Appreciative inquiry

Wasserman, 1. C. (2005, August). Appreciative inquiry and diversity The path to relational eloquence. AI Practitioner International Journal of Appreciative Inquiry, pp. 36-43. 

Appreciative Inquiry is about the coevolutionary search for the best in people, their organizations, and the relevant world around them. In its broadest focus, it involves systematic discovery of what gives life to a living system when it is most alive, most effective, and most constructively capable in economic, ecological, and human terms. AI involves, in a central way, the art and practice of asking questions that strengthen a system s capacity to apprehend, anticipate, and heighten positive potential. ... 

Researchers using an Appreciative Inquiry approach ask questions such as When have you experienced this organization at its best or When have you felt most alive in your role here What are your wildest dreams for this organization Such questions are focused on the best of what has happened and the best of what might be. This research methodology can be described as emergent, consistent with the unfolding nature of Ubuntu. 

While many employees stuck to the script and expressed when they felt most included at Big Store, others took the opposite approach they decided to tell us what needed to change for them to feel included or what made them feel excluded. So, though Appreciative Inquiry pulls for the life-giving forces in an organization, it rarely prevents the expression lifedraining ones experienced by respondents. 

Retrieved on September ii, 2013 from http //eenterforappreciativeinquiry. net/more-on-ai/principles-of-appreciative-inquiry/... 

TABLE 9.2. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PROBLEM SOLVING AND APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY... 

Basic Assumption in Problem Solving Basic Assumption in Appreciative Inquiry... 

Source "A Positive Resoiution in Change Appreciative Inquiry," unpublished draft, Appreciative Inquiry Commons, Case Western Reserve University, p. 29. 

The ability to ask wicked questions and use appreciate inquiry helps spur complex conversations, exploration, awareness, and collective mindfulness in an organization. 

Hall, J., and Hammond, S. The Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry. Thin Book series. OD Practitioner, 1997, 29(2), 2-3. 

Cooperrider, D. L., Whitney D. Collaborating/or Change Appreciative Inquiry, Williston, VT Berrett-Koehler, 1999. 

Hammond, S. A., and Royal, C. Lessons from the Eield Applying Appreciative Inquiry. Plano, Tex. Practical Press, 1998. 

The best known of these methods is probably Appreciate Inquiry. This method focuses on understanding what an organisation does well rather than on eliminating what it does badly - in line with the difference between Safety-11 and Safety-1. Even though it is not specifically aimed at safety, it can be used to develop a more constructive culture, which presumably is correlated with safety performance. The possible downside of Appreciate Inquiry is that it requires extensive time (often workshops stretching over several days), and that it only includes a limited number of people. 

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