More on AI

[Martin Leith]

Cora,

Just found this document on my PC.

Martin



http://www.aradford.co.uk/ai.htm

APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY
This section gives some information on:
* the background to the development of AI
* set of assumptions in working with AI
* the 4D cycle of Appreciative Inquiry
* examples.


Background:
In the mid-eighties, Dr. David Cooperrider, Suresh Srivastva and their
colleagues at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, USA challenged the
traditional problem solving approach to change management. They introduced
the term Appreciative Inquiry and began to look at organizations as
expressions of beauty and spirit.


Set of assumptions:
Appreciative Inquiry works from a set of assumptions. These are:
1. In every society, organisation or group, something works.
2. What we focus on becomes our reality.
3. Reality is created in the moment, and there are multiple realities.
4. The act of asking questions of an organisation, or group influences the
group in some way.
5. People have more confidence to journey to the future (the unknown) when
they carry forward parts of the past (the known).
6. If we carry forwward parts of the past, they should be what is best about
the past.
7. It is important to value differences.
8. The language we use creates our reality.
>From The Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry by Sue Annis Hammond.

While these may seem obvious, we know from our own experience that we can
look at what isn't working and start problem solving.

Those of us who are facilitators and consultants know how important it is to
ask the right questions when we are working with groups of people or
individuals.

If we focus on difficulties in the past, people become self defeating and
feel that life is hopefess.

When we ask them about their successes, they become enthusiastic and start
to hope again.


Appreciative Inquiry '4-D' Cycle
Discovery: The Appreciative Inquiry approach to personal or organisational
change is to begin by looking for what is working-APPRECIATING the best of
our experience.
Dream: This is to consider what might be-ENVISIONING RESULTS
Design: What should be the ideal?-CO-CONSTRUCTING
Destiny: How to empower, learn and adjust or improvise? SUSTAINING

The tangible result of the inquiry process is a series of statements that
describe where the person or organisation wants to be, based on the high
moments of where they have been. Because these statements are grounded in
real experience and history, people know how to repeat their success.

Examples where Appreciative Inquiry has been used
Appreciative inquiry has been used as the way of helping people develop
their preferred future in companies, governments, and organizations in
Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North and South America.

It has been combined with large scale interventions such as Open Space
Technology and Future Search to great effect in world wide projects such as
United Religions (a look at the possibility of having a United Nations type
organzation for religions of the world.)

In-house people and consultants are using Appreciative Inquiry to address
organizational issues such as internal communication and leadership issues,
and individual or group effectiveness issues.

Examples include:
Increasing effectiveness of managers dealing with a new role and wider
responsibilities through 1:1 and group coaching. (financial services, and
local government sector)
Increasing the effectiveness of a department team. (Social Services
department)
Increasing the level of communication between trustees of varying experience
on the board. (Housing association)
Ai is also being used in areas like mediation in the voluntary sector,
international conflict resolution situations, City-wide activities like
Imagine Chicago, and community activities like Imagine Waterloo.

The purpose is to reconnect with the life giving forces-what is working-and
then go beyond that to what could be.

(via Tim Pearson)

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