Appreciative Inquiry

Marcelle SmithNovember 6, 2004

What is Appreciative Inquiry (AI)?

• 4-D Cycle• Tradition (deficit-based) training versus

Appreciative Inquiry (asset-based) training• Principles of AI• Change Theories Embedded in AI• Assumptions of AI

Design

Destiny

Appreciative Inquiry

4-D Cycle Discovery

DreamAffirmative Topic Choice

Design

Destiny

What gives life?

Appreciating

What might be?

Envisioning Results

What should be the ideal?

Co-constructing

How to empower/ learn/adjust?

Sustaining

Appreciative Inquiry

versus

Six Sigma

What is Six Sigma?

• The central idea behind Six Sigma is that if you

can measure how many “defects” you have in a

process, you can systematically figure out how

to eliminate them and get as close to “zero

defects” as possible.General Electric

http://www.ge.com/commitment/quality/whatis.htm

Six Sigma Business Strategy The Goal: Become a corporation that produces

goods and provide services with six sigma capabilities. Increase customer satisfaction. Reduce production and development costs . Eliminate defects. Minimize cycle times. Minimize inventories. Increase profit margin.

The Methodology: Use proven tools in a structureddata-driven manner to attack sources of COPQ (Cost Of Poor Quality).

Six Sigma Process of Kennecott Copper Corp.

• Define scope• Define deliverables• Activate Project Center• Plan team structure

Define

Analyze• Prioritize / Analyze possible X’s• Identify critical X’s (root cause)• Execute project plan

Improve• Optimize settings for critical X’s• Define best practices• Develop plan to implement

improvements• Execute project plan

• Baseline capabilities• Verify measurements• Initiate root – cause

analysis (ID possible X’s)

• Develop project plan

Measure

Control• Implement improvements• Provide CONTROL & RESPONSE Plans• Document changes• Verify sustained results

Deficit-based thinking Appreciative Inquiry (The Quest)

Problems Possibilities“The glass is half empty” “The glass is half full”Problem-driven Vision-ledMoney MeaningScarcity of resources Abundance of resourcesCritical thinking Generative thinkingResistance EnergyIncremental advances Unprecedented breakthroughsToken promises Full-of-meaning commitmentsUsing others Collaborating with othersTransactions RelationsProfessionally-directed Self-directedTaught—as admonitions Learned—by example

Presented by: Philanthropic Quest Internationalhttp://www.appreciative-inquiry.org/AI-Chart.htm

Five Principles of Appreciative Inquiry

• Principle of Constructionism

• Principle of Simultaneity

• Poetic Principle

• Anticipatory Principle

• Positive Principle

Five Change Theories Embedded in Appreciative Inquiry

• Socially Constructing Reality

• Heliotropic Hypothesis

• Organization’s Inner Dialogue

• Resolving Paradoxical Dilemmas

• Appreciative Process

Neuro-Logical Levels

Easier to change

More difficult to change

Spiritual

Identity

Beliefs/Values

Capability

Behavior

Environment

Appreciative Inquiry Assumptions

• Whatever you want more of, already exists in all organizations.

• In every society, organization or group, something works.

• What we focus on becomes our reality.

Appreciative Inquiry Assumptions

• Reality is created in the moment and there are multiple realities.

• The act of asking questions of an organization or group influences the group in some way.

• If we carry parts of the past forward, they should be what is best about the past.

Appreciative Inquiry Assumptions

• People have more confidence and comfort to journey to the future (the unknown) when they carry forward parts of the past (the known).

• It is important to value differences.

• The language we use creates our reality.

Continued

Appreciative Inquiry

“The power of positive suggestion plants a

seed which redirects the mind—and

through the mind, the body—toward a

positive goal.”

Asjaffe and Bresler