How to Coach Yourself and Others Popular Models for Coaching | Page 221

Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is a way of looking at organisational
change which focuses on doing more of what is already working,
rather than focusing on fixing problems. It mobilises strategic
change by focusing on the core strengths of an organisation,
then using those strengths to reshape the future.
AI is both a high-participation learning process to identify and
disseminate best practices, and a way of managing and working
that fosters positive communication and can result in the
formation of deep and meaningful relationships
AI was developed by David Cooperrider and his associates at
Case Western Reserve University in the mid-eighties. His wife
Nancy, an artist, told him about the "appreciative eye" – an idea
that assumes that in every piece of art there is beauty. AI applies
this principle to business.
How It Works
Appreciative Inquiry begins with analysing the “positive core”
of an organisation (or a person) and then links this knowledge
to the heart of the strategic change agenda.
The very act of asking a question influences the worldview of
the person who is asked. Because human systems move toward
what they persistently ask questions about, Appreciative
Inquiry involves the deliberate discovery of everything that
gives a system “life” when it is most effective in performance
and human terms.
When we link the positive core directly to a strategic agenda,
changes never thought possible are rapidly mobilised while
simultaneously building enthusiasm, corporate confidence, and
human energy.

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