When we want to improve performance our default position is to ask what’s not working and to approach this as a problem to be solved. This involves identifying the problem, determining possible causes, generating solutions and eventually implementing the best solution. We would then gauge success based on where the problem stands after the solution has been implemented. While this approach is logical and has value when dealing with a specific challenge, when we are dealing with people this process will eventually prove demotivating since there is always room for improvement in an endless cycle of focusing on the deficit, hampering any kind of social improvement. Since unmotivated employees are not prone to being productive employees, this approach can easily make things worse, not better.

If we were to approach this from a coaching mindset we would want to engage stakeholders in self-determined change taking a strengths-based approach. Instead of focusing on the problem, we focus on the strengths, possibilities, and successes. Thus “problems” become “opportunities.”

Underlying Philosophy

According to Gervase Bushe, a well-known researcher on the topic, Appreciative Inquiry “advocates collective inquiry into the best of what is, in order to imagine what could be, followed by collective design of a desired future state that is compelling and thus, does not require the use of incentives, coercion or persuasion for planned change to occur.”

To accomplish this, the Appreciative Inquiry model is based on the assumption that the questions we ask will tend to focus our attention in a particular direction, and that organizations will evolve in the direction of the questions they most persistently and passionately ask. Focus on what needs to be fixed, and you will continue to find problems. Focus on the positive and you will find ideas, strengths, and talents that fuel innovation and growth. Focus then is not just on the “positive,” but the transformative.

The five principles of Appreciative Inquiry are:

1. The constructionist principle proposes that what we believe to be true determines what we do, and thought and action emerge from relationships. Through the language and discourse of day to day interactions, people co-construct the organizations they inhabit. The purpose of inquiry is to stimulate new ideas, stories and images that generate new possibilities for action.
2. The principle of simultaneity proposes that as we inquire into human systems we change them and the seeds of change, the things people think and talk about, what they discover and learn, are implicit in the very first questions asked. Questions are never neutral, they are fateful, and social systems move in the direction of the questions they most persistently and passionately discuss.
3. The poetic principle proposes that organizational life is expressed in the stories people tell each other every day, and the story of the organization is constantly being co-authored. The words and topics chosen for the inquiry have an impact far beyond just the words themselves. They invoke sentiments, understandings, and worlds of meaning. In all phases of the inquiry, effort is put into using words that point to, enliven and inspire the best in people.
4. The anticipatory principle posits that what we do today is guided by our image of the future. Human systems are forever projecting ahead of themselves a horizon of expectation that brings the future powerfully into the present as a mobilizing agent. Appreciative inquiry uses artful creation of positive imagery on a collective basis to refashion anticipatory reality.
5. The positive principle proposes that momentum and sustainable change requires positive affect and social bonding. Sentiments like hope, excitement, inspiration, camaraderie and joy increase creativity, openness to new ideas and people, and cognitive flexibility. They also promote the strong connections and relationships between people, particularly between groups in conflict, required for collective inquiry and change.

The Process

While the above principles represent the underlying philosophy of Appreciative Inquiry work, the 5D cycle offers a practical structure and approach for applying those principles.

1. Define – What is the topic of inquiry? – Definition is used to clarify the area of work to be considered. It defines the project’s purpose, content, and what needs to be achieved. In this phase, the guiding question is, “What generative topic do we want to focus on together?”
2. Discover – Appreciating the best of ‘what is’ – Discovery is based on a dialogue, as a way of finding ‘what works’. It rediscovers and remembers the organization or community’s successes, strengths and periods of excellence.
3. Dream – Imagining ‘what could be’ – Imagining uses past achievements and successes identified in the discovery phase to imagine new possibilities and envisage a preferred future. It allows people to identify their dreams for a community or organization; having discovered ‘what is best’. They have the chance to project it into their wishes, hopes, and aspirations for the future
4. Design – Determining ‘what should be’ – Design brings together the stories from discovery with the imagination and creativity from Dream. We call it bringing the ‘best of what is’ together with ‘what might be’, to create ‘what should be – the ideal’ by asking individuals to create a future in which the high points identified in the stores are the everyday reality.
5. Deliver – Creating ‘what will be’ – here we identify how the design will be delivered, and how it’s embedded into groups, communities, and organizations. It also includes noticing and celebrating successes that are moving the system toward the preferred future the organization or group co-created. You may see the word ‘destiny’ used for this stage in some books.