Appreciative inquiry: The why: The what? The how?

Pract. Dev. Health Care 7(4) 214–220, 2008Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd DOI: 10.1002/pdh

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Ideas and opinions

Appreciative inquiry: The why: The what? The how?

Marian Moore—Chairman, INSIGHT team, Cherry Knowle Hospital, Ryhope, Sunderland, UK

ABSTRACT

‘Appreciative inquiry’ is the study and exploration of what gives life to human systems when they function at their best. This approach to personal change and organizational change is based on the assumption that questions and dialogue about strengths, successes, values, hope, and dreams are in themselves transformational. It is based on the belief that people, individu-ally and collectively, have unique gifts, skills and contributions and that the organizations in which they work are human social systems where, through inquiry and dialogue, people can shift their attention and action away from problem analysis to identify worthy ideals and possibilities for the future. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Key words: appreciative inquiry, change, dialogue, strengths, transformational

Introduction

As a teacher in Margaret Thatcher’s Britain of the 1980s, I had the privilege of explor-ing the possibilities of a dream. That dream led to ‘education for enterprise’ becoming a reality for young people in Britain’s schools. Twenty years on, in a new millennium

Practice Development in Health CarePract. Dev. Health Care 7(4) 214–220, 2008Published online 17 October 2008 in Wiley InterScience(www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI: 10.1002/pdh.270

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and in different circumstances, I encountered something equally as innovative, creative and enterprising. This was the notion and practice of ‘appreciative inquiry’. What fol-lows is an explanation of why a small mental health service user-led monitoring team, called INSIGHT, chose to use this method of workplace evaluation, what it involved and how we went about implementing something that would become an opportunity for a large organization to enhance its capacity for positive change. Implicit throughout the somewhat novel approach of appreciative inquiry is the potential for learning, growth and self-development for those who deliver and for those who use mental health services.

The ‘why’?

To understand ‘why’, we chose appreciative inquiry, you need to understand something more about the work of the INSIGHT team. We’re all seasoned mental health cam-paigners, having been on the scene at a northern mental health hospital for many a long year. We would describe ourselves as ‘a small team of like-minded people who, when invited, monitor the quality and appropriateness of care in the hospital and in the wider community’. Like others engaged in this kind of user involvement, the INSIGHT team is very much aware that it must tread carefully. Never before in history have human beings been more interconnected and more interdependent. The acceleration of com-munications technology has created what is a truly global community. But progress comes at a cost.

Because written information can now be winged around the world at the touch of a button, and at an alarming speed, we all have a grave responsibility to ensure that no one – not one single person – is damaged as a result. Consequently, the INSIGHT team is ever vigilant that our old research methodologies based on ‘defi cit analysis’ could be redundant. We had, indeed, been brought up sharply when we were challenged about a particularly damning report we had produced on one aspect of the local service. On refl ection, we could see that this challenge was not without foundation. The report was never published on the internet, or anywhere else for that matter. All we could do was apologize, withdraw and move on without further ado.

As Albert Einstein pointed out:

‘No problem can be solved from the same consciousness that created it. We

must learn to see the world anew’.

We took this on board and, when invited to take part in our Trust’s Art Services Review in 2007, we cast our net widely in search of a new method, one more suited to a dynamic global environment. Almost accidentally, we stumbled across a system of research and evaluation familiar in other parts of the world for over 20 years, but apparently not yet widely explored or used in the UK. That system is, of course, appreciative inquiry. What we describe now is not a prescriptive recipe but,

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instead, a creative adventure where (and this is the challenge) there is no right or wrong method and no perfect process. We learnt this through experience – an inspiring teacher!

The ‘what’?

Now I’ll try to answer the question ‘What is appreciative inquiry?’ What is behind this idea that has already been described so tantalizingly as ‘innovative, creative and enterprising’? Here’s part of one defi nition:

Appreciative inquiry is the cooperative co-evolutionary search for the best in

people, their organizations, and the world around them. It involves the discov-

ery of what gives ‘life’ to a living system when it is most effective alive and

constructively capable in economic, ecological and human terms. Appreciative

inquiry involves the art and practice of asking questions that strengthen a sys-

tem’s capacity to apprehend, anticipate and heighten positive potential. The

inquiry is mobilized through the crafting of the ‘unconditional positive question’

(Cooperrider et al., 2005).

Put more simply, appreciative inquiry is based on valuing and recognizing the best in people or the world around us. And it means asking questions and being open to seeing new potentials and possibilities in people and organizations.

This is an extract from the fi rst page of the fi nal report produced by the INSIGHT team on completion of its research in December 2007 (INSIGHT, 2007). The report was the result of long deliberations and many activities designed to make happen our investigation into the link between ‘mental wellness, social inclusion and the arts’. After telling readers who we are, and what our mission was, we explained the method of research thus:

‘Appreciative inquiry is a new way of thinking, working and being. Experience

is an inspiring teacher and the appreciative interview for all participants, artists

and mental health service users alike, was based on experiencing some varia-

tions of four generic questions. They were:

• Describe a peak experience or high point in your life – personal or

professional

• What do you value most about yourself? Your work? Your organization?

• What is the core factor that gives life to your organization?

• Describe your vision of the future for the organization and your world.

‘The interview helps people taste the power, the effect, and what some have

described as the intimacy of the appreciative inquiry process. It begins to build

relationships within the team that later may become the driving force for a

whole-system inquiry.’



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‘In presenting the results of our research as two small booklets [“The

Artists’ Perspective” and “The Service Users’ Perspective”] we are telling a

powerful story. We think you will agree that the stories and the artwork con-

tained herein speak for themselves. People all over the world – in large organi-

zations and in small teams – have told their stories of personal transformation,

community development, and organizational change.’ (INSIGHT, 2007)

As the author of the report mentioned above, I went on to say that I have often stood accused of being an Alice in Wonderland when embarking on a new project, and I willingly hold up my hands and admit to this. I proceed, and not without reason, to describe appreciative inquiry as ‘a new science’. We would challenge anyone who would dispute our arguments for adopting this as a legitimate method of inquiry. The INSIGHT team’s new allegiance was made in the light of the evidence presented so convincingly in the many books that were bought and carefully studied. One is men-tioned in the reference section below (Whitney and Trosten-Bloom, 2003). We would also direct you to the burgeoning number of excellent websites and web pages devoted solely to appreciative inquiry training, case studies and affi rmations. You too are just a click away! Maybe we can whet your appetite to, at the very least, explore with an open mind . . . Here’s yet another glimpse of this ‘call to adventure’.

‘ “Appreciative Inquiry is one of today’s most popular change methods. Its as-

sumption is simple: every organization has something that works right – things

that give it life when it is vital, effective and successful.” Look on this report as

the beginning of an adventure. This call to adventure has been experienced

by many people and organizations, and it will take many more to fully explore

this new paradigm. These people and organizations (like us) sense an exciting

direction in our language and theories of change; they sense an invitation to a

“positive revolution”.’’

‘If we fl ip the coin and move away from a negative culture of problem

solving, we fi nd much to be excited about. We can, if we just turn ourselves

around and start looking at jobs (and ourselves) differently, kill negative self-talk

and celebrate successes. If we dissect what we do right and apply the lessons

to what we do wrong, what is likely to be more useful: demoralizing a success-

ful workforce by concentrating on their failures or helping them over their last

few hurdles by building a bridge with their successes?’ (INSIGHT, 2007)

I would ask you – as we asked our NHS Trust – to try to understand. We have never advocated mindless happy talk, but see appreciative inquiry as a complex science designed to make things better. We know we can’t ignore problems. We believe that we just need to approach them from the other side.

The ‘how’?

As I cautiously continue to backtrack some time after the event, I am again reminded of the challenges and diffi culties of persuading others to be accepting of appreciative

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inquiry as a valid and viable method of organizational analysis. As I tipped the some-what daunting pile of well-thumbed appreciative inquiry textbooks onto the coffee table at an early meeting of the Trust’s Steering Group in October 2007, I was well aware that even the notion of positive psychology upon which the whole approach rests was unfamiliar to most of the people present.

It is to the everlasting credit of the Trust’s senior managers in attendance that day that my enthusiasm for this new project and this new way of working was taken on board by them, and every effort was made to accommodate the INSIGHT team’s many visits to the chosen locations with the minimum of fuss and the maximum of effi ciency. My visit that day in October was followed by a fl urry of e-mail briefi ng papers and an equal fl urry of learning sessions for those most closely concerned in the project. The INSIGHT team was, once more, on its way.

In trying to inform a new audience of how appreciative inquiry differs from conventional managerial problem solving, I would remind readers that the basic as-sumption of the problem-solving approach is that ‘organizing is a problem to be solved’. As stated earlier, the task of workplace improvement traditionally involves removing ‘defi cits’ by (1) identifying the key problems or defi ciencies, (2) analysing the causes, (3) analysing solutions and (4) developing an action plan. What is described below is again taken from the INSIGHT team’s fi nal report, in which an effort was made to contrast the problem-solving approach with appreciative inquiry’s ‘4-D CYCLE’. Again, we would remind the reader that the underlying assumption of appreciative inquiry is that an organization is a ‘solution to be embraced’, rather than a ‘problem to be solved’.

‘The “4-D” CYCLE starts by selecting a topic: “the affi rmative topic choice”.

What follows after this is DISCOVERY (appreciating and valuing), DREAM (envi-

sioning), DESIGN (co-constructing a future) and DESTINY (learning, empowering,

and improvising to sustain the future). These are the essence of the dialogue

woven through each step of the process.” ’ (INSIGHT, 2007)

The fi rst step in the process was to discover and value those factors that give life to the organization. Our ‘affi rmative topic choice’, upon which all our questions were based, was around the ‘positive change initiatives’ that our subjects had experi-enced during their working lives. We concentrated mainly on this discovery phase, and it was our report on appreciating and valuing what already existed that formed the main part of our contribution to the Art Services Review 2007. This was the time for the open sharing of discoveries and possibilities. What makes appreciative inquiry different from other organizational development methodologies is that every question we asked was positive.

Three arts projects from across the Trust were selected for this review. This was to involve interviews with six artists and, eventually, six of their clients – mental health service users, like us. The preparations beforehand involved (a) familiarizing ourselves and the other participants with a whole new vocabulary, and (b) making decisions re-lated to the structured interviews which were to take place. From the outset, we were



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at pains to point out to the interviewees that the information provided would be kept anonymous and that no names would be associated with the overall summary or report, or the stories and quotations that would result. The timescale for this piece of research was short: only three months. Because of this, the INSIGHT team’s part in the review, to gather qualitative data, was, of necessity, restricted. Here’s another excerpt from the fi nal report, this being related to the key characteristics of the all important ‘interview’.

‘The key characteristics of the Appreciative interview are:

• Assumption of health and vitality

• Connection through empathy

• Personal excitement, commitment and caring

• Intense focus through ‘third ear’ and ‘third eye’

• Generative questioning, cueing, and guiding

• From monologue to dialogue’

(INSIGHT, 2007)

Creating the interview guide, collecting the data and locating the themes that appeared in the interview stories represented the key activities of the discovery phase and it is where the dialogue begins in the appreciative inquiry process. All of the interviews were recorded in shorthand and later transcribed. Everything was checked and verifi ed for accuracy with those who took part before the two resultant reports were published.

Learning, growth and self-development

You’ll have gathered by now that appreciative inquiry is about allowing people to tell their stories, sharing in their envisioning and thereafter co-constructing a better future. It’s also about learning, empowering and improvising to sustain that future. Here, I have drawn on the INSIGHT team’s mere ‘glimpse’ into the exciting world of possibilities thrown up by appreciative inquiry.

We were able to comment at the end of our report that a love of people is basic to the hearts and minds of the artists we interviewed. All put people at the centre of everything and they are undoubtedly continually challenged and inspired. Like every-one else we know, the artists appreciate ‘being appreciated’ and they described their delight when those clients who are now recovered and back in society express their satisfaction at a job well done: sometimes years later. ‘They never forget’.

We leave you with so much left unsaid; having never even mentioned the several ways in which the artists and the service users involved in this inquiry explored their dreams for a better future. But we hope that you, like us, will be afforded without let or hindrance the opportunity to see the world anew and will be inspired enough by what you have read to investigate further something that is a radical departure: a true

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revolution in positive change. I must end with the wish that you too will be interested enough to investigate and savour the possibilities of co-creating organizations that are fun to work in, where the employees are happy and proud to belong and, above all, are positive. And, fi nally, these few signifi cant lines are from the fi nal page of the fi nal report:

‘. . . we hope that the Trust’s Steering Group for the Art Services Review 2007

is satisfi ed with our efforts, that some good will result and that, at the very

least, the heartbeat of the Trust’s Art Services will be better understood and

appreciated by an ever-growing number of people.’ (INSIGHT, 2007)

Ap-pre’ci-ate, v:

1. Valuing: the act of recognizing the best in people or the world around

us; affi rming past and present strengths, successes, and potentials; to

perceive those things that give life (health, vitality, excellence) to living

systems.

2. To increase in value, e.g. the economy has appreciated in value.

Synonyms: VALUING, PRIZING, ESTEEMING and HONOURING.

In-quire’ (kwir), v:

1. The act of exploration and discovery.

2. To ask questions, to be open to seeing new potentials and

possibilities.

Synonyms: DISCOVERY, SEARCH AND SYSTEMATIC EXPLORATION,

STUDY.

ReferencesAppreciative inquiry web page. Available at http://appreciative-inquiry.co.uk/whatisai.php.Cooperrider DL, Whitney, D, Stavros JM (2005). Appreciative Inquiry Handbook: The First in a Series

of AI Workbooks for Leaders of Change. Brunswick OH: Crown Custom Publishing, Inc.INSIGHT (2007). Art Services Review 2007: Mental Wellness, Social Inclusion and The Arts, The Artists’

Perspective. Sunderland: Cherry Knowle Hospital, pp. 1–28.Whitney D, Trosten-Bloom A (2003). The Power of Appreciative Inquiry: A Practical Guide to Positive

Change. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.

Address correspondence to Marian Moore, Krysan, Nesham Place, Houghton-le-Spring, Tyne & Wear, DH5 8AG, UK. Tel: +44 (0)191 5846762. E-mail: [email protected]

Appreciative inquiry: The why: The what? The how?

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