Practitioners of OD are continually discovering, developing and refining techniques for helping organizations renew themselves. Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is a recent development growing out of systems theory in which it is assumed that the organization already has useful mechanisms operating that can be transferred or amplified to other areas of the oprganization where they are needed. Although current practitioners attribute development of AI to Cooperrider & Shrivastra, it also has roots in the systems thinking of Steve DeShazer and his Solution-Focused approach to problem solving with individuals. There is unabated enthusiasm by some people for AI, and while it provides another useful tool for the OD practitioner, it is no more a panacea than other techniques that have emerged over the years. Nonetheless, it is a useful way to view organizational processes. It also capitalizes on existing processes which may reduce the resistance to innovation and insertion of external solutions. The sites linked below provide useful background for AI & SFC.Questions for study:
Links
- Why has AI become so popular? What is driving the change and appeal?
- What are the underlying assumptions about systems and the nature of change?
- What are the mechanisms that make AI effective?
- How would you introduce AI in your organization as a proposed intervention? Be able to describe its stages and how it works.
- Solution-Focused Problem Solving--article by Swenson & Anstett
- The AI Commons--
- AI with teams
- AI in organizational life--key article article by Cooperrider & Shrivastva
- Locating the energy for change--300 page online book (Adobe Acrobat format) with emphasis on AI in community development
- 5 theories of change embedded in AI
- AI & philanthropy--
- Overview of AI--
last updated 9-14-00
dswenson@css.edu