What Is Appreciative Inquiry?

by: Jeff Schuman
Appreciative Inquiry is the act of exploring and recognizingthe best in people and the world around us. The key to thisphilosphy to to seek and discover how to improve and work towardstransformation.Do you believe that despite the complaints and problemsencountered in your organization, there is nonethelesssignificant good work and results occurring? Do you want tofind a way to fan the flames of these positives so that theyengulf your entire organization? Let’s admit it – sometimes ourproblem-centered focus places too much attention on the negative.Perhaps it’s time for a new approach. We can seek to discoverthe excellence already present in our organizations – just asMichelangelo is reported to have said that he saw an angel in therock and carved to set it free. Having a positive vision is the underlying premise ofAppreciative Inquiry. Appreciative Inquiry is a philosophy but itis also practical since it suggests a particular method ofchanging social systems. In its most basic form, an appreciativeinquiry is about asking questions about the best of what is andwhat has been. The information is like a discovery that lendsitself to dreaming about the positive future and finally,designing the action plan to make it happen. For example, a consultant or trainer is frequently in theposition of needing to understand the training needs of a clientcompany. Here are several potential questions that could be usedin appreciative interviews: • Describe a time when you took part in professional developmentthat was especially energizing and enlivening. Who was involved?What happened? Describe the event in detail. • If you could imagine or transform the professional developmentavailable in any way you wished, what one to three things wouldyou like to see happen to enhance its vitality and effectiveness?• What do you imagine your own role might be in helping to makethis happen? Who could work with you? The resulting qualitative data would be most efficiently analyzedby computer software such as text retrievers, code and retrieveprograms and conceptual network builders. Such software programswould help draw valid meaning from the data by reducing it, helpto identify patterns through comparative analysis and go beyondthe narrative text to display the data in matrices. Consider asking one or more appreciative questions at your nextstaff meeting. Set it up properly by giving employees a littlebackground and reasoning for the approach. Let them know whatyou plan to do with the information and invite interested partiesto get involved in the resulting action plan. You might besurprised by the synergy that results!