There are usually four steps of appreciative inquiry.
- Appreciating what gives life
This phase is a quest to identify positive stories and spread them throughout the organization. The discovery phase shifts the attention from what isn’t working to what is working and may possibly work in the future. In order to find out what is working, an appreciative interview is generally performed. This involves exploring a person’s beginnings with an organization, what they value most about themselves, their work and the organization, and their hopes and dreams for the organization’s future.
- Imagining what might be
This phase is a time for groups of people to engage in thinking big, thinking outside the box, and thinking out of the boundaries of what has been in the past. It is a time for people to describe their wishes and dreams for their work, their working relationships, and their organization. This phase takes place in a large group meeting during which data and stories collected in the previous phase are shared. Wishes and dreams for the future of the organization are often acted out to dramatize the positive possibilities envisioned for the organization.
- Determining what will be
This phase provides an opportunity for large numbers of employees and stakeholders to come together to co-create their organization. This phase allow members to make important decisions on what steps or actions are required to make the dreams come true.
- Creating what will be
This phase focuses on action planning at both the personal and organizational levels. During this phase, commitments are made to ensure that their dream will be realized. This takes huge commitment from individuals to comply with the action plans, small groups to work on collaboration efforts, and new teams that have been established for new projects.
Since all these phases involve large number of employees and stakeholders, the likelihood that these action plans for changes will be accepted and implemented will be high. Appreciative inquiry engages the whole organization in discovering the best of what has been and dreaming about the best of what might be.
The traditional action research involves a problem solving approach to change. It first requires the OD practitioner to identify the main problem through various methods. Once the problem has been identified, the OD practitioner must search for the main cause of the problem. Once the main cause has been diagnosed, the OD practitioner must develop a solution to solve the problem. Finally, the OD practitioner must design an action plan to implement the solution.
After researching the topic on appreciative inquiry, all my ideas of organizational development have changed. Coming from an analytical background, I have always believed in the traditional action research methodology of problem solving. However, all the information I gathered about appreciative inquiry has totally changed by mind. After reading all the success stories of organizations, companies, and individuals that have implemented the appreciative inquiry methodology, I am now a firm believer in this appreciative inquiry process. Appreciative inquiry focuses on what is right and do more of it rather than the traditional approach that focus on what is wrong and do less of it. It focuses on what works and determining how to do more of what works. When you do more of what works, that stuff that doesn’t work goes away. Positive learning and innovation comes from studying, adapting, and replicating what works. Also, appreciative inquiry is based on the past of all the employees and aims to involve all the employee and stakeholder for the future of the organization. This can only lead to positive attitudes about the organization’s future and brings unity among all the members of the organization.
