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Appreciative Inquiry Introductionhttp://learnthis.ca/2009/06/appreciative-inquiry-introduction/

I mentioned a course I was in a previous article aboutstrategythat I learned some new things at. ell that

course was !or strategic planning but the !ocus o! it was doing so with the system o! appreciative inquiry. I!ound this method to be a valuable way o! enabling change and questioning using tools and methods that

were highly engaging and potentially" relationship builders. #hat speci!ically interested me and so I$m

determined now to learn more about it" utili%e it and activate change around me as a result.

What is Appreciative Inquiry

&ppreciative Inquiry is a method or system o! discovery !or see'ing out the positive aspects that !eed (li!e)

into a living system. Its about !inding the strengths" a!!irming the best" encouraging by highlighting positive

potential and ultimately it strengthens a systems capacity i! you loo' at the appreciative portion. #heinquiry component is then about the discovery process" the questions" the methods and the art o! e*ploring

these positive elements o! a living system. #his system di!!ers !rom traditional problem solving by loo'ing

at the positive core o! actions and plans" instead o! analy%ing the problem" what went wrong and how to !i*

a negative issue. #his generates more and more negative attention" unli'e how appreciate inquiry wor's to

bring out only the best in things.

5-D Cycle

#he process o! appreciative inquiry is one o! + items in a cycle. #hese items are not ordered steps and don$t

always run sequentially. Its more typical that during an inquiry you ,ump bac' and !orth between steps and

come bac' to repeat steps and even the whole cycle as you progress. It$s much easier to understand i! you

'now what each step is as outlined below.http://www.clergyleadership.com/clergy/ai.html

Define

et the scope or topics !or which an appreciative

inquiry will be held. #his is done to manage an area

o! a change agenda or a strategic area to !ocus on. #his

stage is not always neccessary as you could run an openended appreciative inquiry session with no topics pre-

de!ined in order to !ind them. I! you do de!ine ahead o!

time it is to help !ocus or 'eep the topics within some

conte*t or range.

Discover

#his stage is done with a number o! tools" one o! which isthrough paired interviews more on that below and story based questioning with an intent to discover what

ma'es up the positive core o! a company. #he value and core !actors are o!ten drawn out through interview

questions or summary o! stories and topics told about the positive e*periences and best practices. uestions

about individuals values" nature and reasons !or staying or doing the ,ob they do draw out and help onediscover the elements that !orm the positive core.

#his stage is e*cellent on drawing on what is right or good in an organi%ation or situation.

http://learnthis.ca/2009/06/appreciative-inquiry-introduction/http://learnthis.ca/2009/05/creating-a-great-strategy/http://learnthis.ca/2009/05/creating-a-great-strategy/http://www.clergyleadership.com/clergy/ai.htmlhttp://learnthis.ca/2009/06/appreciative-inquiry-introduction/http://learnthis.ca/2009/05/creating-a-great-strategy/http://www.clergyleadership.com/clergy/ai.html

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Dream

#he dream phase is where you remove the barriers" and loo' to e*pand the imagination into a world o!

what things could be and what you wish it to be i! there was no limits. #he dreams that are e*plored

through this process ought to !ocus on what the best image or visuali%ation could be li'e in the !uture i!things were everything you wanted them to be.

Design

#his phase uses the results o! the !irst 1 s to identi!y the things that should occur. It is the start o! building

in areas that are needed to support the !urther out dreams and aspirations. #he design is all the elements that

are used to !orm a bridge across the e*panse that otherwise lies as a barrier to results. #his design is

something that allows the positive core to emerge stronger and in more areas o! li!e.

Deliver

eliver is the process or system in place that e*ecutes whatever is needed to build the design and ultimately

achieve the dreams that are desired. #he deliver stage involves the action plans" teams and systems but it isin !act" the act o! actually engaging those areas to ma'e progress based on the design.

Next teps

&s I mentioned above" I have much more to learn about this system o! appreciative inquiry and it highly

interests me. I will e*plore a !ew more o! the tools and methods in my ne*t article that I$ve utili%ed now !orappreciative inquiry. I have much to learn o! this speci!ic process and would love to hear any !eedbac' and

recommendations i! you have any on the sub,ect. It relates greatly to personal development in the sense o!loo'ing to improve and drive change and so I thin' it is a valuable system to learn !or anyone here at

3earn#his.ca.

Appreciative Inquiry !ools and "ethods

In my last article I introduced appreciative inquiryand some bac'ground !or the methods and why it is

use!ul. #his article I share some o! the tools and methods that can help you per!orce or apply appreciative

inquiry in areas o! your li!e.ince I have really only loo'ed at how appreciative inquiry is used !or strategic planning and thin'ing" that

is what I am going to angle the methods !or this article as well" but 'eep in mind these could easily be

ad,usted !or other purposes. o" again the method is to discover what ma'es an organi%ation (alive) in thesense o! its li!e blood or vitality4 hat ma'es it tic' and be at its best4 #hen to ta'e that discover and use

the learned e*periences by imagining a !uture and then designing the processes and structures that will

enable it to become the !uture reality.

Creating and #ocusing on $ositive %oals

&ll too o!ten we position a situation based on what cannot be done or we hear someone say what can$t be

done. & great tip to respond in a meaning!ul inquiring way instead o! simply" (hy 5ot4) is to as'" (hat

would you need in order to respond on this way and what would it ta'e to enable that i! you had to4) #hispositions the question to loo' more at what is possible instead o! what is not. ocusing on the problems and

limitations ,ust puts borders in place that ma'es it harder and harder to achieve what you do desire. #a'e

the resources !rom the past to build on your strengths.

Affirmative !opics&s with !ocusing on positive goals" i! you spend time loo'ing to resolve problems by tal'ing about the

problems" little !ocus is actually spent building !rom e*periences o! great e*periences. ith appreciativeinquiry" you can ta'e any topic and change the wording to ma'e it a more positive !or what you want"

instead o! a topic based on things you don$t want. &rswino wrote a recent guest article here on setting a

new mind patternwhich !ollows the same approach o! setting and wording topics to be that o! which you

do want more o!" not the things you don$t want.

http://learnthis.ca/http://learnthis.ca/http://learnthis.ca/2009/06/appreciative-inquiry-introduction/http://learnthis.ca/2009/06/appreciative-inquiry-introduction/http://learnthis.ca/2009/06/how-to-choose-your-new-mind-pattern/http://learnthis.ca/2009/06/how-to-choose-your-new-mind-pattern/http://learnthis.ca/http://learnthis.ca/2009/06/appreciative-inquiry-introduction/http://learnthis.ca/2009/06/how-to-choose-your-new-mind-pattern/http://learnthis.ca/2009/06/how-to-choose-your-new-mind-pattern/

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$aired Intervie&s

#his inquiry tool is a great way to discover more about the strengths" aspirations and dreams o! another

person. 7aired interviews with a set o! questions that wor' well with the 8& stengths" opportunities"aspirations and results !ramewor' as a !ocus will help you to discover more about the core !actors" values

and strengths o! a person or organi%ation. uring an interview" !ocus on basing the questions on the best

past e*periences and dreams or hopes o! a person and stay !ocused on the questions and as being an active

listener. #here are many e*amples o! questions to use !or interviews some o! the ones I$ve used !or pairedsessions are listed below:

e$ve all had times o! nostalgia and thought bac' about past e*periences and howgreat they were. #hin' o! the best moments or time!rames in your career not only

at &I when you were having the time o! your li!e" your high point in your

pro!essional li!e or your most rewarding pea' points. ecall that time and tell the

story o! the situation4 hat made the e*perience e*ceptional to you4

ithout being modest" what is it you value most or are most proud o! about

yoursel! in your career4 hat do you most value in the nature o! your wor'4hat about in the organi%ation4

hat is strong in the organi%ation that enables people and the organi%ation tooperate at its very best4 ithout those !actors" the organi%ation would cease to

e*ist or at least be very di!!erent than it is today.

escribe an e*ceptional customer e*perience you have been part o!4 hat made

it e*ceptional4escribe an e*ceptional customer e*perience you have been part

o!4 hat made it e*ceptional4

ast !orward !ive years into the !uture. #hin' o! the organi%ation now how you

would li'e to see it. ;verything the organi%ation and you have strived !or has

become a reality and the core strengths and values have been preserved. #he

organi%ation is thriving.

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Application of Appreciative Inquiry

8ne o! the great things o! &I is that it can be applied in many di!!erent ways. It can be used in in!ormal

ground up methods o! inquiry right through to structured !ull on organi%ational change driving systemswith pro,ects and cycles o! each phase. 8s course not only systems can bene!it !rom using appreciative

inquiry" but many areas in li!e. It can be used in e*plore the a new purpose" discover what e*periences and

practices ma'e up the best" most vibrant systems. &s well" it can be applied !or setting new vibrant goals

that have !ocus on both the positive results desires as well as having room !or imagined dreams andaspirations.

&ppreciative inquiry is also a use!ul method to building closer relationships through the stories and

understanding it drives out. It emphasi%es learning and change with a strong positive core. &nd !inally" &I

is also very help!ul !or coaching others" as it enables the relationship to be strengthened and helps to changethings in the present in such a way that one$s dreams and hopes are more li'ely to become reality.