The grass is greener where you water it.

This is #1 in a series on the ideas and personal breakthroughs I'm most thankful for.

Last year, I met someone after church. A mutual friend had told us we should meet each other, so there we were, meeting.

He was neck-deep into a doctorate in organizational development.

I explained that I help businesses and individuals discover who they are, so they can be themselves well.

He stopped, squinted, and nodded slowly.

Ahh, so you're probably familiar with David Cooperrider and his work on Appreciative Inquiry then, right?

"Um, what?"

I'm sure I at least thought this. It's possible I even said it. It's hard to admit when you've never heard of someone that others are convinced you know well. At least for me.

As soon as I got home, I went on a little Interwebs Adventure?.

Turns out this David Cooperrider fellow stumbled across an idea back in the 1980s and worked hard to popularize it. Appreciative Inquiry, that's the one.

The more I read about it, the more I thought, "Yes!" "Eureka!" "Yahtzee!" and all the other choice words you want to shout when you've found something awesome.

Appreciate Inquiry has already been changing my life for the better.

So . . . can I introduce you to it? Yes? Right on, here goes.

Appreciative Inquiry is based on a simple but powerful idea.

We move in the direction of whatever we focus on, measure, or ask questions about.

Did you read that twice? If not, go back for seconds.

We move toward what we focus on.

It's true, right?

You've probably experienced it when you're trying to read that strange billboard while staying in your lane. Thank God for the blip-blip-blip of lane markers, right? Otherwise, we'd take out the car next to us. It's why your driver's ed teacher told you to keep your eyes on the road.

But here's where Cooperrider takes it to the next level. And I paraphrase:

If we're going to move in the direction of what we focus on, why do we spend so much of our time focusing on what's not working in our businesses? Why not focus on what is working, so we can get more of it?

Hmm. Ninja move. Didn't see that one coming.

Focus = magnification

No matter what's not working in your business, focusing on it is only going to magnify it. You're just going to get you more of what you've already hated.

More employee turnover. More dissatisfied customers. More fog about how to manage your team well.

Whatever it is that's gnawing at you, and that you're choosing to obsess about, you get more of.

It's like that beautiful saying:

The grass is greener where you water it.

The problem is that many of us are letting the grass wither while we're busy watering the weeds. Or just watering everything and nothing in particular.

Have you been sleep-watering?

If you're anything like me, Appreciative Inquiry is like waking up and realize you've been sleep-watering. Focusing by accident.

Here's what I want to share with you:

Start watering on purpose! And water the good stuff!

Watering on purpose might look like studying your employees who stay and figuring out why they're staying. Same with your best customers. Figure out what is working in your management—or learn from a fellow manager who's doing it well.

So yes. Focus on what's working. Not what's broken.

Good one, Cooperrider. Well played.

What's your special sauce?

If Appreciative Inquiry is on to something (and I've become convinced that it is), it should lead you to a question . . . a really, really good question.

What's the best stuff going on in my company? And how can I water it with my time, attention, measurements, and questions, so we can get more of it?

What about you? What's your best stuff? And how can you water it?

Because you're already watering something.

Will Gray is the founder of ALIGN, an agency that helps companies unlock their growth and flourish. He also runs Vocationality, which helps people discover their gifts and navigate their career. Learn more at www.alignforbusiness.com and www.vocationality.com.