This is a question for Tampa Bay Employers, Executives, HR Managers, Benefits Specialists, and other decision-makers who care about the health and well-being of employees and understand the effect it has on company performance. Have you used the Appreciative Inquiry Approach in your workplace? Have you ever heard of it? Learn more about it here.
What is Appreciative Inquiry?
Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is a strengths-based, positive approach to leadership development and organization change. Its origin is a 1987 paper entitled, “Appreciative Inquiry in Organizational Life,” by David Cooperrider and Suresh Srivastva. The central premise of AI is that an organization will grow in whichever direction that people in the organization focus their attention.
Focuses on
This change management AI approach focuses on:
- Identifying what is working well
- Analyzing why it is working well
- Then doing more of it
This unique approach focuses on changing social systems (groups, organizations, communities) that advocate collective inquiry into the best of what is in order to imagine what could be. It does not require the use of incentives, coercion, or persuasion for planned change to occur.
Can be used by
Appreciative Inquiry can be used by individuals, teams, and organizations. The process helps people move toward a shared vision for the future by engaging others in strategic innovation.
Coaching
An individual can use Appreciative Inquiry for leadership coaching or to develop a personal strategic vision. Teams and organizations use AI to:
- understand best practices
- develop strategic plans
- shift culture
- create forward momentum on large-scale initiatives
AI can be used in 1:1 meetings, with small and medium-sized groups, or in large-scale change initiatives that include thousands of people. It can be deployed in-person or at-a-distance through the use of technology.
Global Importance
Appreciative Inquiry has been used to find common ground around topics of global importance, to shape the direction of non-profits and NGOs, and to form multi-national initiatives that spans geography and industries.
Businesses Using It
Public and Private organizations of all sizes globally have been using Appreciative Inquiry. Some of the businesses that have used AI are:
- Merck – for sales growth
- British Airways – to improve customer service
- Wal-Mart – to pursue sustainable value creation
- US Navy – to develop leadership
- World Vision – to redesign organizational divisions
- John Deere – to improve cost, quality and cycle time
The focus is on strengths rather than on weaknesses – quite different to many approaches to evaluation, which focus on deficits and problems.
What are the Steps?
The Cycle of Appreciative Inquiry is:
Definition / Discovery
What is the best? Appreciating and identifying processes that work well.
Dream
What might be? What is the world calling for? Seeing a vision of results, and how things might work well in the future.
Design
What should be–the ideal? Prioritizing and planning processes that would work well.
Destiny/Delivery
How to empower, learn, and adjust/improvise? Sustaining the change
AI is a powerful tool for shifting the focus of an organization to something much greater than its bottom line, although the eventual outcome will often help the bottom line as well. Give Insight Wellness Works a call at 727-742-9137 to discuss how you can use Appreciative Inquiry in your workplace today!
Contact
Insight Wellness Works is based in St. Petersburg, Florida, and has been serving employers in Tampa Bay and its surrounding cities since 2010. We have a large team of credentialed wellness professionals offering a variety of workplace wellness services that focus on health promotion and disease prevention. We change lives and transform the culture of health in workplaces. Contact us today at 727-742-9137 to discuss how we can help your business and employees achieve wellness goals.
