About AI

Appreciative Inquiry is the cooperative search for the best in people, their organizations, and the world around them. AI involves the art and practice of asking questions that strengthen a system's capacity to heighten positive potential. AI assumes that every living system has untapped, rich, and inspiring accounts of the positive. Link this "positive core" directly to any change agenda, and changes never thought possible are suddenly and democratically mobilized.

Whatever the focus of change for the team, we move through this basic flow:

"4-D" Cycle

Traditional team improvement usually begins by assessing deficits so gaps can be repaired. The operating metaphor in this approach is 'team as machine': if all the parts are in place and working, the mechanism returns to its previous 'unimpaired' functioning.

By contrast, an appreciative approach starts with a series of questions about what is already working, in order to uncover the root causes of team success. The group then plans its future by expanding and sustaining the resources in this unique 'positive core'. The working metaphor here is the team as an evolving, expanding mystery with untapped possibilities. Instead of just regaining its previous level, an appreciative process aims for unprecedented breakthroughs toward the team's highest potential.