By Rachel Arnold
What is Appreciative Inquiry? How does one shift from research that focuses on problems and negative details to the strengths-based approach of Appreciative Inquiry? What are the benefits and requirements of such an approach? And what is it about Appreciative Inquiry that fosters change?
Appreciative Inquiry, developed by David Cooperrider and Suresh Srivastva, is a five-step process (originally four steps), as shown in the figure below. The steps are:
- Definition – deciding what to study is critical in moving humans in a positive direction
- Discovery – discovering and appreciating best experiences
- Dream – imagining the ideal – how it would be if those valued experiences happened most of the time
- Design – defining the dream more clearly and discussing steps towards realizing it
- Destiny – implementing wide ranging actions, improvisation, learning, and adjustments.