Appreciative Inquiry is absolutely one of the best models I’ve ever used. In fact, I wish I had known about it when I was a leader and a director supporting large teams. If I had known then what I know now, I would have been able to move the team through complex changes more quickly—and have more fun doing it together.
What’s amazing about Appreciative Inquiry is that it’s a way of problem-solving that flips the issue on its head. For instance, we typically come to a problem and say: Okay, let’s try to figure out how to climb our way out and fix it. That’s normal; it’s what we all tend to do.
But Appreciative Inquiry says: Okay, let’s start with what’s already working. Let’s explore and talk about the strengths that already exist. That approach is so energizing because you begin to find those strengths and then you can build more of what’s good. And the process is actually really fun, so it engages people in an incredible way.
It Starts with a Story
An interesting thing to note about the process is that it really starts with storytelling. If I’m spending a full-day session with a group or even if I’m working with a professional one-on-one, it starts with a series of questions, like: Tell me a time when…
For example, if you’re trying to build a positive team culture because your team is struggling to get along, it might feel easy to identify all the things that aren’t working. But what if you explored with these questions in mind instead: What is it you’re looking for? What’s your ideal state?
You’d likely get responses along these lines: I want a team that has healthy communication, where everyone can bring their best ideas. Great! So then we move to the storytelling part by recalling a time when you were part of a team that was like that. Maybe it wasn’t even work-related. Maybe you were five years old, and it was a soccer team. But what we’re looking for are the essential qualities that made it a positive experience.
Each person is asked to focus on a memory and really think about the story behind it.
- What did it feel like?
- What did it look like?
- How did people act?
- How did you act?
Then we can start to understand all the little components that make up the ideal state you’re looking for.
Bringing it Back to the Present
Once that ideal picture has become clearer, it’s time to return to the present and ask: Where do we already see pieces of that in your current situation? There’s always something that’s working, but we’re trained to ignore it and just look for the problems. Appreciative Inquiry helps us go back to that strengths-based mindset.
With that kind of lens, everything changes. I’m convinced that if organizations could really put this into practice, we could transform everything. It’s a very exciting tool, and teams always sense that quickly when we get in a room together.
What About the Skeptics?
Now you might wonder how this all goes over with the more cynical folks in the room. Honestly, I’m usually one of them. If you’re familiar with Everything DiSC ®, a valuable assessment tool we use at LumenusWorks, I’m a “DC” personality style. That means I move through the world with a fair amount of skepticism, and I’m a very direct person.
But just as I’m continuously impressed by how meaningful Appreciative Inquiry is, everyone in the room tends to have the same reaction. People just really enjoy this process, and I think it can almost feel like a relief to focus on all the good that’s already in place.
Anytime, Anywhere
The original Appreciative Inquiry method is designed to be an all-day process for teams to dig into. But I find myself calling it into practice way more often, using pieces of the process I just described. It’s really a mental framework you can exercise, as opposed to strictly a facilitation tool. One of our clients even uses it for performance review conversations now.
The ultimate goal is to weave it into everything we do, and it’s such a natural fit at LumenusWorks because it puts people at the center and it focuses on shining a light on each individual’s strengths. If this is the kind of model you think might benefit your team, let’s have a virtual coffee. I get so excited about this work, and I’d be happy to share more about how it can transform everything.
