This article describes appreciative pedagogy in the management classroom. Appreciative pedagogy rests on the values of appreciative inquiry, an organizational development framework. At its core, appreciative pedagogy focuses on peak performances and successful experiences of students and professors. It believes that inquiring into these types of experiences allows both students and professors to create positive images that energize and generate positive action. In applying this approach, our students exhibited heightened energy in the classroom and an increased sense of relevance of content to personal and professional life.

Transitions are ubiqitious phenomena in modern life. This research sets forth a grounded theory phase sequence model of the transition process. The model is used to explore the midlife transition in terms of emotionality, changing career and family investments, and movement toward autonomy at the workplace. Implications for careerists and human resource management are suggested.

Adult development is becoming a critical component of an organization's effectiveness in our rapidly changing world (Torbert, 1987). While transitions in adulthood have been shown to be inevitable and patterned, they do not necessarily result in personal growth. In this exploratory study, data were collected from 64 men and women experiencing midlife transitions. Several factors were identified (scope of transition, progression through a transition sequence, ego development, inner directedness, and commitment to learning) which enabled growth during the midlife transition in the form of a personal paradigm shift. Positive emotional tone as well as enthusiasm for career were found to be consequences of these paradigm shifts. Implications for organizations are discussed.

Given the scope and intent of Maslow's work, the current textbook treatment is wanting. Therefore, an inductive exercise has been created and is o fered here to build “the road map of human nature.” This age-old, philosophic focus on our true nature has been a way to successfully engage and inspire both our students and our pedagogy. In the spirit of Maslow, the meaning of self-actualization is explored, and the understanding and managing of motivation is embedded into the larger context of leadership, for example, quality, spirituality, ethics, self-awareness, and personal growth.

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