1) Philosophy and Background.

Appreciative Inquiry has had a profound effect on many organisations. It has proved successful in both the commercial and non-commercial sectors. AI is an enormously positive approach and can involve thousands of people. They are asked to share their ideas – not simply participate in ‘training’ – to help shape the organisation’s future. AI invites people to focus on when they performed brilliantly and follow those principles in the future. It can be used to tackle any challenge. It has been used to improve coffee roasting, trucking logistics, teaching, sexual equality, community relations and many other topics. AI helps people to achieve ongoing success.

AI has many practitioners. These include: David Cooperrider, Diana Whitney, Bernard Mohr, Marge Schiller, Jackie Stavros, James Ludema, Thomas Griffin, Amanda Trosten-Bloom, Frank Barrett, Ron Fry, Masato Hommas in Japan, Illma Barros in Brazil, V. Nilakant in New Zealand and many others. A key characteristic of their work is their generosity in sharing knowledge with others. This embodies the spirit of AI. One of the best places to learn about AI is at The Appreciative Inquiry Commons site:

http://appreciativeinquiry.case.edu

The Beginnings

AI ‘officially’ came into being in the early 1980s. David Cooperrider is now a professor at the Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. At that time he was a 24-year-old doing his doctorate and was focusing on organisational development work at The Cleveland Clinic. David began with ‘traditional change management’ questions, looking at ‘deficits’ and ‘gaps’ in performance. Then something happened. Impressed by the positive co-operation and innovation he found in the hospital, David changed tack. He began focusing more on people’s strengths.

David asked employees about their best experiences in work. People found that revisiting their successes ignited their desire to create an even better future. David and his team had discovered a gold mine. He asked the Clinic’s Chairman, Dr William Kiser, if he could focus totally on this positive approach. The Chairman encouraged him to go ahead. David and his project supervisor, Suresh Srivastva, would later write:

“Human systems grow in the direction of what people study.”

Suresh Srivastva

This proved the case at the Cleveland Clinic. The staff loved learning from their past successes and wanted to follow these principles in the future. They translated this into tackling specific challenges and produced concrete results. In the process they also contributed to creating the framework for Appreciative Inquiry. The Cleveland Clinic is now consistently rated one of the best hospitals in the country. Following David’s dissertation, the founding theory and vision of appreciative inquiry was published in what is now seen as a classic piece: Appreciative Inquiry Into Organizational Life: Toward a Theory of Social Innovation (Cooperrider and Srivastva, 1987).

AI has since been used by different organisations. These include John Deere, Avon, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Roadway Express, US Navy, American Red Cross, World Vision and numerous local communities. AI’s reputation grew and, in 2004, David was asked to design and facilitate a meeting between Kofi Annan and 500 business leaders. The aim was to make globalisation work for everyone. Kofi later expressed his thanks, saying:

“I would like to commend you more particularly for your methodology of Appreciative Inquiry and to thank you for introducing it to the United Nations. Without this, it would have been very difficult, perhaps even impossible, to constructively engage so many leaders of business, civil society, and government.”

Such meetings must have seemed a long way off when David and the team worked with The Cleveland Clinic. The steps they followed there laid the groundwork for AI - though some of the terminology evolved over the years. Let’s explore how the Clinic employees achieved success.

Discovery was the starting point. People knew what had worked in the past. Recalling their best experiences, they felt energised and ready to create. How could they follow these principles in the future? How could they build something that would be of benefit – for the patients, for the employees and for the community? The next step was to release people’s imagination. It was to Dream. People were encouraged to imagine how the organisation could be in the future. Building on the principles that had worked previously, they explored the possibilities. People agreed on the priorities, set specific goals and clarified the benefits. They then committed to achieving the picture of success.

Design came next. People clarified the key strategies they could follow to achieve the goals. Sometimes this meant ‘starting with a blank piece of paper’ and redesigning structures and systems. Then came the hard work People built on their strengths, followed their successful patterns and got some early wins. They found solutions to challenges and encouraged each other on the journey. They did everything possible to deliver. People kept going until they reached their agreed Destiny.

AI’s language may sound ‘soft’: but the model delivers ‘hard’ results. This ‘empowering’ approach works superbly in communities that want to shape their futures. It also works in the commercial sector. The video link below provides graphic illustrations of such successes. Click on the link and then go for the streamed version.

Video

Here are some other applications of AI

* A major food company used the AI approach for its strategic planning. It brought together 1000 company employees to design the plan in a series of summits. One year later the company reported a record 300% increase in earnings and a 75% decrease in absenteeism. The company was later recognised as one of the top 100 best places to work in the nation.

* Forbes Magazine published a cover story about AI being applied at one of America’s Fair Trade coffee roasters. When the company began using AI its stock price hovered around $18 dollars per share. Today, 5 years later, the stock price continues to be above $100.

* One of the world’s largest trucking companies trained 10,000 people in AI. It then used the approach to launch its LEAN operations program. One year later the company reported record quarterly earnings across its 300 facilities. Studies showed that 80% of the $75 million in improvements came from the 5 facilities where AI was piloted.

* A mining and manufacturing company decided to become a green, sustainable enterprise. It used AI to bring together the 300 associates and stakeholders from across the supply chain. They aimed to design: a) the new corporate principles; b) the new green products; c) the new lean and green processes. One year later the company reported bottom line improvements of more than $7 million dollars. The company first introduced AI in 1991. Since then revenues have grown over 300%. It has also received awards for environmental leadership.

2) Principles.

“We define ourselves by the questions we ask,” we are told. “These influence the answers we give and the way we behave. What we focus on, we are more likely to become.”

Appreciative Inquiry builds on this philosophy. The starting point when tackling any challenge is to formulate certain questions. These help: a) To define the challenge; b) To define the direction in which people channel their energy; c) To define the real results they eventually achieve. There are enormous differences, for example, between the following two sets of questions.

The art of Appreciative Inquiry is - in some
ways - the art of asking the right questions

“But you can’t frame every challenge in a positive way?” somebody may say. Some situations are difficult, but this is where AI excels. David believes it is vital to define the topic in a way that inspires people to want to achieve the goal. The ‘Definition’ process is one that some people see as the ‘Fifth D’ in the AI framework. It comes before focusing on Discovery, Dream, Design and Destiny.

* Defining the topic.

This is the process that AI calls ‘Affirmative Topic Choice.’ Creative people, for example, often frame their challenges in a positive way. They may go from saying:

“How can I stop feeling bad?” To: “How can I start feeling good?”

“How can we stop arguing?” To: “How can we, as far as possible, find a ‘win-win’?”

“How can we get bad teachers out of the school?” To: “How can we build a school that offers great teaching that enables the students to succeed?”

“How can reduce sexual harassment?” To: “How can we encourage women and men to work together successfully?”

David was actually confronted by this final topic. One day he received a phone call from a consultant who was helping a company to tackle sexual harassment. During the previous two years the employees had been attending training designed to eliminate this issue: but the levels of sexual harassment were actually increasing, as were the lawsuits against the company. The consultant in charge of the gender and diversity training asked David: “How would you take an appreciative approach to sexual harassment?”

David asked about the real results to achieve. The reply was: “We want to dramatically cut the incidence of sexual harassment. We want to solve this huge problem.” Going deeper, he asked what this would look like. The consultant said: “What we really want is to see the development of a new century organization - a model of high quality cross-gender relationship in the work place!” Though this wording was somewhat awkward, it clarified a positive picture of success.

The company introduced a small pilot programme on this theme. This exceeded everybody’s expectations. Hundreds of pairs nominated themselves to provide stories illustrating men and women working together successfully in the company. This also provided a framework for AI’s work on related issues. Some of the themes regarding gender opportunities, for example, were later applied at Avon Products Mexico. David writes:

“The issues here (at Avon) were not about harassment, but there were other hopes about women and men in shared leadership contexts - including dealing with the glass ceiling at senior management levels - but again there was interest in framing the whole thing in terms of an inquiry.”

You can read about how this approach developed – and produced successful results - in an article by David and Diana Whitney. Here is the link:

Article on AI

Defining the topic is crucial. It creates the framework within which people can channel their positive energy. Once the topic is chosen, they can then embark on the ‘Discovery’ part of the AI process.

* Discovery.

The Discovery phase taps into the positive core – the life-giving forces of a team, organisation or community. AI can be applied in teams or across literally thousands of people. (The latter is sometimes called an AI Summit.) Below is a link that provides an overview of such a Summit that was run for a manufacturing division of John Deere.)

Overview of Summit

AI invites people to discover what works. It explores the stories, strengths and successful principles already within the system. Imagine that you are conducting a session for a company that wants to increase its employee satisfaction. What kind of questions might you ask? You may, for example, ask people to consider the following themes: (You will, of course, create your own sets of questions.)

“What attracted you to this company? Who has been one of the best managers you have had in the company? What did they do right to encourage you? Let’s take a moment to look at your talents. Can you describe a time when have you been able to use your strengths in the company? What did you do right then? How did the company help you to use your strengths? What were the results? What were the benefits – for you, your colleagues, the company and the customers?

“When have you seen teams working brilliantly in the company? What did they do right to do such great work? When have you encouraged somebody else in the company? How did that feel? What was their reaction? What was a time when you got a fairly tough reality check, but actually found it helpful? What did the person – the manager or colleague – do right to communicate it in a way that helped you to develop? What have been the best learning experiences – formal or informal – that you have had in the company? Sometimes, for example, people learn from stimulating projects, rather than formal training. What for you was the most stimulating project you have taken part in? What were the ‘take aways’ you could use to develop your career?”

“Later we will be clarifying the potential goals for improving employee satisfaction. In the meantime, though, we’d like to get some of your initial ideas. Let’s revisit some of the strengths and successful principles you have mentioned. Bearing these in mind: What are the 3 key themes you believe the company can pursue to improve it employee satisfaction?”

* Dream.

AI is different from most ‘visioning’ approaches in a crucial way. It builds on the stories, strengths and successful principles that have already emerged. People are then doing several things. First, they are building on what they already know works. They are building on the organic soul of the organisation. Second, they are then more confident about extrapolating these principles into the future – seeing how these might be expressed in the picture of perfection. People may be dreaming but, because they are following successful principles, they have a hunch they can deliver. This is because they have ‘started from within’. They know what works: something which is rooted in both their intellect and intuition.

David describes how Avon Products in Mexico put this approach into practice. The aim was to create more male and female co-operation at leadership levels. Starting with practical suggestions, however, can lead to more radical steps. Fortunately, Avon was serious about tackling the challenge. He writes:

“Using stories from the interviews as a basis for imagining the future, expansive and practical propositions were created like, for example, ‘Every task force or committee at Avon, whenever possible, is co-chaired by a cross-gender pairing’.”

“The significance of even this simple proposal proved to be big. Likewise propositions in other areas of organization design were also carefully crafted. Soon literally everything in the organization was opened to discussion: corporate structures, systems, work processes, communications, career opportunities, governance, compensation practices, leadership patterns, learning opportunities, customer connections, and more.”

You will have your own questions for encouraging people during the dream phase. The keys will be: a) To remind them of the topic they are tackling; b) To remind people of their stories, strengths and success principles on this theme; c) To encourage them to use their imaginations to paint possible pictures of perfection. d) To prioritise the key themes to focus on – then translate these into a clear picture of perfection; e) To clarify the benefits for all stakeholders.

AI practitioners find the Dream and Design parts sometimes start to overlap. This is okay, because there is often a moving forwards and backwards between the two elements. David explains this in the following way:
“What we have found is that the sequencing is crucial, moving first through in-depth work on Dream before Design, followed with back and forth iterations.”

“In Zimbabwe we recently worked with a partner organization of Save the Children. It was fascinating to observe how easy it was to re-design the organization in terms of structures and systems once broad agreement was reached on a powerful Dream. The articulation of the image of the future was simple: ‘Every person in Zimbabwe shall have access to clean water within five years’. The critical design shift, demanded by the large dream, was to a new form of organization based on a network of alliances or partnerships, not bureaucracy’s self-sufficient hierarchy.”

* Design.

The Dream is the ‘What’ – the real results to achieve - and the ‘Why’ - the benefits of achieving the goal. The Design is the ‘How’ – the strategies and systems for achieving the goal. People ask questions such as: “What are the key strategies we can follow to give ourselves the greatest chance of success? What support will people need to do the job? ‘Who’ will need to do what and ‘When’? What structures and systems need to be in place? How can people get some early successes?” Sometimes this calls for radical approaches to redesigning an organisation. David explains:

“People are encouraged to “wander beyond” the data with the essential question being this: What would our organization look like if it were designed in every way possible to maximize the qualities of the positive core and enable the accelerated realization of our dreams?” When inspired by a great dream we have yet to find an organization that did not feel compelled to design something very new and very necessary.”

* Destiny. (Sometimes called ‘Delivery’.)

The Destiny phase translates the dream into reality. People throw themselves into the work and get some early wins. Maintaining the momentum is crucial: so it is vital to have follow-up meetings. If you are running such follow-up sessions, for example, start by giving the big picture. Remind people of their ‘Discoveries’, Dream and Design. Then invite people to present three things: a) Their recent achievements – their contributions to the Destiny; b) Their planned contributions in the next months; c) The support they would like to deliver their part of the Destiny. Celebrate the successes and develop the habit of constant improvement. People will then get into a virtuous circle. Encourage them to generate more stories, build on their strengths and follow their successful principles. This will increase the chances of fulfilling the organisation’s Destiny.

3) Practice.

Does AI work? The answer is: “Yes.” Starting from the work in Cleveland, it has spread far and wide. It’s philosophy has been translated into action in both the commercial and ‘not-for-profit’ sectors. The results have been outstanding. You can read about many of the successes at the link below – these include work at Avon Mexico, Verizon, World Vision and the US Navy.

Case studies

Contribution to the strengths approach

AI has made an enormous contribution to the strengths philosophy. In some ways it has built on the work of giants who have helped individuals to use their talents – people such as Bernard Haldane, Richard Bolles and others. But it has gone much further. For example:

a) It as applied the ‘strengths questions’ – such as revisiting one’s best performance - to working with teams, organisations and communities. This has proved extremely successful.

b) It has enabled many thousands of people to build on their strengths, follow their successful principles and achieve their picture of success.

c) It has shown great generosity of spirit in the way it has shared the knowledge and tools with other people – particularly in vehicles such as the Appreciative Inquiry web site. This has enabled millions of people to access and apply the knowledge in their own ways.

David Cooperrider and his team started something special at the Cleveland Clinic. The AI community enjoy sharing their philosophy and practical tools with people around the world. Here is a link to one of the Annual Conferences. Appreciative Inquiry shows us how to build on our strengths, follow our successful principles and achieve our picture of success.

Annual Conference