An introduction to Appreciative Inquiry

1. An introduction to Appreciative Inquiry Sarah Lewis

2. Content • What Appreciative Inquiry is and isn’t • The organisational metaphor of Appreciative Inquiry • Appreciative inquiry interviewing • Dreaming the future • The effect of positive affect • Uses of appreciative interviewing • The 4D model • Implications for leaders and managers ++44 (0)20 8293 0017 sarahlewis@jemstoneconsultancy.co.uk

3. What is Appreciative Inquiry? • An approach to achieving change in organisations • A specific methodology: 4D • A flexible and versatile process • An alternative to the standard approach to organisational problem solving and development ++44 (0)20 8293 0017 sarahlewis@jemstoneconsultancy.co.uk

4. What is it not? • Not scientific • Not an N-step recipe for success • Not a mechanical process ++44 (0)20 8293 0017 sarahlewis@jemstoneconsultancy.co.uk

5. Scientific perspective Objectivist: There is an objective universe more or less separate from and independent of the observer Positivist: Privileges the physically observable Reductionist: Reduce higher order phenomena to elements (the parts) Fixed accounts Appreciative Inquiry perspective Constructionist: The universe is socially constructed. We can never see the world ‘as it really is’ Holistic: Rejects dualistic understandings, gives credence to mental causality, social dynamics Connective: Interested in the connections between elements and complex patterns (the sum) Generative accounts Contrast to Scientific Mode ++44 (0)20 8293 0017 sarahlewis@jemstoneconsultancy.co.uk

6. How is it different? ++44 (0)20 8293 0017 sarahlewis@jemstoneconsultancy.co.uk

7. Problem solving Identification of the problem Analysis of causes Analysis of possible solutions Action planning (treatment) Basic assumption: organisation is a problem to be solved Appreciative inquiry Appreciating the best of what is Imagining what might be Discussing what should be Innovating what will be Basic assumption: organisation is a mystery to be embraced. Appreciative Inquiry & Problem Solving ++44 (0)20 8293 0017 sarahlewis@jemstoneconsultancy.co.uk

8. The organisational metaphor: the organisation as a living human system ++44 (0)20 8293 0017 sarahlewis@jemstoneconsultancy.co.uk

9. The appreciative interview In pairs • Each - identify a specific event or episode when you feel you really made a difference, when you were working at your best. • Interview each other to re-create that experience: What? How? Who else? Where? Tell me more. Feelings, talk, noticing, How did it make a difference? And so on - rich experience. Description not explanation • When have both had your turn - reflections - what do you notice about the experience you have just had? How did you feel in both roles? What effect did it have for you reconnecting with a positive experience? ++44 (0)20 8293 0017 sarahlewis@jemstoneconsultancy.co.uk

10. Assumptions of appreciative inquiry • In every society, organisation or group, something works • What we focus on becomes our reality • Reality is created in the moment and there are multiple realities • The act of asking a question influences in some way • People have more confidence and comfort to journey to the future when they carry forward parts of the past ++44 (0)20 8293 0017 sarahlewis@jemstoneconsultancy.co.uk

11. Assumptions of appreciative inquiry • If we carry parts of the past forward, they should be what is best about the past • It is important to value difference • The language we use creates our reality (Hammond 1996) ++44 (0)20 8293 0017 sarahlewis@jemstoneconsultancy.co.uk

12. A dreaming experience In pairs • Interview each other about ‘How things could be?’ • Essentially you are asking ‘How would your life/world/organisation/team be if more of the good things we’ve been talking about were happening more of the time?’ • Imagine you are a journalist doing a ‘Day in the life of” interview • You are working to build a really rich picture of this imaginary future. You are seeking description • Usually about 2 years on seems to work, so start by setting the time ‘ So it’s the 19th of Jan 2009….’ ++44 (0)20 8293 0017 sarahlewis@jemstoneconsultancy.co.uk

13. Effect of positive affect on living human systems • Long-term: correlated with many desirable outcomes: longevity, health, life satisfaction • Short-term: Fredrickson Broaden and build theory • More playful, exploratory, integrative • Preference for variety • Access to a bigger range of behaviour • More able intellectually to deal with complexity and diversity • Can cope better with chronic stress ++44 (0)20 8293 0017 sarahlewis@jemstoneconsultancy.co.uk

14. Ways to use AI interviews • To create positive affect • To access resource - increase group resourcefulness • To discover differences that make a difference • To boost confidence (naming of abilities) • To change the world ++44 (0)20 8293 0017 sarahlewis@jemstoneconsultancy.co.uk

15. Appreciative Inquiry Discover and Value ‘the best of what is’ Affirmative Topic Choice Destiny ‘What will be’ Dreaming ‘What might be’ Design through Dialogue ‘What should be’ ++44 (0)20 8293 0017 sarahlewis@jemstoneconsultancy.co.uk

16. Implications for managers & leaders • Organisations are networks of conversation in which accounts are created • More than one account can exist: Accounts are resources • The main task of management and leadership is working with accounts creating possibilities for change • The ‘tools’ for change are talk, belief, accounts, imagination, relationships and emotions • Positive affect positively affects organisational possibilities ++44 (0)20 8293 0017 sarahlewis@jemstoneconsultancy.co.uk

17. Thank you Sarah Lewis