The outlook may not have been brand new to everyone who attended the sessions late last month, but there is little doubt that appreciative inquiry is something that has captured the attention of the movers and shakers in Jasper.

A two day session organized by the Jasper Adult Learning Council was held in the final week of April, intended to provide community leaders with the opportunity to learn about the basics of appreciative inquiry — a model of planning and management that focuses on the positive work an organization does. From the reaction of several of the attendees, it’s clear the concept has many potential applications.

Councillor Brenda Zinck, for instance, says that the Municipality of Jasper would do well to incorporate it into its processes of decision-making and public consultation.

“I think a lot of us already do it, and we just don’t have a word for it,” Zinck said of the process that is predicated on asking what is going well, not where the problems lie. As a member of municipal council, Zinck hears complaints and concerns on a regular basis and says that focusing on the negative is hard on the process and the people involved.

“The negative does tend to bring you down and some people might tend to get overwhelmed.”

When it comes to discussions with her council colleagues, Zinck said that positive reinforcement is a common tactic.

“We do look at things positively, because we need to being working forward and trying to do more of what we do well. Otherwise, you’re just spinning your wheels.”

Zinck cites the example of the municipally-run child care centre as an example where a positive approach would be beneficial.

“You can get caught up in being down about the numbers and the demand, but on the whole, the children are happy,” she said.

While Zinck and others might be enthused about the prospects for positivism in large community organizations, the appreciative inquiry approach is applicable in a wide range of circumstances, including within family groups, said Ginette Marcoux-Frigon of Jasper Adult Learning.

The session also provided the chance for key members of the community to come together and share ideas and visions for Jasper, something that was an important step to take, Frigon said.

“Where this will go will be very interesting,” she said. “It was definitely new to most of the people in the room, but it’s nice to be able to reaffirm what we are doing.”