Appreciative Inquiry is a strengths-based approach to organizational change that focuses on what's working well rather than problems. It involves four phases - Discovery, Dream, Design, and Destiny - to help organizations envision a positive future and strategize how to achieve it. The approach is based on principles like constructing reality through positive language, enacting change through modeling the desired future state, and leveraging strengths to inspire action.

1. Appreciative Inquiry

2. Definition Appreciative Inquiry
 strengths-based, positive approach to leadership
development and organizational change.
 can be used by individuals, teams, organizations, or
at the societal level.
 helps people move toward a shared vision for the
future by engaging others in strategic innovation.
 developed in the early 1990’s by David Cooperrider
and Suresh Srivastva.

3. Differences from Other Model
 AI distinguishes itself from other organizational visioning and
change models by focusing on the best of what is and using
this as a platform to build future directions.
 While many traditional methods begin by focusing on pitfalls
and problems, Appreciative Inquiry asks people to explore
strengths and successes that already exist, both internally and
externally.
 This positive approach leads to extraordinary performance by
reinforcing relationships and culture, creating common vision
and direction, promoting learning and innovation, and
energizing collective action.

4. Principles of Appreciative Inquiry
 The Constructionist Principle:
- Also known as Words Create Worlds
-Reality, as we know it, is a subjective vs. objective state and is
socially created through language and conversations.
 The Simultaneity Principle:
-Also known as Inquiry Creates Change
-Inquiry is an intervention. The moment we ask a question, we
begin to create a change. “The questions we ask are fateful.”

5.  The Poetic Principle:
-We Can Choose What We Study
-Teams and organizations, like open books, are endless
of study and learning. What we choose to study makes a
difference. It describes – even creates – the world as we know
it.
 The Anticipatory Principle:
-Image Inspires Action
Human systems move in the direction of their images of the
future. The more positive and hopeful the image of the future,
the more positive the present-day action.

6. The Positive Principle:
-Positive Questions Lead to Positive Change
Momentum for [small or] large-scale change
requires large amounts of positive affect and
social bonding. This momentum is best
generated through positive questions that
amplify the positive core.

7. Emergent Appreciative Inquiry
Principles
 The Wholeness Principle:
-Wholeness Brings Out the Best
-Wholeness brings out the best in people and organizations. Bringing all stakeholders
together in large group forums stimulates creativity and builds collective capacity.
 The Enactment Principle:
-Acting ‘As If” is Self-Fulfilling
To really make a change, we must “be the change we want to see.” Positive change
occurs when the process used to create the change is a living model of the ideal future.

8.  The Free Choice Principle:
-Free Choice Liberates Power
-People perform better and are more committed when they have
the freedom to choose how and what they contribute. Free choice
stimulates organizational excellence and positive change.
 The Narrative Principle:
-Stories are Transformative
-We construct stories about our lives (personal and professional)
and live into them.
 The Awareness Principle:
-Be Conscious of Underlying Assumptions.
-Understanding and being aware of our underlying assumptions
are important to developing and cultivating good relationships.
Practicing cycles of action and reflection can build one’s self-
awareness.

9. Components of an Appreciative
Inquiry Process
 Discovery: participants explore “the best of what is,” identifying the
organization’s strengths, best practices, and sources of excellence, vitality,
and peak performance.
 Dream: participants envision a future they really want – a future where the
organization is fully engaged and successful around its core purpose and
strategic objectives.
 Design: participants leverage the best of what is and their visions for the
future to design high-impact strategies that move the organization creatively
and decisively in the right direction.
 Destiny (sometimes also called Deploy): participants put the strategies
into action, revising as necessary.

11. Example of Appreciative Inquiry
Process
Imagine you’re a manufacturing company that
wants to develop your capacity for innovation in order
to expand research and development, and earn more
market share. In this example, your strategic focus
(also called the affirmative topic) would be improving
innovation.

12.  In the Discovery phase, you’d find examples of
when your company has been at its best around
innovation, and then identify the common factors
in these stories.
 Next, in the Dream phase, you’d invest time in
thinking about what a truly innovative
organization would look like: How would leaders,
resources, behaviors, the physical space,
organizational processes, etc., change? You’d
work to create a vision of the future that is
invigorating and inspiring, something you truly
want.

13.  Once your vision for the future is clear, the next
phase will ask you to Design the future. What
steps are needed today, to reach that vision? In
the design phase, you get as strategic and tactical
as possible, creating models and prototypes of
different elements of your future, mapping steps,
identifying required resources, and engaging the
support of others.
 Finally, in the Destiny phase your team will work
to implement your design, to make the vision a
reality.

14. References:
 https://cvdl.ben.edu/blog/what-is-appreciative-inquiry/
 https://www.centerforappreciativeinquiry.net/more-on-ai/principles-of-
appreciative-inquiry/