Appreciative Inquiry is both an “informing philosophy” and a methodology. The methodology can be thought of as an underlying operating system that can support any number of “applications” provided they are life affirming, designed to bring out the best in others and offer a positive approach to change.

The AI Model (Operating System) has five key activities, each building on the previous step and designed to put an upward spiral of positive momentum in place.

Five Key Appreciative Inquiry Activities:

Define the Topic of Inquiry: This is the most important step because it launches the inquiry.  It is based on the idea that what we choose to study expands. The topic launches our direction, determines who participates, and impacts the outcomes of the inquiry.  Everything revolves around the topic and so it is placed in the center of the model.

Discover the strengths: Identifying elements that bring life to a situation is critical because it stimulates new thinking which leads to breakthrough solutions. The Discovery Phase is based on hearing the stories of others and learning about “high point” moments when people were at their best.  As people listen to stories of success and make connections with each other through their stories, they begin to align with each other and form the basis for collaborating.  The essential element in this phase is designing the appropriate “life giving” questions related to the topic at hand. Thoughtful planning and pre-testing of questions is critical so that people can think BIG.

Dream the future: Using bold words to imagine the future creates a compelling vision that mobilizes people, re-prioritizes resources, and gains leadership commitments.  A new and different future emerges when people working together engage in possibility thinking where ideas build on each other to generate a grander vision than can be created by one person acting alone.

Design the plan: Once the vision is created, a high-level plan is co-created with participants to outline some high level activities to accomplish the vision.

Destiny: Some call it the “doing” stage.  A detailed project plan or integrated master plan is created and implemented.  As the dream is activated, tasks are evaluated and improvements are made so that the work achieves the best results. Thisrequires constant awareness and identification of:

- Things that are working,

- Things that could be even better

- Things we can do right now  (as a way to prioritize work)

It is important to note that the AI process is circular and is structured to create an upward spiral of positive change.   It is also worth mentioning that this is not necessarily a sequential process’ all of these activities may exist simultaneously.