Appreciative Inquiry for Change Management

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APPRECIATIVE

INQUIRY

FOR CHANGEMANAGEMENT


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THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY

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London and Philadelphia

APPRECIATIVEINQUIRY

FOR CHANGEMANAGEMENTUsing AI to Facilitate

Organizational Development

Sarah Lewis, Jonathan Passmore, Stefan Cantore


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Publishers noteEvery possible effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in this

book is accurate at the time of going to press, and the publishers and authors cannotaccept responsibility for any errors or omissions, however caused. No responsibilityfor loss or damage occasioned to any person acting, or refraining from action, as aresult of the material in this publication can be accepted by the editor, the publisher orany of the authors.

First published in Great Britain and the United States in 2008 by Kogan Page Limited

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticismor review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, thispublication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means,with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographicreproduction in accordance with the terms and licences issued by the CLA. Enquiriesconcerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at theundermentioned addresses:

120 Pentonville Road 525 South 4th Street, #241London N1 9JN Philadelphia PA 19147United Kingdom USAwww.kogan-page.co.uk

Sarah Lewis, Jonathan Passmore and Stefan Cantore, 2008

The right of Sarah Lewis, Jonathan Passmore and Stefan Cantore to be identified asthe authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright,

Designs and Patents Act 1988.

ISBN 978 0 7494 5071 7

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Lewis, Sarah, 1957Appreciative inquiry for change management : using AI to facilitate organizational

development / Sarah Lewis, Jonathan Passmore, and Stefan Cantore.p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.ISBN 978-0-7494-5071-7

1. Organizational changeManagement. 2. Appreciative inquiry. 3.ManagementEmployee participation. 4. Organizational effectiveness.I. Passmore, Jonathan. II. Cantore, Stefan. III. Title.

HD58.8.L494 2007

658.4063dc222007032743

Typeset by JS Typesetting Ltd, Porthcawl, Mid GlamorganPrinted and bound in India by Replika Press Pvt Ltd


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Contents

About the authors x About the contributors xii Acknowledgements xv

Introduction 1

Part 1 Understanding conversational approaches to change 5

1 Organizations as machines, workers as cogs and

management as a control process 7 Introduction 7

Organization as a group social skill 8Taylorism and Scientific Management 9Belief in the power of problem solving to change organizations 12Belief in the power of naming problems to produce change 15Belief in the power of instruction to achieve change 16The belief that emotions are problematic 17Belief in the power of criticism and fear to motivate change 17Belief in the head and body organizational split 18Belief in the power of separating elements to enhance clarity

and so the ability to act efficiently 19Belief in a right answer to the problem of design 20Summary 21


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2 An alternative approach: organizations as living humansystems 22

Introduction 22

The organization as living 23Organizations as human 24Organizations as systems 24Belief in the power of appreciation to promote growth 25Belief in the power of inquiry 26The power of talk to change things 27The power of imagination to produce change 28The power of positive emotional energy to achieve change 29The belief that language is creative 30Belief in the place and power of stories in organizational life 31Summary 31

3 The development of conversational approaches toorganizational change 33

Where does the story begin? 33What is the history of Appreciative Inquiry? 34Why is Appreciative Inquiry becoming popular? 35

Postmodernism 36Appreciative Inquiry and the information revolution 40Appreciative Inquiry and globalization 40Appreciative Inquiry and the human search for hope 41Appreciative Inquiry meets a need for connection in

organizations 42Summary 43

4 Appreciative Inquiry: how do you do it? 44Introduction 44Preparing for change 45Define 48Discovery 49Dream 54Design 58Destiny 60Summary 62

Part 2 Advanced ideas and practice 635 The power of the question 65

Introduction 65

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Not locks and keys 65Looking at questions 67Summary 77

6 The power of conversation 79Introduction 79What is conversation? 79The power of conversation to transform 82The fear of conversation 84Understanding the fears and ambivalence towards

conversation 84Some issues for the conversational practitioner to consider 86The ambivalence of organizations towards conversation 86How can a conversational practitioner support powerful

conversations within organizations? 87The inner life of the conversational practitioner 91What will we as conversational practitioners bring to our

work with organizations? 93Summary 94

7 Extending practice: working with story in organizations 95Introduction 95The common ground with the conversation-based approach

to organizational change 96Using story 96Working with story 101Sense making: creating temporary moments of clarity in an

unclear world 112Summary 114

8 Developing your conversational practice 115

Introduction 115Common themes 116The World Caf 119Open Space 121Future Search 122The Circle 124

A real-life example of using conversational processes toachieve organizational rebirth 126

Bringing them all together 129Summary 130

Contents vii


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9 Becoming an appreciative conversational practitioner 131Introduction 131Purpose 132

Working spirit-fully 132Appreciative practice skills 138Summary 144

Part 3 Using conversational approaches in the organization 14510 How to introduce Appreciative Inquiry and related

approaches to your organization 147Introduction 147Guidance in getting started: commissioning conversations 148Moving to the 4D cycle: common blocks and how to

overcome them 155Summary 163

11 Case study: Using Appreciative Inquiry atBP CastrolMarine 165

David Gilmour and Anne Radford

Introduction 165The organization 166The organization challenge 166Selecting the approach 166Appreciative leadership 167Mix of AI and other methodologies 167Objectives for the change process 168Description 168Introduction of appreciative leadership: managers and

regional sales teams 169The Easy Business vision 170Outcomes 176Reflections and lessons learnt 179

12 Case study: Revitalizing corporate values in Nokia 183 Caryn Vanstone and Bruno Dalbiez

Introduction 183

The organization 183The organization challenge 184Selecting the approach 185Description of the project experience 186Outcomes so far 190

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Reflections and learning 192Summary 195

13 Case study: World Caf 196 Arian Ward, Paul E Borawski and Juanita Brown

Introduction 196The organization 196The organization challenge 197Selecting the approach 199Aims for the change 201Description 202Outcomes 206Reflections 207

14 Case study: Applying Appreciative Inquiry to deliverstrategic change:Orbseal Technology Center 210

Jacqueline M Stavros and Joe R Sprangel Jr Introduction 210

The organization 211The organization challenge 212

The role of decision making 213Selecting the approach (why AI and SOAR framework) 214Description of the project experience 217The outcomes 223Reflections and learning 224

Appendix: Resource list 227References 232Index 240

Contents ix


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About the authors

Sarah Lewis is a chartered occupational psychologist who specializesin individual and organizational change. After an early career in childprotection and management she established Jemstone Consultancy in1993. She is a regular conference presenter and has published occasionalarticles as well as herJemstone Tidbits newsletter. An associate fellow ofthe British Psychological Society and a founder member of the Associa-tion of Business Psychologists, she can be contacted at [email protected].

Jonathan Passmore is a chartered occupational psychologist, and is aFellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD). Heworks with OPM, a London-based consulting firm, and the Universityof East London. Jonathan has board-level experience as a chief executiveand company chairman and is a regular contributor to conferences andjournals, including the APA Consulting Psychology and the InternationalCoaching Psychological Review. He is the author of the popular guide tocoaching, Excellence in coaching, and has a second coaching book dueout in spring 2008: Psychometrics in Coaching. He can be contacted [email protected].


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Stefan Cantore held a number of senior posts before joining OPMas a consultant. He has worked in health and social care, as a chiefexecutive and Workforce Director. He now works with OPM in the

areas of leadership and management development with an interest inwhole systems change in public services using Appreciative Inquiryand World Caf. He can be contacted at [email protected].

About the authors xi


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About the contributors

Paul E Borawski is Executive Director of the American Society forQuality (ASQ) and is responsible for the operation of ASQ headquarterswith a staff of over 220 and a budget of over $46 million. As ASQs ChiefStrategic Officer, Paul leads their Living Strategy efforts and ensuresthe strategy is implemented, tracked, and kept responsive to changingenvironmental forces and member needs. Paul can be contacted [email protected].

Dr Juanita Brown is a co-founder of the World Caf. She collaborates

with senior leaders across sectors to create innovative forums forstrategic dialogue on critical business and societal issues. She is afellow of the World Business Academy, has served as a ResearchAffiliate with the Institute for the Future and is the co-author of TheWorld Caf: Shaping Our Futures Through Conversations that Matter, withDavid Isaacs and the World Caf Community. She can be contacted [email protected].

Bruno Dalbiez has worked as an internal Organization Developmentand Change consultant for over 25 years in multinational, multicultural,high-technology companies in Europe and the United States. He iscurrently a senior Organizational Development and Change consultantwith Nokia.


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David Gilmour leads a marine lubricant business in BP plc and has heldroles in sales and marketing. David became interested in AppreciativeInquiry in his role as the Strategy Director in the marine lubricants

business: it gave him a new way of leading based on strength, continuityand hope for the future. He can be contacted at [email protected].

Anne Radford guides consultants who want to more fully integratestrength-based approaches to change into their practice, and workswith business leaders who need to change their leadership style to morefully involve others in delivering results. She can be contacted at www.aradford.co.uk, [email protected]. She also publishes and is editor-in-chief of the online publication AI (Appreciative Inquiry) Practitioner,which is available at www.aipractitioner.com, [email protected].

Jacqueline M Stavros possesses 20 years of strategic planning, market-ing, international and organizational change experience. Jackie isan Associate Professor for the College of Management, LawrenceTechnological University, MI, USA, where she teaches and integrates

Appreciative Inquiry in her coursework: Leading OrganizationalChange, Strategic Management, Organization Development, andLeadership. She uses Appreciative Inquiry to work with individuals,teams, divisions, and organizations to build dynamic relationships andco-create and facilitate strategic change initiatives. She has co-authoredtwo books, several book chapters and articles. She can be contacted [email protected].

Joseph R Sprangel Jr is an Instructor of Operations Management forIthaca College, NY, USA. Joe previously taught courses as an adjunctprofessor for Lawrence Technological University and Spring ArborUniversity, teaching Operations Management, Leading OrganizationalChange, Organizational Development, Six Sigma for Managers, andStrategic Management. He has 28 years of industry experience in theareas of strategic planning, organizational development, leadership,and management in a variety of organizations. He is a student in theDoctorate of Business Administration programme at Lawrence Techno-

logical University. His research area of interest is the development ofa framework to move an organization from status quo to sustainabledevelopment. His MBA is from Spring Arbor University and BBAfrom Eastern Michigan University. Contact: +1 (607) 274 3940 [email protected].

About the contributors xiii


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Caryn Vanstone is a Business Director with Ashridge Consulting. Sheworks with UK and global companies and non-profits, and is Facultyon the Ashridge MSc in Organization Consulting. Caryn specializes in

complex projects of change focusing on issues such as culture, values,engagement and performance, using high-participation, inquiry-basedapproaches. She can be contacted at [email protected].

Arian Ward is CEO and principal coach/consultant for CommunityFrontiers in Boulder Creek, CA. Arian has been working with ASQsince 2002 on the evolution of their Living Strategy, as well as onthe organizational elements needed to support it, including ASQsculture, business and communication processes, body of knowledge,communities, and membership model. Arian is a co-creator and oneof the worlds most experienced facilitators of World Cafs. He can becontacted at [email protected].

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Acknowledgements

We would like to express our thanks to the many people who havecontributed to this book or made it possible. To the Kogan Page team,particularly Viki and Charlotte for their support in developing theproposal and in getting the book to print. To our case study authorsfor their energy and dedication in telling their stories and dealing withour challenge that we did not just want the sunny-side-up version,but the whole picture of change including the difficult bits. To ourfamilies and friends who have lost us for periods while we wrote,met and talked about ideas, content and process. To our wide range of

colleagues, especially those at the Office for Public Management (OPM)and Jemstone Consultancy, clients and friends who have helped in thedevelopment of our thinking and understanding of conversationalapproaches. We are particularly grateful to the Office for PublicManagement (OPM) and Jemstone Consultancy for their support andencouragement throughout this project.

In addition we would like to offer our appreciation to the facultyat Kensington Consultation Centre. Many of these ideas have beendeveloped from their tuition over the years and it has not alwaysproved possible to trace ideas back to their initial source, and so be ableto adequately acknowledge individual faculty members. We wouldparticularly like to mention Christine Oliver, who has been an inspiringcolleague and teacher. We would also like to thank Debbie Barleggs,


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David Lewis, Jordan Smith, Stewart Smith and Colin Brown for theirwillingness to comment on early drafts. The work is much improved asa result of their attention.

This book is dedicated to four special people who have influencedour lives and helped us in different ways:

To Charlie and May GreenTo Jenny Lewis for helping me believe I can.To Zoe Nicholson for her inspiration and encouragement.

xvi Acknowledgements

Documents

Appreciative Inquiry for Change Management