7/30/2019 World Vision Case Study
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Appreciati ve Inqu iry Case Study
It's been incredibly powerful to include thousands ofpeople in
the process. Not only did we develop morerobust strategies, we
saved time and money and createda new model for participation and
collaboration.
Watt Santatiwat , Vice Pres ident
In early 2004, World Vision embarked on a strategicplanning
process to identify goals and priorities forguiding the
organization into the future. With over20,000 employees and offices
in 100 countries, WorldVision is one of the worlds largest
non-profitorganizations and is the worlds largest distributor
offood, feeding over seven million people in 2003.
A seminal component of World Visions planningprocess occurred in
J une 2004, when 150 of theorganizations leaders, donors, and
partners met inBangkok for an Appreciative Inquiry (AI)
Summit.World Vision went beyond simply involving its topleaders in
the process it engaged 4000 employeesand stakeholders in a
groundbreaking and highlysuccessful virtual summit process.
Before the Bangkok summit began, employees andother stakeholders
were asked to participate in face-to-face meetings at country and
regional levels toexplore this theme: What gives life to World
Visionwhen it is at its best? Both individuals and groupssummarized
their stories and insights and then loggedinto an online community
designed to capture andshare best practices among the globally
dispersedorganization. Over 4000 people from 60
countriescontributed to this important pre-work by
participating in a month-long cycle of face-to-face andonline
dialogue and collaboration.
When the summit began in Bangkok, virtualparticipation
continued, with the online community
serving as a link through which the entire organizationcould
participate in the summit process. Highlightsfrom the Bangkok
meeting were summarized andposted to the online community.
Overnight, the rest ofthe organizations members around the world
read,discussed, and voted on issues and ideas thatemerged from the
face-to-face summit. Their inputwas summarized and integrated into
the Bangkokmeeting the next day.
For World Vision, engaging the broader organization
in a shared experience resulted in higher quality goalsand
plans, the rapid alignment of stakeholders aroundthe world, and
enhanced organizational readiness forimplementation. World Visions
approach illustratesthe power of inviting the whole system to
participatein a summit, and how virtual and face-to-face
AIprocesses can weave together an entire system,tapping collective
wisdom in the spirit of positivechange.
For More InformationTo learn more about OvationNet, including
introductory
AI workshops by David Cooperrider, AI onl ine learn ingmodules,
the AI Toolki t for Virtual Summits and theOvationNet Web Portal,
contact:
Soren Kaplan, [email protected]
OvationNet is powered by
This project was delivered in partnership with Ron Fry and his
team from Case Western Reserve University
