Example

THE BIRTH OF APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY: A change-hero story

Appreciative Inquiry was born at Case Western University in Cleveland, Ohio. David Cooperrider was a Ph.D. student engaged in field work to solve a number of small problems at the Cleveland Clinic, a well-run hospital; however, the hospital was so well-run that searching out minor problems did not make sense to Cooperrider. He mentioned to his supervisor Suresh Srivastva that he would prefer to investigate what was working well. He was told to go ahead. The inquiry into what was going well energized the participants and had such a dramatic positive effect on the performance of the hospital that the Board of Directors asked Cooperrider to develop a change process that could be applied to all departments. AI was born in that moment. Cooperrider and Srivastva wrote their first paper on AI in 1987. One of the first professional uses of AI was with Avon Mexico where the client went from being plagued with sexual harassment issues to winning an award as one of the best places in Mexico for women to work. Today AI is used successfully world wide (see The Handbook of Large Group Methods: Creating Systemic Change in Organizations and Communities. Barbara Benedict Bunker, Billie T. Alban. Jossey:Bass, 2006).

Wiki example: If our change-hero wanted to introduce Wiki technology to a work-place, AI might not be the best choice of change process. A truly successful AI intervention will produce transformative change, and the change will be in a positive direction, affecting both workplace relationships and bottom line. Nonetheless, the specific outcomes are not predictable because AI, at its best, is a participatory democratic process. AI, at its best, is not manipulative.