Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is an
organizational development process or philosophy that engages individuals within an organizational
system in its renewal, change and focused performance.
Appreciative Inquiry is a particular way of asking questions and envisioning the future that fosters positive relationships and builds on the basic goodness in a person, a situation, or an organization. In so doing, it enhances a system's capacity for collaboration and change.
Appreciative Inquiry utilizes a 4-stage process focusing on:
- DISCOVER: The identification of organizational processes that work well.
- DREAM: The envisioning of processes that would work well in the future.
- DESIGN: Planning and prioritizing processes that would work well.
- DESTINY (or DELIVER): The implementation (execution) of the proposed design
The basic idea is to build organizations around what works, rather than trying to fix what doesn't. It is the opposite of problem solving. Instead of focusing on fixing what's wrong, AI focuses on how to create more of what's already working