An Appreciative Mind Change

For several years, I presented training programs in problem solving at various corporations. I taught the classical four step problem solving process that has long served the industrial revolution: 1) identify the problem, 2) search for root causes, 3) explore and evaluate possible solutions, and 4) put an action plan in place. My classes always went well and people appreciated learning the process.

Then came an experience that eventually brought me to a whole new mind set on problem solving. I had been doing some manuscript reviews for Berrett-Koehler Publishing, and one of the manuscripts was about Appreciative Inquiry, a change process that approaches problems from a positive perspective rather than from a negative one. At first I felt that AI was ignoring the long history and success of the classic model for problem solving, but slowly I came to see the incredible value in AI.

AI was developed in the early 1980s by David Cooperrider of Case Western University in Ohio. He had been facilitating a group of employees in a discussion on systemic problems at a major medical center. The discussions weren’t going well. Cooperrider saw that the more the group focused on problems the more negative they came to see the organization. He then wondered what might happen if the group took some time away from looking at the problems and instead discussed 1) what was going well in the organization, 2) what they hoped not to change or lose in the problem solving process, and 3) what they appreciated about the organization.

Soon, Cooperrider discovered that the more the group focused on the good, the more their tone and attention turned positive. Slowly, but steadily, an excitement began to build and then the problems were put into a new perspective based on “how do we continue doing what we do well” and “how can we build on these strengths.” Thus, Appreciative Inquiry was born and the strengths movement was underway. And thus, my mind was changed.

Curiously, AI uses nearly the same four step process as classical problem solving, though it focuses on the positive and names the steps differently: 1. DISCOVER what works well, 2. DREAM what would work well in the future, 3. DESIGN processes that would work well, 4. DELIVER the execution of the processes. AI is now widely used internationally, and each year as it grows in use so do the success stories. You can find out more about it at www.aiconsulting.org. and about the September, 2007 Conference: www.2007aiconference.com

Now that I’m retired, my mission is helping transform ours schools into positive organizations that work well for everyone. In my book, I suggest that using AI and a strengths based focus will give our schools a major boost toward that transformation. Another source is The Positive Change Corps (Core), an organization of AI consultants helping to bring AI to the schools. www.positivechangecorps.com