Appreciative Inquiry (AI)

The AI methodology was developed by Dr. David Cooperrider from a study in Organizational Behaviour at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, in the middle of the 1980s. Primarily used to help corporation and institutions to improve their competitive advantage or organizational effectiveness, the AI is been recently applied in strategic planning for public policies, including a number of sustainable development projects.

The unique feature of the AI approach is its commitment to seeking and drawing upon the root causes of success rather than those contributing to failure. The objective is to find and emphasize the positive successes and strengths as a means to empower communities, groups and organizations, to plan and manage development and conservation. AI promotes the search for the best in things, for what "gives life" to a system when it is at its most effective and capable state, in economic, social, environmental and human terms.

AI provides an environment for the development of stimulating creative dialogues amongst stakeholders from cross-sectoral areas. It gathers group thoughts, creating a shared vision with the power to mobilize society through individual communication and relationships. It is a method that allows for collective construction and for boosting actions toward a common ideal. Thus, it favors genuine participation and a strong feeling of ownership towards a common and shared vision.

AI is a process of learning and action intended for discovering, understanding, and fostering innovations and transformations in human social system. It does not depend on a standard training manual. It is flexible and innovative and can be used to approach any issue in any group of stakeholders or community. The entire process remains grounded in the actual experiences of individuals. AI motivates the community for interactive participation and self-mobilization.

The appreciative inquiry allows for a change in attitude and thinking of certain firmly rooted stereotypes. When guiding people to evaluate the existing competences and success histories it stimulates dialogue, creating a unique opportunity to identify new possibilities for the use of the available resources. AI offers a collaborative, strength-based approach to strategic change and transformation.

AI is the opposite of problem solving. Instead of negation, criticism, and spiraling diagnosis, there is discovery, dream, design and destiny (4-D circle). ^[1]

Problem solving versus Appreciative Inquiry