Appreciative Inquiry Training

1
Appreciative Inquiry Training

• Positive Change at the Speed of Imagination

2
Training Overview

• Day One
• Introducing Appreciative Inquiry
• Experiencing Appreciative Inquiry
• Day Two
• Understanding Appreciative Inquiry
• Applying Appreciative Inquiry

3
Ai Training Icons To Know

• Large Group
• Small Group
• Individual Activity
• Flip Chart Task

4
Before We Begin

• Homework. How did it go?
• Questions or Comments

5
Feedback Form Results

• What did you appreciate most yesterday?
• What increased in value for you?
• What did you want MORE of?

6
Understanding Appreciative Inquiry

• Why is it called Appreciative Inquiry?
• Where does it come from?
• How does it work?

7
The Origins of Ai 1980

• David Cooperrider, originator of Ai
• Case Western doctoral student
• Organizational Development
• Hired by the Cleveland Clinic
• Tasked with determining what was wrong in the
  organization for purposes of making improvements

8
What He Discovered

• There was nothing wrong with the clinic

9
The Cleveland Clinic

• High levels of cooperation among staff
• Positive and supportive culture and staff mindset
• Empowerment and innovation were standard
• Egalitarian governance supported a highly
  focused, highly energized professional staff
• Recognized for its outstanding level of service

10
The Impact of the Observer on the Observed

• He refocuses his inquiry into what the Clinic is
  doing well.
• As talk of the research spreads, The health of
  clinic patients begin to show signs of
  improvement.
• Clinic staff are also positively affected.
  Energized and charged by the inquiry, staff
  become enthusiastic about further improving the
  clinic and its care services.

11
The Impact of an Appreciative Inquiry

• The clinic commissions further study and
  eventually adopts a new medical practice at the
  clinic based on Dr. Cooperriders positive
  inquiry discovery.

12
After the Cleveland Clinic Study

• Dr. Cooperrider studies the phenomenon to
  understand its application toward an
  organizational development theory.
• Dr. Cooperrider develops his theory into a
  methodology that would later be called
  Appreciative Inquiry.
• American companies and agencies slowly begin to
  adopt Appreciative Inquiry in the 90s.
• Among the adopters are Visa International, NASA,
  US Navy, British Airways GTE, McDonalds and many
  others.

13
Today

• Appreciative Inquiry has received international
  acclaim, having been adopted by corporate,
  governmental and religious organizations
  worldwide.
• American colleges and universities are only now
  beginning to adopt Appreciative Inquiry for its
  contemporary, humanistic approach to facilitating
  change in egalitarian human systems such as those
  found in todays academic settings.
• STCC, as usual, is one of the first to adopt Ai
  for Strategic Planning through a large-group
  summit.

14
Getting Started With Ai

• When to use Appreciative Inquiry
• Strategic or I.E. Planning
• Change Management / Facilitation
• Continuous Improvement
• Task Force / Committee Work
• Curriculum or Program Design
• Organizational Development
• Mediation (except for Crisis Mgmt)
• Anything involving primarily human systems

15
Getting Started With Ai

• Where Else Might We Use Ai?

16
Getting Started With Ai

• How to select a focus of inquiry (topic)
• An Ai for Ai
• Talk About It Amongst Colleagues
• Establish an advisory team
• What is driving the need for change?
• How do you envision the end of the day?
• What Words Are Important To Us?

17
Topic Choice
?

• A Fateful Act
• Organizations Move in the Direction of What We
  Most Frequently and Systematically Ask Questions
  About!

18
Topics Are

• Positive
• Desirable
• Will stimulate conversations
• Imply a call to action
• Easy to remember
• Get the results you desire
• Spirits of discovery

19
Example of a Topic Reframe

• Problem Student Drop Out Rate
• Focus is on failure
• If we inquire on that topic, discuss it, study it
  and examine it, what will we find? What will we
  unintentionally create more of?

20
Example of a Reframe

• Reframe Successful Course Completion
• With such a reframe, we can intentionally create
  more student success by overloading the system
  with positive images

21
Reframe Practice

• Lets reframe the following problems
• Employee Burnout
• Student Apathy
• Student Attrition
• Poor Customer Service
• Academically Challenged
• Culture of Negativity

22
Topic Creation

• In your small group, identify up to 6 topics that
  could be used at STCC. Make them topics we can
  use for the rest of the day and which you would
  be willing to explore further.
• Place your topics on the Voting Wall
• Examples
• Discovering the Passion to Teach
• Fostering a Love of Learning
• Giving Meaning to the Support Service
• The True College of Choice

23
Your Topic For The Day

• Vote for your favorite topic (2 dots only)
• The top 4-5 topics become table topics
• Choose a table for yourself
• There should be no more than 6 to a table
• Say hello to your new team!

24
Ai Questions Should Ignite The Imagination

• What would the universe look like if I were
  riding on the end of a light beam at the speed of
  light?
• --Albert Einstein

25
The Question Behind the Question

• Whats the biggest problem here?
• Why did I have to be born in such a troubled
  family?
• Why does that dept. blow it so often?
• Why do we still have those problems?

• What possibilities exist that we have not thought
  about yet?
• Whats the smallest change that could make the
  biggest impact?
• What solutions would have us both win?
• What makes my questions inspiring, energizing,
  and mobilizing?

26
Taking Ai to School

• Good Ai questions
• Are stated in the affirmative
• Are built on the assumption that the glass is
  half full rather than half empty
• Provide broad definitions to give interviewees
  room to swim around
• Are presented as an invitation to tell a story
• Value and appreciate what is
• Convey unconditional positive regard
• Evoke essential values and aspirations
• Solicit the compelling moments and provide the
  quotable quotes that will inspire your design

27
Basic Elements to the Typical AI Question

• A Positive Preface (introduce your TOPIC)
• Then a 2-part question
• High point discovery
• Image of desired future
• Refer to The Encyclopedia of Positive Questions,
  an excellent book of questions

28
4 Foundational Questions

• Q1 Peak experience or high point?
• Q2 Things valued most about
• yourself?
• the nature of your work?
• your organization?
• Q3 The core factors that give life to the
  organization?
• Q4 Your three wishes to heighten vitality and
  health?

29
Examples

• Review the following examples on your own to gain
  a better understanding of proper question design

30
Creating the New QuestionExample 1

• From a study of customer dissatisfaction and
  student complaints to

31
Magnetic Connections(Example of a Positive
Preface)

• In the physical world, all matter is held
  together by the pull between opposite electric
  charges. Successful colleges and universities
  are equally magnetic. People connect in
  new and innovative ways. Faculty and students
  are drawn together and fused into a single
  body of teaching and learning. True success is
  achieved when strong connections are made between
  teacher and student that encourage a life of
  learning and exploration.

32
Part A (past) B (future)

• Think of a time when you felt magnetically
  connected to your students, your colleagues, and
  your community. . . Connected in a way that the
  force was so strong that it could not be broken.
  What was that experience like?
• As you look into the future, describe how we are
  connected to our students, our communities and
  our colleagues in a way that is so strong that we
  are seen as inseparable education partners.

33
Example 2

• From an analysis of Employee Grievances to

34
Engagement Positive Energy

• Organizations work best when they are vibrant,
  alive and fun. You know, when the joint is
  jumping! You can sense that the spirit of the
  organization is vital and healthy and that people
  feel pride in their work. Everyone builds on
  each others successes, a positive can do
  attitude is infectious and the glow of success is
  shared. Whats more, this positive energy is
  appreciated and celebrated so it deepens and
  lasts.

35
Parts A (past) B (future)

• Tell me about a time when you experienced
  positive energy that was infectious. What was
  the situation? What created the positive energy?
  How did it feel to be a part of it? What did
  you learn?
• If positive energy where the flame of the
  organization, how would you spark it? How would
  you fuel it to keep it burning bright?

36
Other Question Ideas

• Imagine the year 2020
• Best In Class
• The Call to Serve
• Inspirational Leadership
• When the Going Got Tough
• Going Above and Beyond
• When It Came Down to You

37
Question Crafting Practice

• Craft Three Ai question(s) for your topic 3
  PARTS
• Positive Preface
• A question to evoke a story from persons history
• A question to evoke images of future
• You may use any of the general questions used in
  yesterdays exercise as a template to modify
• Consider using the Three Wishes question as a
  fourth and final question to gather information
  on what your interviewees want more of.
• Photocopy the questions for your team

38
Rules for Interviewers

• Get Institutional Review Board approval
• Follow IRB guidelines and suggestions
• Provide the questions ahead of time
• One-on-one interviewing is key
• Use a comfortable and quiet location
• Use follow-up questions as needed
• Listen carefully, attentively and patiently
• Dont interrupt, if you can help it
• Keep an ear tuned for quotable quotes and
  compelling points

39
Dealing with the Negative

• Postpone the answer until you reach the three
  wishes question to allow reframing
• Listen. They wont be appreciative until they
  feel theyve been heard, if the matter is
  emotionally strong and volatile for them
• Redirect to keep them on task
• Reframe the negative for them by asking follow-up
  questions and then seeking feedback on the
  reframe you might propose in its place
• Remember its just a conversation
• Sometimes, you gotta let it ride itself out

40
Interview Practice

• Each member of your group must select two members
  from other groups and conduct two interview
• Return to your group in 1.5 hours

41
Interview Practice (Short)

• Each member of your group must select one member
  from another group and conduct one interview
• Return to your group in 1 hour

42
Lunch Time

• La Mexicana, Nolana and 2nd St.
• Noon through 1 PM

43
From Dream to Destiny

• Share and discuss your interview results
• ID your common threads and themes
• Create a visual image for your themes
• Draft a Vision / Dream Statement
• Use a Possibility Map (next 2 slides)
• Draft two or three initiatives, pilots or ideas
• Work out the details to make a start
• Identify group commitments
• Share personal commitments
• Lets regroup at 345 PM

44
Our Possibility Map
45
Possibility Map Example
46
Sharing With The Large Group

• Share your groups
• Topic
• Themes and Themes Image
• Dream/Vision Statement
• Design Ideas and Initiatives
• Group Commitments
• Individual Commitments
• Solicit Feedback
• How will you take this idea back to school on
  Monday?
• How can we, the other teams, do to help them?

47
Destiny

• Destiny is simply the follow-through
• Where to begin
• Maintain an appreciative mind-set on all matters
• Make clear and visible about what you all truly
  envision
• Notice and acknowledge positive action by
  individuals and groups who are fulfilling or
  moving toward your vision
• Seek out and praise the positive in those efforts
• Keep your own commitments and help others keep
  theirs
• Get others to praise the positive with you

48
Destiny

• Monitor watch for the successes
• Report the positive to the world
• Celebrate the successes
• Sustain an appreciative environment
• Encourage an appreciative environment
• Remember People will volunteer to do their part
  in the dream they create and believe in

49
Destiny

• Human systems move in the direction of their
  images of the future
• The more positive and hopeful the image of the
  future, the more positive the present-day
  decision and action
• This is true of our students on their first day
  of class, walking into our class

50
Checking Our Work
?
1. Choose the Positive as the Focus of Inquiry
?
?
2. Inquire into stories of life-giving forces
5. Innovate ways to create that future
Ai
?
3. Locate the common, compelling themes in the
stories

4. Create a shared images of a desired future
?
51
The Best Thing You Can Do on Monday To Help
Sustain Your Enthusiasm for Ai

• Keep an appreciative lens that enables you to
  see the best in every situation
• Encourage others to develop an appreciative lens

52
And remember .

• What we ask determines what we find
• What we find determines how we talk
• How we talk determines how we imagine
• How we imagine determines what we will achieve

53
A Wonderful Ai Resource

• http//appreciativeinquiry.cwru.edu
• This is the Appreciative Inquiry Commons at the
  Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western
  Reserve University.
• Please submit/share your new tools, stories and
  studies.

54
Another Resource

• STCCs Ai presentations to date can be found at
  this new web site. They are free to distribution
  and use.
• Expect these class materials to be added in a
  week or so.

www.stcc.cc.tx.us/bacareer/faculty/jcruz/vpits
55
Texts on Ai

• Appreciative Inquiry
• by Jane Magrude Watkins and Bernard J. Mohr
• The Appreciative Inquiry Summit
• by James D. Ludema, Diana Whitney, Bernard J.
  Mohr and Thomas J. Griffin
• Appreciative Inquiry Handbook
• by David L. Cooperrider, Diana Whitney,
  Jacqueline M. Stavros
• The Encyclopedia of Positive Questions

56
Final Housekeeping Items

• Any remaining Parking Lot issues?
• Were all our intended outcomes addressed?
• Dont forget our Valuation sheet for today!

57
The Star Thrower
58
Congratulations, Ai Graduates!
The Star Fish Certificate and Lapel Pin Go forth
and make a difference!
59
A Parting Thought Be Ai

• Be patient and try to love the questions
  themselves. Live the question now. Perhaps you
  will then, gradually, without noticing it, live
  along some distant day into the answer.
• - Rainer Maria Rilke