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    Appreciative Inquiry - An Overview

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    Dr. Sarah Elaine Eaton
    This document provides an overview of Appreciative Inquiry (AI), an asset-based approach used in business, academia, and non-profits. The main pioneer of AI is David Cooperrider. Unlike traditional deficiency models that focus on problems, AI focuses on what is working well by asking questions like "What's good?" and "What's working?". AI seeks to uncover an organization's strengths through employee interviews and then build on these assets. While unfamiliar at first, AI shifts thinking from deficiencies to strengths, which can benefit polarized organizations.

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    Appreciative Inquiry - An Overview

    Uploaded by

    Dr. Sarah Elaine Eaton
    9K views2 pages
    This document provides an overview of Appreciative Inquiry (AI), an asset-based approach used in business, academia, and non-profits. The main pioneer of AI is David Cooperrider. Unlike traditional deficiency models that focus on problems, AI focuses on what is working well by asking questions like "What's good?" and "What's working?". AI seeks to uncover an organization's strengths through employee interviews and then build on these assets. While unfamiliar at first, AI shifts thinking from deficiencies to strengths, which can benefit polarized organizations.

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    A 2-page overview of Appreciative Inquiry, complete with references.

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    This document provides an overview of Appreciative Inquiry (AI), an asset-based approach used in business, academia, and non-profits. The main pioneer of AI is David Cooperrider. Unlike traditional deficiency models that focus on problems, AI focuses on what is working well by asking questions like "What's good?" and "What's working?". AI seeks to uncover an organization's strengths through employee interviews and then build on these assets. While unfamiliar at first, AI shifts thinking from deficiencies to strengths, which can benefit polarized organizations.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf
    9K views2 pages

    Appreciative Inquiry - An Overview

    Uploaded by

    Dr. Sarah Elaine Eaton
    This document provides an overview of Appreciative Inquiry (AI), an asset-based approach used in business, academia, and non-profits. The main pioneer of AI is David Cooperrider. Unlike traditional deficiency models that focus on problems, AI focuses on what is working well by asking questions like "What's good?" and "What's working?". AI seeks to uncover an organization's strengths through employee interviews and then build on these assets. While unfamiliar at first, AI shifts thinking from deficiencies to strengths, which can benefit polarized organizations.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    Appreciative Inquiry: An overview

    Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D

    APA citation information:


    Eaton, S. E. (2010). Appreciative Inquiry: An overview. Eaton International Consulting Inc. Retrieved from
    www.eatonintl.com

    Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is an approach used in academia, business and the not-for-profit
    sectors. The main pioneer of AI is widely recognized to be David Cooperrider.

    Traditional methods of assessing and evaluating a situation and then proposing solutions are
    based on a deficiency model. Traditional methods ask questions such as “What are the
    problems?”, “What’s wrong?” or “What needs to be fixed?” Sometimes such questions are
    sugar-coated in trendy jargon. Instead of asking “What’s the problem?”, which can seem a
    little harsh, the question may be couched in terms of ‘challenges’: “What are the
    challenges?” Regardless of whether the question is asked harshly or softened with less
    antagonistic language, the model remains as one of deficiency. The thinking behind the
    questions assumes that there is something wrong, that something needs to be ‘fixed’ or
    ‘solved’. Business people (especially consultants) like to say they ‘can provide solutions’. The
    underlying belief is that there is something wrong and it needs to be fixed.

    Appreciative Inquiry flips all that on its head. It is an asset-based approach. It starts with the
    belief that every organization, and every person in that organization, has something good
    about it. Each person has something valuable to contribute and the organization itself has
    merit of some kind. It asks questions like “What’s working?”, “What’s good about what you
    are currently doing?”

    AI seeks to uncover the best of what an organization is currently doing, using interviews with
    its members. The interviews challenge participants to examine and discuss what is good about
    their current situation and explore what works well within the organization. This approach
    then utilizes the data collected from those interviews to construct a plan for enriching the
    Appreciative Inquiry - An overview 2
    ____________________________________________________________________________________

    organization by building on what is already working and what is already considered to be


    successful.

    An initial reaction for some people is to balk when they hear questions like “What’s working?”
    An retaliatory answer may follow of “Nothing is working! It’s all a mess!”. People are so used
    to working within a deficiency framework, that it is almost like the brain can not process
    questions that are rooted in an asset-based approach. It may take some time for people to
    come up with an answer to questions based on an AI approach. This is because AI challenges
    us to shift our paradigm from deficiency thinking to asset thinking. Changing paradigms takes
    some time, but the results can be worth it.

    Appreciative inquiry can be particularly useful in organizations where individuals or group of


    people are polarized over major issues. Rather than exacerbating the polarization between or
    among the parties, it assumes that a core of positive traits exist which can be highlighted and
    expanded up on to create even more success in an organization.

    Bibliography

    Cooperrider, D. L. (2007). Business as an agent of world benefit: Awe is what moves us


    forward. Retrieved February 21, 2008, from http://appreciativeinquiry.case.edu/
    practice/executiveDetail.cfm?coid=10419
    Cooperrider, D. L., & Whitney, D. (2008). A positive revolution in change: Appreciative inquiry.
    Retrieved March 27, 2008, 2008, from http://appreciativeinquiry.case.edu/uploads/
    whatisai.pdf
    Cooperrider, D. L., Whitney, D., & Stavros, J. M. (2003). Appreciative inquiry handbook.
    Bedford Heights, OH: Lakeshore Publishers.
    Eliot, C. (1999). Locating the Energy for Change: An Introduction to Appreciative Inquiry.
    Winnipeg: International Institute for Sustainable Development / Insitut International
    du Developpment Durable.
    Faure, M. (2006). Problem solving was never this easy: Transformational change through
    appreciative inquiry. Performance Improvement, 45(9), 22-31.
    Murrell, K., L. (1999). International and intellectual roots of appreciative inquiry.
    Organization Development Journal, 17(3), 49-61.

    ___________________________________________________________________________________________________
    Eaton International Consulting 2010

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