Appreciative Inquiry

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Thanks to Manus for drawing this to my attention - albeit with the caveat that the terminology is a bit wanky (my word not his - in fact I think his was ’spiritual’).

A couple of weeks ago we were having a long round the houses conversation about relevance - specifically how to provide tools that allow people to take a big top level strategy and determine how it impacts their role and how they can contribute.

This is a big jump for a lot of people - and it is very often far from immediately apparent. But without that process taking place it’s hard for the stategy to be implemented. It’s the difference between executing the letter and understanding the spirit.

Appreciative inquiry is an organisational change methodology developed by David Cooperrider. It offers an alternative approach to achieving organizational growth and development to the more prevalent problem solving methodologies. It is based in an understanding of organisations as socially constructed living human systems, suggesting that everything human is present in organisations including emotion. Within the Appreciative Inquiry approach problem identifiers and bringers are to be valued as they tell us things could be better, as, a problem is an expression of a frustrated dream This approach suggests that the phenomena of organisation is a miracle to be embraced, rather than a problem to be solved. (more)

Right about the language then….

This is more like it:

Appreciative Inquiry is an exciting new change methodology that builds organisational change by concentrating on what does work rather than what doesn’t.
Unlike other change methodologies it recognises and embraces the uniquely human aspects of our organisations.
Appreciative Inquiry uses the power of human imagination, memory, emotion, communication and sociability to build effective and lasting change (more)

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. It centrally involves the mobilization of inquiry through the crafting of the “unconditional positive question” often-involving hundreds or sometimes thousands of people.

I’ll carry on - but I can see distilling the useful bit out of this is going to be an uphill struggle. It’s there glimmering at me though.

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