AI-It is all in the questions

The website Appreciative Team Building gives this summary—“an appreciative approach starts with a series of questions about what is already working, in order to uncover the root causes of team success” When you read about AI you might conclude that it ignores problems that exist or by only focusing on the good things an organization doesn’t get the full picture. This could be possible. However, I like the summary noted. You can still look at a problem situation and ask “how have we overcome problems successfully in the past?” or “what is working well and why” and “how can we take why this is working well and apply it to this, that is not working well” It would be tempting for an organization to use AI to avoid talking about very real problems that could threaten the organization if they were not addressed. It is important to design the questions carefully to address issues in your organizations.

Just Starting Out with Appreciative Inquiry

About two weeks ago I attended a seminar from the Association of Fundraising Professionals on the topic of Appreciative Inquiry. First of all, kudos to the speakers who had us work through an example to illustrate the more complex elements of Appreciative Inquiry. Most of us in the audience were new to the concept and a bit skeptical. The practical examples helped us see the enthusiasm that develops when issues are explored using positive inquiry. It would be hard to adequately discuss the elements of appreciative inquiry here so I’ll refer you to one of the websites that I found the most helpful. This group, Appreciative Team Building, presents a concise discussion of AI.

There are a lot of elements of AI that I can see would be beneficial to organizations. It can enhance the traditional strategic planning process, especially for organizations that have been through the process several times before and might be looking for a different approach. Even in informal planning processes, reframing a question from a positive standpoint can open up dialogue that helps find solutions. It is a process that I would like to explore more.

Appreciative Inquiry

The Association of Fund Raising Professionals in the Philadelphia area is having a half day seminar on using Appreciative Inquiry in Strategic Planning. Since we provide clients with strategic planning two of us from the Bucks County Center for Non Profit Management are signed up to go to the seminar. The past week, I spent some time online reading about Appreciative Inquiry. My first thought was that it is like the SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) except for it is just the SO part. However, it is much more than that. Appreciative Inquiry approaches planning from a different angle. The traditional starting question has been-what are our problems and how do we solve them? Appreciative inquiry starts with questions to uncover what the organization does right and why. It is an intriguing approach and I am looking forward to learning more about it.