Uses of Appreciative InquiryDecember 18, 2006 Volume 1, Number 8
In this Issue:
What is Appreciative Inquiry
Appreciative Types of Inquiry
Getting to the Heart of an Organization
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What is Appreciative Inquiry
Appreciative Inquiry is an attitude; it is a way of approaching groups of people, organizations, and systems from the human experience. Appreciative Inquiry seeks to create positive changes and results by focusing on what currently and previously has worked well. From there, the activities and efforts align to leverage and replicate the successes. For more information, reference David L. Cooperrider for a good introduction on Appreciative Inquiry.
Would your friends or colleagues find information like this helpful? As a gift to support them and strengthen their work in 2007, send them a link to this blog.
Appreciative Types of Inquiry
_________________________________________________________________What are our beliefs about our organization and the people who work in it? This strikes at the core of Appreciative Inquiry theory. It espouses that the questions we ask of people and ourselves, in and of themselves catapult the eventuality of what will be. In Appreciative Inquiry the questions that are posed verbally or internally, are a catalyst for the interventions that occur.
Examples of some possible questions include: What is a specific example of a project that worked very well? Who was involved? What features contributed to the success? What was the motivation behind the project, that the group (members, participants, etc.) identified? How did the group react in response to the success of the project?
These questions all pertain to the same situation. When you acquire thorough responses to all of these questions, you end up with a very positive perspective about this group, their skills, and the types of projects they orchestrate well. When you share this information back to the group, you have then imparted on them this same positive understanding for it to be built upon.
Examples of some possible questions include: What is a specific example of a project that worked very well? Who was involved? What features contributed to the success? What was the motivation behind the project, that the group (members, participants, etc.) identified? How did the group react in response to the success of the project?
These questions all pertain to the same situation. When you acquire thorough responses to all of these questions, you end up with a very positive perspective about this group, their skills, and the types of projects they orchestrate well. When you share this information back to the group, you have then imparted on them this same positive understanding for it to be built upon.
Getting to the Heart of an Organization
What is the motivating force or central purpose within an organization? The inherent values? When has the organization been seen to function at its very best? What is the area of greatest issue within the organization/When was it most successful?
Through the use of Appreciative Inquiry, shift the focus within the organization from what is wrong, to what is working, when it worked, and how it worked well. In concert, the desired future becomes affirmed in these experiences of past success. Use the successes to build upon themselves in moving to the sought outcome. Throughout the process of incorporating Appreciative Inquiry into the organization, the consciousness of the group becomes what they will attain.
Through the use of Appreciative Inquiry, shift the focus within the organization from what is wrong, to what is working, when it worked, and how it worked well. In concert, the desired future becomes affirmed in these experiences of past success. Use the successes to build upon themselves in moving to the sought outcome. Throughout the process of incorporating Appreciative Inquiry into the organization, the consciousness of the group becomes what they will attain.
For implementing strategies like those mentioned above, or your other professional needs, contact Nancy Schill, M.A. at: nschill@executiveintelligentcoaching.com or 512.947.5447 to schedule your Professional Agenda coaching session, Development coaching program, or Team coaching program.
__________________________________________________________________Would your friends or colleagues find information like this helpful? As a gift to support them and strengthen their work in 2007, send them a link to this blog.
