The Promise of Appreciative Inquiry in Library Organizations

Appreciative Inquiry is a different approach to organizational development, one that calls for the deliberate search for what contributes to organizational effectiveness and excellence. Appreciative Inquiry is a practical philosophy that assumes the organization is a “mystery” and a “marvel” to be embraced, not a problem to be solved (Cooperrider & Srivastava, 1987, p. 131). The author’s experience with this different approach to organizational development reveals its power to unleash the creative energy within library organizations. This article describes the principles, process, and some of the practices of Appreciative Inquiry. Introduction Library organizations, like so many other types of organizations today, face the need for significant transformation in the way they are organized, the work they do, the ways in which they perform this work, and in how they meet the challenges of staying relevant and meeting the needs and expectations of their various constituent groups. Leaders of all types of libraries and the staff who work with them continually face new and more complex problems. Libraries have a long history of tackling these challenges and problems with such organizational development efforts as strategic planning, restructuring, redesigning work, and project management. Traditionally such planned change efforts have operated from the premise that the place to begin is with what is wrong, what is not working well, or what needs to change. This approach has been described by some as a “deficitbased” approach, one that focuses on the negative. Some characteristics of Maureen Sullivan, Organization Development Consultant, 3696 Thomas Point Road, Annapolis, MD 21403 219 sullivan/promise of appreciative inquiry this deficit-based thinking are an emphasis on problems; attention to the people who are perceived to be causing these problems; a tendency to be critical of ideas, accomplishments, and the people involved; and a focus on resources that are limited or lacking. Appreciative Inquiry offers a compelling alternative—the quest for the best possible situation. In this quest the focus is on possibilities, not problems; meaningful involvement of people to enable them to contribute their best thinking; attention to learning and generative thinking; collaboration and building trusting relationships; and a focus on existing resources and how to make the best use of them. Appreciative Inquiry Defined Appreciative Inquiry is an approach to planned change that begins with careful attention to and the identification of what has worked in the past and what works in the present. Appreciative Inquiry is a collaborative and highly participative, system-wide approach to seeking, identifying, and enhancing the “life-giving forces” that are present when a system is performing optimally in human, economic, and organizational terms. It is a journey during which profound knowledge of a human system at its moments of wonder is uncovered and used to co-construct the best and highest future of that system. (Watkins & Mohr, 2001, pp. 14–15) Appreciative Inquiry is the “study and exploration of what gives life to human systems when they function at their best. This approach to personal change and organization change is based on the assumption that questions and dialogue about strengths, successes, values, hopes, and dreams are themselves transformational” (Whitney & Trosten-Bloom, 2003, p. 1). Appreciative Inquiry is an approach to the development of human systems that views those systems as life-giving and enhancing; ones that contain positive forces to be understood and embraced. Those life-giving forces emerge from our conversations as a result of our assumptions, values, beliefs, and images. Those conversations govern our choice of actions. If the conversations are energizing and life affirming then the “whole” system can be involved in co-constructing the desired future. Appreciative Inquiry is a strategy for change that begins with the identification of the “best of what is” to enable stakeholders to pursue their dreams and visions of “what could be.” It is a process of collaborative inquiry to clarify the strengths, positive experiences, “good news,” achievements, and best qualities of a group, an organization, a situation, a relationship, or an individual. It is a means to create change based upon the premise that we can effectively move forward if we know what has worked in the past. It is an approach to organizational development that quickly engages people in an exploration of what they value most about their work. It brings forth peak experiences and examples of excellence to enable the creation of the 220 library trends/summer 2004 future organizations that will embody their highest aspirations. As Table 1 illustrates, it is the opposite of the traditional problem-solving approach (Hammond, 1996, p. 24). Appreciative Inquiry has been applied around the world in a variety of types of organizations, including both those with staff represented by unions and those without unions. It also has been applied in community organizations and in small group work. It is now an established approach to organizational development that has been used successfully with diversity programs, team building, strategic planning, work redesign, restructuring, and transforming organizational culture. The practice of Appreciative Inquiry reflects the values and fundamental principles of organizational development. In fact, it represents a return to the tenets espoused by some of the early developers of the field, for example, Kurt Lewin, Richard Beckhard, Chris Argyris, and Douglas McGregor. Origins of Appreciative Inquiry In 1980 David Cooperrider, then a doctoral student at Case Western Reserve University, was engaged in an organizational diagnosis at the Cleveland Clinic. Under the guidance of his advisor, Dr. Suresh Srivastava, he had the insight to shift from the identification and analysis of what was and was not working to a focus on the identification of the factors that were contributing to the clinic’s effectiveness. Cooperrider first conducted a series of interviews with clinic staff to learn what was wrong. During the interviews, he began to notice factors in some parts of the organization that contributed to organizational effectiveness. Cooperrider refocused his work to adopt an “appreciative” approach, to give attention to the strengths, achievements, and positive forces that contributed to excellence. Clinic leaders invited him to help them create an approach to their practice based upon “positive inquiry.” As Cooperrider formalized his theory of change he laid the foundation for Appreciative Inquiry. This early work led to a paradigm shift in how to understand an organizational system (Watkins & Mohr, 2001, pp. 15–21). Table 1. Traditional Problem Solving vs. Appreciative Inquiry Problem-Solving Appreciative Inquiry