondents considered crossing organisational boundaries as empowering in collaborative learning and continued interest in engaging with each other. What was considered important in collaboration was building a shared understanding among different actors. This included the sense of being open in dialogue, the capability of bringing people together to discuss and find solutions, and the ability to enable discussion among those who were identified as important actors in advancing the sustainability transition through a circular economy, but who might not identify each other as actors working on similar topics. The excerpt below expresses the sense of accomplishment that an active specialist had achieved through active participation in a national dialogue on advancing the circular economy:

I am proud that [our industry] has become one of the central actors and discussants in the circular economy so that we are now participating in almost everything that takes place in Finland. It has been a joy to talk about all that companies are doing, and then you notice that your voice is heard, and you receive invitations to all kinds of programmes and groups. (Interview 20FE12)

Joint efforts in organisational boundary-crossing co-operation built a sense of accomplishment. Encouraging trust building in relations that transcend organisational boundaries was considered important. The excerpt below illustrates that trust building is considered an outcome of openness and self-commitment:

… trust needs to be built. It comes with open discussions and maybe also with setting a personal example, I mean, that when I show that I share a secret with the other person, they notice that they can tell their secrets to me. Being an open and trustworthy partner takes you far. Also, I would like to add that it is important to recognise your own weaknesses, be appreciative of them and be open to say that, listen, I don’t know or understand much about this either, but I know someone, let’s call them. (Interview 20CO17)

The sense of doing things together in collaboration with others emerged as an important consideration. This included the experience of growing and building competence together, being part of a successful team and building lasting relationships with others, and working on making the sustainability transition happen in organisations.

Instances of receiving positive feedback from others were plentiful and were described in rich detail. Peers in the interviewees’ own organisations and in stakeholder organisations, superiors and young people were mentioned as those giving positive feedback. Such feedback included indicating interest in what the specialist had to say, curiosity to learn more about the viewpoints of the specialists and expressions of gratitude for taking action to advance a sustainable circular economy.

It feels good to get appreciative feedback. But when you look a bit deeper, well, I think, I don’t know, I think it starts with placing yourself in the positions of others so that one can communicate the different kind of viewpoint. It is about humility. (Interview 20CO32)

The responses indicate that there is a sense of empowerment in recognising that one can influence change in society through one’s work and that people and the society can change. This notion builds on the experience that collaboration is a powerful practice. The excerpt below describes a situation where people from different organisations came together to launch an event for a circular economy product:

Well, we learned to appreciate that we have incredibly motivated people and that it was very rewarding that we pulled together teams that crossed organisational boundaries and found a completely novel kind of power in them. (Interview 20CO05)

Change in the societal level entails interaction across organisations. The excerpt highlights the value of interaction between stakeholders from different organisations. The interaction took place across sectors and involved private, public and third-sector organisations. Our analysis shows that at the societal level, stakeholder engagement does not only consist of various dialogical collaborative practices that lead to knowledge sharing and learning, but also a sense of togetherness, empowerment, motivation and reward that stems from working together for a common goal. The excerpt above shows that the outcomes of stakeholder engagement at the societal level include a potential for innovative practices in future collaborative activities across organisational boundaries.