2. ai An Approach to ^ Change appreciative inquiry ACCELERATED
How many have heard of Ai? Or used it?
It is essentially an approach to accelerated change and it’s fair to say that Appreciative Inquiry is applied in many different ways.
Our focus today is on whole system change, following the Summit methodology. For LSI/ individual focus, think of the individual as a whole system……
But first, a bit of an intro and background:
At it’s very core Ai requires us to inquire into the times when we, or our organisations, are at our best (most energised, most effective) and apply what we learn to the change we are trying to create.
I always come back to the fundamental question of ”‘what makes you come alive?”
‘Appreciative Inquiry: Change at the Speed of the Imagination’ – Watkins & Mohr, 2001

3. PROBLEM ANALYTIC CHANGE VS. APPRECIATVE INQUIRY
This is the slide you find in the texts to answer the ‘so how is it different’ question
Problem solving
(deficit based change)
Appreciative inquiry
(strength based innovation)
“Felt Need”
Identify problem
“Valuing the best of what is”
Appreciate
Conduct root cause analysis
Imagine (What might be)
Analyze Possible Solutions
(Dialogue and design
What should be)
Create (What will be)
Develop action plan (Treatment)
Basic assumption: “mystery”
organization is a web of strengths linked to infinite capacity, infinite imagination… alive
Basic assumption:
“problem-to-be solved”

4. Change - Traditional approach vs Ai
The burning platform / what is wrong?
Executive/ Senior leaders agree the solution (define the new beginning/vision); workshop the strategy (over a period of time)
Project team formed to implement and lead the change
Communication Plan & campaign developed to engage all stakeholders and drive desired responses/ behaviours
Measurement
The business opportunity/what do we want to create?
The whole system is invited to co-create the future – full voice and personal investment
The change begins ‘in the moment’ and continues as an integrated strategy
Follow-up in the form of progress checks, and support, where required
Measurement
This one is based on my expereince in organisations and the work I have traditionally done in OD and employee communications roles
In my experience, it is the most powerful and sustainable way to affect a whole system shift. We all bring different experiences and beliefs. I’m not here to convince you, simply to introduce you, spark some interest so we can explore together.
Ai is a way of working that supports collaboration and really does bring out the best in people and systems…….

5. 1. valuing; the act of recognising the best in people or the world around us; affirming 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
appreciate
synonyms: esteeming, valuing, honouring
1. the act of exploration and discovery
2. to ask questions; to be open to seeing new potentials and possibilities
inquire
synonyms: discovery, search, study, systematic exploration
If we look at the root of the words…

6. want to take with us/ what
Transition model
‘Managing Transitions’ – William Bridges
Endings
Letting go: what do we
want to take with us/ what
will serve us?
Confusion
Creativity
Neutral Zone
New
Beginnings
The change/future
we envision
Bridges explains that Change is situational/ external
Transition is the pschycological process/ the internal – the way that people come to terms with the change that is occurring
New beginnings - Typically in organisations we go straight to the new beginnings
Explain the rest of the model……….
The Point?
In my experience the Ai Summit process provides a mechanism for a painless way to do the endings: “what do we want to take with us?”
The process takes people through the creative phase.
Confusion still occurs, but it is a lot less, it is accelerated and the letting go happens before your eyes.

7. “Ai is the cooperative search for the best in people, their organisations, and the world around them.
It involves systematic discovery of what gives a system “life” when it is most effective and capable in economic, ecological, and human terms.”
David Cooperrider was the originator of Ai as an approach to org Change & development – it came out of an experiment he conducted when he was a PhD student working with a team responsible for Org Change in a hospital in the States.
This is how he defines Ai
David Cooperrider
Case Western Reserve University

8. vocabularies of human deficit are the opiates of the masses
“I’m not good enough”
“They are to blame”
“We have lost”
“I am depressed”
“The organization is hopeless”
”My family is dysfunctional”
“What is your problem?”
“It’s your fault”
“I am a bad person”
“You are wrong!”
“I will never be able to”
“That was a mistake”
“It is a disaster!”
“I don’t have enough”
“You are a failure”
“There is a lack of ……..”
David Cooperrider is one of the founders of Appreciative Inquiry
A take on karl marx’s claim that religion is the opiate of the masses (1843 work translated from German)
Cooperrider himself is very spiritual and is a Brahma Kumaris – a spiritual organisation committed to self transformation through meditation and positive thinking

9. Assumptions of Ai In every organisation/ situation – something works
What we focus on, and the language we use, becomes our reality
Sustainable action is more likely from a place of positivity
The act of asking questions begins the change
Moving forward is easier when we bring forward the best parts of the past – when we pay attention to the positive core

10. ai
The 5-D Cycle
DESTINY Innovation Improvisation and Inquiry. Expand all learning Competencies
DESIGN Invent the initiatives and the social architecture which will make your dreams inevitable
DREAM Envision the impact & internal functioning as if those insights and the Positive Core were fully alive
DISCOVER Conduct the inquiry, share insights and capture the Positive Core
DEFINE Decide what to learn about, how and who to involve in each phase
The methodology of Ai (as opposed to the philosophy)

11. ai summit
DVD
Show you what a summit can look like. This one is perhaps ‘high-end’: nice venue, balloons, video, etc. but they don’t have to be such an event – many are incredibly simple and modest
Watch out for the 4 D’s (not define) so you can get a feel for what happens in each phase.

12. ai
The 5-D Cycle
DESTINY Innovation Improvisation and Inquiry. Expand all learning Competencies
DESIGN Invent the initiatives and the social architecture which will make your dreams inevitable
DREAM Envision the impact & internal functioning as if those insights and the Positive Core were fully alive
DISCOVER Conduct the inquiry, share insights and capture the Positive Core
DEFINE Decide what to learn about, how and who to involve in each phase
The methodology of Ai (as opposed to the philosophy)

13. ai summit
Interview
Show you what a summit can look like. This one is perhaps ‘high-end’: nice venue, balloons, video, etc. but they don’t have to be such an event – many are incredibly simple and modest
Watch out for the 4 D’s (not define) so you can get a feel for what happens in each phase.

14. Transformative topics
“If you find and inquire into the most powerful topics, you will find the system’s wisdom written on the wall”. Sallie Lee
The key is to find the topic that has the potential to transform…… when you get it right, the system does the rest…..
OCI will give you a lot of insight into this and highlight areas on which to focus. But it’s also important to follow your intuition as a good consultant…..
“what are you most curious about?”
“what do you most want to see more of?”

15. positive core
It is the collective wisdom, knowledge, strategies, attitudes, skills and capabilities of the organization at its best.
Often undiscussed, an organization's positive core is a source of life-giving potential, consisting of all its creative, life-affirming qualities, capabilities, and resources.
It is the essence of the organization at its best: its remembered past, its enacted present, and its imagined future.
Diana Whitney
Corporation for Positive Change
The positive core comes from the discovery phase and is what underpins the foundations of the change – it is the essence

16. Some organisations using ai
ANZ
Boeing
British Petroleum
RAC
US National Intelligence Community
Allstate
Smith Kline Beecham
Walmart
The Inspire Foundation
Nextel
Green Mountain Coffee Roaster
British Airways
Roadway Express
American Red Cross
Newark Beth Israel Medical Center
Georgia Pacific
British Gas
World Vision
Some organisations using ai

17. Positive Image Positive Action
What we ask determines what we find
What we find determines how we talk
How we talk determines how we imagine together
How we imagine determines what we achieve together
A nice overview that captures the intention and purpose of Ai

18. 5 Principles
Social Constructionism: Human systems are made and imagined by those who live and work in them. Our reality and meaning are socially created
Simultaneity: Change begins the moment we ask questions
Poetic: (poets are not constrained) We have no boundaries on what we can inquire and learn from. Everything is open to reinterpretation
Anticipatory: Our behavior in the present is influenced by the future we anticipate
Positive: The more positive the question and conversation, the longer-lasting the change
These are theoretical principles in which Ai is grounded
The critical ones – are Social Constructionism and Positivity.
“Our organizations evolve in the direction of the images we create based on the questions we ask as we strive to understand the systems at work.”

19. Appreciative Intelligence
See the positive in a given situation
Reframe a given situation
Act now – seeing how the future unfolds from the present
“Seeing the mighty oak in the acorn” – Tojo Thatchenkery & Carol Metzker
The notion of Appreciative Intelligence has been coined – in the vein of Emotional Intelligence, Social Intelligence

20. Outputs from the Summit process
Tangible
Whole system shift in the one direction
Clear, shared direction
A new story for the organisation (re-story)
A re-focus/ concentration of effort
Action Plans (short term & long term)
New ideas
New energy and enthusiasm
Current activities & processes enhanced
‘Double-up’ dramatically reduced - streamlined
Collaboration
Accountability
Individuals invested in what the business does
Ownership of actions & outcomes at all levels
Self-organised workgroups
Designed for s
Less tangible/ emergent
Networks developed
Informal relationships formed
Individuals feel acknowledged
Sense of belonging
Individual confidence = more robust system
Sense of achievement
Self-awareness in a group
Emergence of strengths
Participants understand their role in the big picture
Mutual appreciation & respect
Sense of purpose & connection
Strategic thinking at all levels
A more positive outlook
A desire (&ability) to find the possibilities in a situation
Appreciation for the power of inquiry & genuine curiosity
Innovation

21. Case study - SBB Sales Staff retention (Belonging and Balance) Passion
Question: What do you want more of?
Answer: Growth
Sales
Staff retention (Belonging and Balance)
Passion
This team were leaders in the segment – Rob’s team were beginning to be poached, grass is greener…..; fear of burn out
Not wanting to be complacent
Wanting growth and ensuring market leadership
Inquiry into: passion; superior customer service; work-life balance

22. “I am convinced that AI enabled us to significantly increase our sales figures the following year and caused a real and strong sense of oneness despite the geographical spread of our staff.”
When I sat down with Rob 6 months later…….
Sales have doubled; people have stayed; we will have gone from 180 to 280 people (in one year!) and I put that down to the Summit; accommodating the rapid expansion
When I asked him to go on record to promote the workshops we are running……..
Rob Goudswaard, Managing Director ANZ Regional, Rural & Small Business Banking

23. References Recommended texts
Ludema, Whitney, Mohr & Griffin (2003). The appreciative Inquiry summit – a practitioners guide for leading large-group change. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
Watkins & Mohr (2001). Appreciative Inquiry. Change at the speed of the imagination. Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer
Thatchenkery & Metzker (2006). Appreciative Intelligence. Seeing the mighty oak in the acorn. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
There are loads of Ai texts. These ones are specific to understanding what Ai is and how to run a Summit
Recommended websites
Ai commons:
Ai Practitioner: