I’m excited to learn more about Appreciative Inquiry. The possibilities of this method seem endless! From improving a team of ten to dramatically shifting the culture of thousands in an organization, the successful application of AI appears boundless.
I appreciate the shift from focussing on the negative and switching to the positive. I struggle with that in my organization where people are so quick to say things like, “let’s never do that again” but don’t take the time to see what success came from it and how it can be improved or altered in the future.
An AI approach leads to further discovery and learning, but more than that, it opens us up to possibilities, possibilities rooted in our past success.
I am drawn to AI because of, as stated in the Appreciative Inquire Handbook, For Leader of Change 2nd Edition, “AI is based on the simple assumption that every organization has something that works well, and those strengths can be the starting point for creating positive change.” (p. 3). Appreciative Inquire starts with finding the diamond in the rough. From the very beginning it is believed that even in all the bad, there is something good. How positive is that?! Then working with at least one other person, questions can be posed to unearth the success.
In my experience, I’ve predominately worked for large organizations. Organizations that have been established for hundreds of years. They’re large, they have cultures and sub-cultures, they tend to be slow to move toward new ways of doing things. My husband, on the other hand, lives and breathes in the startup world. He works in organizations which are brand new- only ten employees. These companies embrace failure and look at it as the only way forward. But they only accept failure when they’ve had a chance to learn from it- to reflect and say, “What good came of that?”
As I was reading about AI, I couldn’t help but think of young organizations and how they can benefit from AI. When the questions surrounding the positive core ask what have we done well in the past? What is the history of this organization? What have been our successes? What is our story? I didn’t see how it could translate to young organizations. The example of the Omni answered that question.
I was taken in by the fact that they went to a five star and inquired with the staff there about what they were doing, what success looked like to them. The group had immersed themselves in the exact environment they wanted to develop. AI allowed them to question, and then to experience- that’s taking visualization to the next level!
As I think about implementing an AI initiative at work, I’m optimistic that it’s something that can be done on my team. But I have a few concerns –
1. As the team leader, will people buy into it, or will they feel pressured?
2. Will they answer the questions the way in which they think I want them answered?
3. If I ask a few of my team members to perform the interviews, will they do so without their bias entering in? Bias such as – the way they pose the question, the way they react to the response, the way the respondent answers the question based on the interviewer.
4. The first three phases of discover, dream, and design, sound great! They sound like fun to come up with and discuss, but then there’s the design phase – that part freaks me out. How do you ensure that people are implementing what had been decided? The entire process is organic and appears to be done without much leadership because individuals have participated equally, her own perspective, her own definition, and story of what success is. How do you manage to ensure that the new vision/ direction is implemented without ruining the democracy which created the new vision? How are people held accountable?
5. What about new team members? My team is primarily made up of part-time student staff who work six to ten hours a week – I have new students every semester- how do the commitments of one cohort continue on to the next and the next?
And yet, as I write the questions, I realize that the true nature of AI is to get out and try it- see what success it brings, revisit and constantly question the process, and reflect on what is going well. Take that success to the next dream phase and continue with the cycle.