Appreciative Inquiry
What is Appreciative Inquiry'?
Appreciative inquiry is a method used to bring about organizational change by making use of the
positive forces that - as is assumed - each organisation has. Appreciative inquiry (often shortend to AI)
does not focus on the problems that are characteristic of an organisation, but on the positive elements within
the organisation.
A classic approach of organizational experts to assist organisations
whose managers want to change the organisation is to make a diagnosis
of what is wrong with the organisation. This diagnosis yields causes of
the problems and forms the basis of an action plan that takes away these
causes so that the organisation's problems disappear. One of the reasons
that this approach does not always work, is that looking for problems
and their causes brings forth new problems. The image that in the past
the organisation did not do anything right, is easily created. On the
one hand this leads to less motivation to change (why should things improve
all of a sudden), on the other hand people start looking for things or
people they can blame. Management should have known better, some colleague
is spoiling the atmosphere or the ideas that innovators of the past had
did not turn out as well as these people thought they would. In short:
the willingness to change decreases and by uncovering all kinds of problems
people start losing sight of the things that are going well and they feel
less appreciation for people that are valuable for the organisation.
The 4-D Cycle
AI does not look for problems, but for the positive forces that enable the organisation
to stay alive. The drive for change should not come from without but from within. On the basis of
themes such as 'cooperation', 'team spirit' or 'innovation' AI starts with discovering
what the driving forces of the organisation are, what connects people to each other and
what motivates and inspires people within the organisation. The past is examined in order to find moments when everything
seemed to go smoothly. It does not matter if these moments were rare. It is important to
find out what factors were crucial to these inspiring experiences. This phase is called the 'discovery phase'.
The discovery phase is followed by a phase of which the aim is to explore
what might be possible in the future on the basis of what has been discovered in the discovery phase.
People enter into dialogue about what the organisation's future might ideally look like. This phase is called
the 'dream phase'.
In the following phase people think about the question how the organisation can succeed
in having the positive things that now only occur by chance and infrequently become part of everyday
life of the organisation. It might be that during this phase a statement of intent is drawn up based on what worked well
in the past. This statement of intent points the direction for future organisational behaviour. This phase is referred to as the 'design
phase'.
The last phase of AI is aimed at guiding the organisation to its destiny through action and innovation.
Because the previous phases helped create a shared image of what might be possible, workers can focus their behaviour
on reaching their ideals. Because these ideals are rooted in successful experiences in the past, they are realistic and not
castles in the air. By constantly tuning its actions and behaviour to the shared ideals, the organisation may reach its destiny. For this
reason this phase is called the 'destiny phase'.
Scientific basis of AI
At first sight AI seems yet another example of 'positive thinking' that lacks any foundation. However, the underlying principles
of AI do have a scientific foundation. Some of them are mentioned here:
- social constructionism: people construct reality on the basis of the
social relationships they have. Objective reality does not exist. The
questions we ask, bring forth answers. Different questions evoke different
answers. Applied to AI this means that questions about what goes wrong
in the organisation, create a reality of problems, disfunctioning, chaos, et cetera.
Questions about the organisation's strenght evoke a reality of success, motivation and hope.
Neither reality is superior, they are both valid versions of the truth.
- The principle of simultaneity: asking questions and change are not two separate things,
but take place simultaneously. The answers people give to the questions they are asked, already
contain the seeds for change and transformation.
- The anticipatory principle: the image people have of the future, directs their behaviour and increases the chance
that this vision of the future will become reality.
Experience with Appreciative Inquiry
A number of mostly American organisations have gained experience in AI. The results of working with AI are positive. Workers
support the process of change and are motivated to realize the vision of the future they have created together.