Appreciative Inquiry - Why?

“Appreciative Inquiry-
Why?”
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PRESENTS
© 2013 The Mudd Partnership | www.themuddpartnershiponline.com | @muddpartnership | www.fb.com/muddpartnership

We recently blogged on “Form Following Function” & looked at
the, “Organisational Development Jigsaw.” We’ve asked, “Why aren’t
Organisational Development principles & practices being applied to their best
effect?” & we’ve also had conversations about, “Organisational Consulting” and
“Leading Change”.
Today though, in acknowledgement that Organisations might be described as
Complex Adaptive Systems, we want to take a closer look at an Organisational
Development tool which offers an effective and exciting way to work with this
complexity & rethink the way Organsiations make sense of the world and basic
interactions between individuals.
We are talking about Appreciative Inquiry and at The Mudd Partnership we find
this to be an extremely effective Change technique that is surprisingly straight
forward to apply & it is certainly something which every skilled OD Consultant, or
what Ed Nevis might call a “Skilled Intervenor”, should have in their Tool Box!
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Appreciative Inquiry is a Change technique that approaches the discipline from
a positive vantage point and is predicated on the belief that focusing on positive
events enregises and engages individuals. For any Change Intervention to be
successful & at whatever level, this is precisely what you want to see happening
as it will ultimately lead to more effective and enduring change: And although
Appreciative Inquiry is more often presented as an Organisational intervention, it
can also be extremely powerful when working with small groups and
teams, &, more recently it has increasingly been used by ourselves and others in
Leadership Development and in personal Coaching contexts.
Appreciative Inquiry (or AI) was developed by David Cooperrider and Suresh
Srivastva in the 1980’s and is also based on a belief that, “Organisations change
in the direction in which they Inquire”. So, for example, if an organization Inquires
into problems, it will keep finding problems and ultimately that experience is
debilitating and demoralizing and provides no guidance on how to grow an
Organisation out of this mindset and into the mindset of becoming a Super
Performing entity – But if that same Organisation attempts rather to appreciate
what is best in itself it will discover more that is excellent, which in turn it can use
to build the foundations for sustained & powerful change and success.
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AI at its’ core is a fundamentally different way of looking at things – Turning things
on their head, in fact. Cooperrider & Srivastva illustrated this subversion by
contrasting the view that, “Organising is a problem to be solved” with the
Appreciative Inquiry proposition that, “Organising is a miracle to be embraced”.
So, AI is the cooperative search for the best in people, their Organisation and the
world around them & this is very much part of the approach The Mudd
Partnership takes in its work with
Organisations, Businesses, Individuals, Teams, Executive Boards and complex
Multi-Agency Partnerships.
Organisational Development is about ensuring that the Organisation or
Businesses’ Whole System works in a balanced, coherent and optimal way. Also
at AI’s core is the systemic discovery of what fives a system life when it is most
effective and capable in economic, ecological and human terms, &, The Mudd
Partnership would very much see this as underpinning an individuals, a
Team, Board, Organisation or Businesses’ ability to be agile, resilient and Super
Perform!
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In contrast then to traditional Change Management strategies that focus on
systemic deficiencies, AI provides liberating, far-reaching and sustainable
change by focusing on liberating human energy and motivation.
Deficit-Based Change Strategies on the other hand place the emphasis on what
is not working, seeking to identify problems that need to be fixed and often
involve conducting a thorough analysis of key problems, together with isolating
the root causes, developing strategies to address the deficiency and then
executing the action plan.
A major problem with Deficit-Based approaches is though that they often fall far
short of their intended target because of their inherent tendency to be
backward looking and fixing the wrong things of the past. Little wonder then that
people have difficulty being energised or engaging when the focus is on fixing
things that haven’t worked, rather than building on and future proofing things
that have!
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In our next Blog we will be talking about Transformational Leadership &
Transformational Change and there is certainly some symmetry and shared
territory with AI. According to proponents of Appreciative Inquiry the very act of
discussing positive events is a transformative experience & by tapping into the
narrative of an Organisation that is functioning at its’ best, AI unleashes
information and commitment which combine to create a real energy for positive
change. It also stimulates thinking on how to grow an Organisation into a thriving
Super Performing entity.
In practice, because the execution of AI is always specific to the respective
organisation, there are few hard-&-fast rules; the most basic rule however is that
the process is keenly focused on positive events and experiences with the
ultimate goal being to make these experiences more conscious, deliberate and
prevalent. Whilst any Inquiry into organisational life should be structured to
include four key characteristics: Appreciation; Applicability; Provocation &
Collaboration!
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Richard Steel’s book, “Introduction To Appreciative Inquiry” offers a concise
insight to the theory and practice of AI, &, Gervase Bushe has also written some
useful stuff on using AI with teams. However, it is Diana Whitney and Amanda
Trotsen-Bloom who offer a four-step model for implementing AI in their book, “The
Power Of Appreciative Inquiry”.
So, what are these four-steps?
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1. Discovery Stage
Firstly there is the Discovery Stage: This is where the AI Champions meet both
individually & with a broad cross-section of employees; Semi-structured 1-2-1 (or
small group) interviews are used to gain insights into the, “Moments of
achievement, creativity, operational best practice, core competencies and
traditions/values” - The Artifacts and the Architecture we’ve talked about in our
previous Blog on Authentic Leadership and the power of narrative & story
telling, which are intrinsic to the culture of an Organisation and which can be
used to motivate and drive forward change; These interviews are used to isolate
and elaborate on the, “Best of what is” and get participants orientated to the
positive Organisational attributes that define their Organisation and provide the
Thematic Data (in common with Gestalt practice) to frame discussions in
downstream activities;
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2. Dream Stage
Next is the Dream Stage: Ed Nevis in his book, “Organisational Consulting: A
Gestalt Approach” argues that to be a skilled Organisational Development
Intervener, you need an ability to appreciate the importance of fantasy and
imagination, &, to be able to work with dreams and narrative; The Dream Stage
in the AI process involves getting participants together in large groups to share
their individual stories, but it is more than just a collective sharing of
achievements; This is an opportunity to envision possibilities that are big, bold and
beyond the boundaries of what has been in the past and the goal of this stage is
to crystallize all the stories into a bold, collective narrative of what participants
want for the future through their working relationships, organisational relationships
and relationships with the wider world;
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3. Design Stage
Third is the Design Stage: This is where the collection of stories, dreams, aspirations
and best practices are synthesized into succinct statements of what participants
want the Organisation to be as well as discussing what changes need to take
place to realize the desired future; & finally
4. Destiny Stage
The Destiny Stage: Which is where the actions identified during the Design Stage
are acted upon and participants work together to determine what needs to be
done to turn the dream into reality; The outcome of this stage should be to a set
of high-impact strategies that will help the organisation move towards its
envisioned future.
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The Mudd Partnership regards AI as a highly effective tool for acting as a
catalyst, enabling and supporting organsiational change. It is a technique that
liberates the hidden reservoir of positive energy in an organisation and shifts
thinking from the negative, limiting and deficit mindset.
It changes the nature of conversations and interactions which we believe are so
vital to achieving successful and enduring change, &, it strengthens social bonds
and expands the web of relationships people have both within their organisation
and beyond.
For more information and to have a conversation with us about The Mudd
Partnership’s work with Organisations, Businesses, Teams, Boards, Multi-Agency
Partnerships and Individuals Contact Us & let us make a compelling case for
working with you!
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Appreciative Inquiry - Why?

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