Appreciative Inquiry
Appreciative inquiry is very usefully employed when an organisation has got 'stuck' with a problem. It is called appreciative inquiry as using this approach we aim to recognise (appreciate) what is good about the organisation, situation and people even as we deal with the difficulties.
It takes as its starting point the idea that the expression of an awareness of a problem is also an expression of an awareness of a dream, a dream that is currently being frustrated. To tap into the motivating power of the dream and appreciative inquiry practitioner will encourage those involved to identify a time when things were, or will be, working and to identify what is different as tangibly as possible.
For example
a newly formed multi-disciplinary mental health team were concerned
bout the expectation to now be 'multidisciplinary' . The
problems were many and the sense of anxiety and vulnerability was
obvious. They
were very concerned about being asked to do something 'new' for which
they were not prepared and had little guidance.
We got people to first identify and talk about the times when they
had worked across disciplines. The effect was twofold. Anxiety was
reduced
as people realised that what they were being asked to do was not
completely new.
And secondly, in discussion, it became clear that some ambiguity and 'fuzzy boundaries' around roles and responsibilities was likely to be a consistent feature of the system.
The key points to consider when working appreciatively are: ask about the dream, help people find examples of things going well, and help them to get concrete about what makes a difference between dream times and problem times.
This article was first published in Cymbal, the Central London Branch
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