Appreciative Inquiry

by Jane Magruder Watkins (Watkins & Kelly, NTL Institute, American Univ.); Bernard J. Mohr (The Synapse Group, Inc., NTL Institute)

• ISBN13: 9780787951795
• ISBN10: 078795179X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-02-01
• Publisher: Pfeiffer & Co

Summary

Appreciative Inquiry--a book in The Practicing Organization Development Series--is for leaders and organizational consultants who are ready to abandon the familiar tyranny of complex change programs. Recognizing that human systems are constructions of the human imagination and therefore capable of change at the speed of imagination, the Appreciative Inquiry (AI) process frees organizations from the restrictive orthodoxy of "deficit based change" and allows them the freedom to mobilize strategic change and focus on the visible and tacit strengths of an organization. AI is capable of engaging whole systems at amazing scales--easily engaging hundreds or sometimes thousands of people, often in a matter of weeks or days, to leverage the positive core of the organization. Tap into the rich and inspiring "high point" accounts of personal or collective capacity and link this "positive core" to any change agenda. Once you have have determined what is really working, transformations never thought possible are rapidly and democratically mobilized."This is a book about the future of organization development. It is a practical guide to appreciative inquiry for organization leaders and organization development professionals and it is a comprehensive explanation at the speed of imagination." --Peter Sorensen, professor and director of the Ph.D. program in organization development and master of science program in management and organization behavior, Benedictine University

Author Biography

JANE MAGRUDER WATKINS is a past chair of the board of the NTL Institute for Applied Behavioral Science and a founding member of Appreciative Inquiry Consulting. In her thirty-five years in the field of organization development she has worked with a wide range of private, public, and government organizations, including Avon, GTE, Detroit Edison, SmithKline Beecham, ScottishPower, and more than 200 international organizations in nearly 50 countries. BERNARD J. MOHR is president of The Synapse Group, Inc., and co-founder of Appreciative Inquiry Consulting as well as co-creator of Whole System Design (WSD), an approach integrating changes to culture, work processes and systems. His clients have included AT&T, British Airways, BP, Coca Cola USA, Exxon, L. L. Bean, the Internal Revenue Service and the Episcopal Church.

Table of Contents

List of Tables, Figures, and Exhibits	xi
Foreword to the Series	xiii
Introduction to the Series	xv
Statement of the Board	xix
Foreword	xxv
Dedication	xxx
Preface	xxxi
Acknowledgments	xxxvii
The Case for a New Approach to Change	1	(12)
The Emerging Paradigm	2	(2)
Roots and Realities of Our Existing Paradigm	4	(1)
The New Sciences	5	(3)
The Dilemma of the Human Brain	8	(1)
Thinking About Problems Using the New Paradigm	9	(4)
Appreciative Inquiry: History, Theory, and Research	13	(22)
Appreciative Inquiry Defined	14	(1)
History of Appreciative Inquiry	15	(8)
The Use of AI for Complex, Transformational Change	23	(3)
The Theoretical Base for AI	26	(9)
Appreciative Inquiry as a Process	35	(18)
The DNA of AI	36	(12)
Skills and Knowledge Necessary to Lead an AI Process	48	(5)
Choose the Positive as the Focus of Inquiry	53	(22)
Choose the Positive	53	(5)
Sample 45-Minute Introduction to AI	58	(4)
Design to Initiate an AI-Based Process	62	(13)
MYRADA	68	(2)
Graham Ashford
McDonald's	70	(5)
Jim Ludema
Inquire into Stories of Life-Giving Forces	75	(38)
Rationale for the Use of Stories	76	(1)
Using a Preparation Workshop	77	(27)
Interviewer Training	104	(9)
NASA	107	(2)
Judy Darling
Syntegra	109	(4)
Joep De Jong
Locate Themes That Appear in the Stories	113	(20)
Identifying Themes	115	(7)
Expanding the Dialogue	122	(11)
Avon Mexico	123	(4)
Marge Schiller
DTE Energy Services	127	(6)
Marlo Derksen
Tom Osborn
Create Shared Images for a Preferred Future	133	(18)
Articulating the Dream	134	(3)
Fitting the Social Architecture to the Dream/Vision	137	(14)
British Airways North America	144	(2)
Diana Whitney
Star Island Corporation	146	(5)
David Sanderson
Find Innovative Ways to Create that Preferred Future	151	(30)
Organization Design Processes	153	(1)
Watkins and Coooperrider's ABC Inquiry Model	154	(27)
Group Health Cooperative	169	(7)
Diane Robbins
Scott Caldwell
Hunter Douglas Window Fashions Division	176	(5)
Amanda Trosten-Bloom
Evaluation	181	(12)
Classical Evaluation	181	(1)
Evaluation from an AI Perspective	182	(11)
Postscript: FAQs About Appreciative Inquiry	193	(18)
Theory-Oriented Questions	194	(7)
Technique-Oriented Questions	201	(10)
References and Bibliography	211	(6)
About the Authors	217	(4)
About the Editors	221	(4)
Index	225