Appreciative Inquiry
Instead of looking for problems, what happens when you focus on what is working?
Generally as problem solvers we are obsessed with finding what is not working and fixing it. It is in our nature to focus more on fixing the negatives (loss aversion) than doubling down on the positives. Much of the 10x Curiosity blog is dedicated to tools and systems to improve your problem solving skills. Continuing the theme of generally doing the opposite of normal protocol (see recent post on brainstorming the worst possible ideas), why don’t we instead focus on what IS working in an organisation and focus on doing more of that? This is exactly the idea behind Appreciative Inquiry, a concept developed by David Cooper Rider.
Similar to another great concept bright spot analysis, Appreciative Inquiry provides a much more positive frame of investigation. The success of this approach comes by using the knowledge of the people in an organisation to highlight what is working. And because these solutions have already been demonstrated to be a success in the existing workplace, the inertia of change is much lower as the social proof that the idea can work already exists within the peer group.
In her book summary The Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry — Sue Annis Hammond provides a great summary of the concept with many examples.
Appreciative inquiry has 5 steps:
- Definition
- Discovery
- Dream
- Design
- Delivery
Definition and Discovery — Appreciate “What is”
Typically you would conduct an Appreciative Inquiry Exercise with a group of people over several hours. The focus the session is to find out what is working well.
The questions are designed to encourage people to tell stories from their own experience of what works. By discussing what has worked in the past and the reasons why, the participants can go on to imagine and create a vision of what would make a successful future that has a firm grounding in the reality of past successes. (Involve.org.uk)
Hammond highlights several questions that work well to tease this out of the group:
- Describe an incident when you or someone you know went the extra mile to provide the customer what they really wanted when they wanted it . What made that possible ? What was your specific contribution ?
- Describe the contributions of others .
- What was the work environment like during that time ?
- Describe a time when you were proud to be a member of the team / group . What specifically made you proud ?
- What do you value most about being a member of this team / group ? Why ?
An alternative set of questions could include:
1. Think back through your career in this organization . Locate a moment that was a high point , when you felt most effective and engaged . Describe how you felt , and what made the situation possible .
2. Without being humble , describe what you value most about your self , your work , and your organization .
3. Describe your three concrete wishes for the future of this organization
Hammond goes on to highlight that it is important for the facilitator to capture 3 levels of information from these questions which will then be especially helpful in the “Design” phase next.
- What the interviewee actually experienced and how their own performance made a difference ,
- how other people contributed to the experience and
- the systemic factors or policies that made success possible .
For recalcitrant participants who only can think of negative responses there is also the “Miracle Question” which you can bring out:
‘ If a miracle occurred and you showed up to work tomorrow with all the problems gone , what would the team working at its best look like { or whatever the inquiry is about } ? ‘
Dream — What ‘ might be ‘
The goal in Dream is to reveal that information to the larger group in order to uncover common themes of circumstances when the group performed well . We want to uncover these themes to provide a working structure to Dream of what the collective future might look like .
Design — Determine what should be
Provocative Propositions
You design the future by writing “ provocative propositions . “ Provocative propositions , also called ‘ possibility statements , ‘ describe an ideal state of circumstances that will foster the environment to do more of what works . You are answering the question “ How can we do what we dreamed ? “ The purpose of provocative propositions is to keep our best at a conscious level as we work to deliver what we envisioned
To Write Them , As a Group :
1. Find examples of the best ( from the interviews ) . You can use the list of themes or the top — voted themes as a checklist .
2. Determine what circumstances made the best possible ( in detail ) . Consider what skills / people / values / policies are associated with the examples .
3. Take the examples and envision what might be . Be bold .
4. Write an affirmative statement ( a provocative proposition ) that describes the idealized future as if it were already happening .
Once Provocative Propositions Are Written , Check Them Against These Criteria :
1. Is it provocative ? Does it stretch , challenge or innovate ?
2. Is it grounded in examples ?
3. Is it what we want ?
4. Is there enough of the “ how “ so it is achievable ? Will people defend it or get passionate about it ?
5. Is it stated in affirmative , bold terms and in present tense ( as if it were already happening ) ?
6. Can we deliver it ? How can we best ensure delivery ?
Delivery — create what will be
Now the job is to work through actually implementing
A slight variation to the 5D Appreciative Inquiry method is the is the SOAR framework.
You can find a great ten minute summary of Appreciative Inquiry by Jackie Kelm here
