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Discovery phase of appreciative inquiry
Discovery is the first stage of the Appreciative Inquiry 4D process where the emphasis is on discovering and appreciating what is good in the organization by investigation in the Affirmative Inquiry Topic. This topic will have been carefully chosen in consultation with the commissioners to be the 'dream' that is inherent in the problem statement. For example a problem statement such as 'the team isn't working well together' might yield an affirmative inquiry topic such as 'when the team works well together'. This would then be the topic around which the Appreciative Inquiry Interviews would be framed.
Some key points to bear in mind when setting up appreciative inquiry interviews
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Set up the interview with care using life-enhancing words e.g. when you felt most alive, at your best, most appreciated, that you really made a difference etc. |
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Make sure they focus on a specific episode they have experienced |
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Remember you are looking for description not explanation |
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Encourage them to talk from within the experience not about the experience |
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Look to build a rich picture of that particular episode |
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Keep the focus on that experience and how it was good, you are looking to recreate those feelings now |
Some sample appreciative inquiry interview questions, and invitations to expand
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Tell me about your experience |
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What was it that was so good about this experience? |
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How did you know this was a good one? |
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Tell me about how you felt (before, during, after) |
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Who else was present? |
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If I had asked them what they saw you doing in this experience, what would they have said? |
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How would (other people, boss, client etc.) have described your abilities in this experience? |
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When were you aware this was a really good experience? |
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Who else noticed the effect you had? |
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Where were you then this was going on? |
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Tell me more about that? |
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Describe the meeting/room/ process etc. |
Further development of the appreciative inquiry interview process
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Take feedback on the feelings (creating and building positive energy) |
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Get them to compare this experience to one that is similar, but wasn’t as excellent and to pick out what was different. Take feedback (performance improvement) |
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Get the listener to feedback the abilities they hear being demonstrated in the episode chosen; with a team share the identified abilities (coaching, confidence, team building etc.) |
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Get each individual to tell their story to the group (creating and amplifying accounts – organisational change) |
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Tape the stories, create a written or video record (creating, amplifying and broadcasting accounts – organisational change) |
Click here for the rest of the 4D appreciative inquiry process: dreaming, design, destiny
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