When something goes wrong at work, our instinct is usually to ask: What is the problem? We analyse the gap, identify the causes, find the weaknesses and design an intervention to fix them. This problem-solving orientation is essential. Organisations cannot ignore what is not working. But what happens when we ask a different question: “When are we at our best, and what can we learn from those moments?”
This is the starting point of Appreciative Inquiry (AI).
Developed principally through the work of David Cooperrider and colleagues at Case Western Reserve University, Appreciative Inquiry emerged as an alternative way of approaching organisational change. Rather than beginning with organisational deficits, AI begins by discovering the strengths, relationships, conditions and possibilities that give life to a system.
The important word is Inquiry. Appreciative Inquiry is not simply “thinking positively”. It is a disciplined way of asking questions that can help people discover what is already working, understand why it works, imagine what might be possible and collectively create the conditions for it to happen more often.
1. The Question we ask shapes the Organisation we see
Imagine a hospital where staff morale is declining. A conventional diagnostic approach might ask: “Why is staff morale so low?”
The organisation may produce a list:
- workload;
- staffing shortages;
- communication problems;
- leadership issues;
- administrative burden;
- inadequate recognition.
These may all be valid. But the organisation has also begun to construct an implicit story: “We are an organisation with a morale problem.”
Appreciative Inquiry changes the starting point: “Tell us about a time when you felt particularly proud to work here.” Now a different story may emerge.
Staff might talk about:
- how a team rallied around a dying patient;
- a nurse who noticed a subtle change in a patient;
- a family member who expressed gratitude;
- colleagues covering for one another;
- a creative activity that transformed an otherwise difficult day.
The organisation has not denied the problems. It has discovered something else: There is already life in the system.
Appreciative Inquiry asks: “What was happening in those moments, and how might we create more of it?”
2. Appreciative does not mean pretending everything is good
This is one of the most common misunderstandings of Appreciative Inquiry. Appreciative Inquiry does not mean: “Don’t talk about problems.” Nor does it mean: “Everything is wonderful.” It means that the way we frame the inquiry influences what becomes visible.
A problem-centred inquiry asks: “Why are we failing?” An Appreciative Inquiry might ask: “When have we succeeded despite these difficulties?”
The first question generates information about failure. The second generates information about capacity. Both can be useful.
The distinctive contribution of AI is that it deliberately searches for the conditions under which people and systems have been alive, effective, connected and capable.
3. The Organisation as a Living System
At its heart, Appreciative Inquiry carries a different metaphor of organisation. An organisation is not simply a machine with faulty components. It is also a living human system.
People create meaning through their conversations. They develop shared stories. They notice what leaders pay attention to. They learn what gets recognised. They form expectations about what is possible. Consequently, the questions an organisation repeatedly asks are not neutral.
If leaders continually ask: “Who’s responsible for this failure?” people may learn to protect themselves. If leaders ask: “What can we learn?” people may become more willing to experiment.
If leaders ask: “When have we done this exceptionally well?” people may begin to notice and reproduce successful patterns. Inquiry itself becomes an intervention.
4. The Five-D process
The classic Appreciative Inquiry model is often represented through the 5-D cycle:
Define: What is the topic we want to explore? For example: “Creating exceptional patient and family experiences.”
Discover: What is already working? For example: “Tell me about a time when a resident or family experienced exceptional care.”
Dream: What might be possible? For example: “If we could create that kind of experience consistently, what would patient experience look and feel like?”
Design: What structures, practices and relationships would support that future? For example: “What would we need to do differently?”
Destiny / Deliver: How do we bring it to life? For example: “What will we experiment with, and how will we learn from it?”
The cycle is not necessarily linear. Teams may move repeatedly between discovery, dreaming, designing and experimentation. The important movement is: From what is alive → to what is possible → to what we can create.
5. Discovery: Finding the Organisation’s Strengths
The discovery phase is often underestimated. It is not simply asking people: “What are our strengths?” Instead, AI seeks stories of lived experience. For example: “Tell me about a time when you felt this team was functioning at its very best.”
Then ask: “What was happening?” “Who was involved?” “What did people do?” “What made that possible?” “What did you experience?” “What did you value about that moment?”
The story contains much richer information than a list of strengths. Perhaps the team discovered that its best moments involved:
- psychological safety;
- rapid informal communication;
- shared purpose;
- trust;
- humour;
- leadership presence;
- mutual support.
The organisation now has something to work with.
6. The Power of Stories
This is where Appreciative Inquiry connects strongly with narrative approaches and sensemaking. Organisations live through stories. “We are always short-staffed.” “Management doesn’t listen.” “Our team always pulls together.” “Patients come first here.” These narratives shape identity and behaviour.
Appreciative Inquiry does not simply replace a negative story with a positive one. It looks for alternative stories already present in the lived experience of the organisation. The question becomes: “What other story is also true?”
A hospital may genuinely experience staffing pressures. But it may also have a story of remarkable teamwork. The appreciative question brings the second story into greater visibility. That can change what people believe is possible.
7. Dream: Imagining Beyond Today’s Constraints
The dream phase asks people to imagine a preferred future. For example: “Imagine that three years from now families describe this as one of the most caring places they have encountered. What would they see?”
Notice that this is not a conventional strategic-planning question. It is not: “What targets should we achieve?” It asks people to experience the future imaginatively.
They might say: “Staff know patients by name.” “Families feel welcomed.” “Care teams communicate across disciplines.” “Staff feel proud of their work.”
These statements can become the beginnings of a collective image of the future.
8. Design: Turning Aspiration into Conditions
Dreaming alone does not change organisations. The design phase asks: “What would need to be true for this future to become possible?” If the aspiration is: “Patients experience seamless care across different service points” the organisation might ask:
- What policies need to change?
- What routines need to change?
- What authority do frontline staff need?
- What skills do staff require?
- What conversations need to happen differently?
The appreciative process therefore moves from inspiration to architecture. This is particularly important because organisations are systems of structures, processes, relationships, habits and meanings. A new aspiration needs supporting conditions.
9. Appreciative Inquiry and Leadership
AI changes the role of the leader. The leader becomes less of the person who has the answers and more of the person who creates the questions and conditions through which collective intelligence can emerge.
Instead of announcing: “Here is our new vision” the leader might ask: “What is the best of who we are today?” “What do we want to become?” “What should we never lose?” “What would we be proud to create together?” This is not a withdrawal from leadership. It is a shift from commanding meaning to facilitating meaning-making.
10. Appreciative Inquiry in Performance Conversations
AI can even change the way managers conduct Performance Conversations. Instead of focusing exclusively on: “What needs improvement?” a manager might begin: “Where have you felt most effective this year?” “What were you doing differently?” “What strengths were you drawing on?”
Then: “Where would you like to develop further?”
The conversation becomes: strength → insight → aspiration → development.
This is particularly useful when people have become defensive or demoralised through repeated deficit-based feedback.
11. Appreciative Inquiry in Team Development
A team struggling with collaboration might be asked: “Tell us about a time when collaboration across this team worked exceptionally well.”
Each person shares a story. The facilitator listens for patterns. Perhaps the stories reveal:
- people asked for help early;
- roles were flexible;
- information flowed quickly;
- senior staff were accessible;
- people assumed positive intent.
The team can then ask: “What can we learn from these moments?”
The conversation shifts from: “Why can’t we collaborate?” to: “What conditions enable us to collaborate well?” That is a fundamentally different conversation.
12. Appreciative Inquiry and Organisational Change
Change programmes often begin with a burning platform: “We must change because what we are doing is no longer sustainable.” Sometimes that is necessary. But a burning platform creates urgency through fear.
AI offers another source of energy: “We can change because we have already experienced something worth building upon.” The organisation’s past becomes a resource for its future. This is especially powerful when people are exhausted by continuous change.
Instead of saying: “Everything needs to change” leaders can say: “There is something valuable here. Let’s discover it, protect it and build on it.”
13. Appreciative Inquiry and Psychological Safety
There is also an important relational dimension. People are more likely to contribute honestly when they experience the inquiry as genuinely curious rather than judgmental. Compare: “Why did your team fail to meet the target?” with: “When have you seen this team perform at its best, and what was different?”
The second question does not remove accountability. It creates a different emotional entry point. People can examine their practice without immediately having to defend their competence.
14. Appreciative Inquiry and Action Inquiry
Appreciative Inquiry can also be connected with Action Inquiry. Action Inquiry asks us to examine the relationship between: what I do → what I intend → what others experience → what happens next. Appreciative Inquiry adds: “When does this relationship work particularly well?” This creates a powerful learning loop.
For example: “When am I most effective as a leader?” “What am I doing differently?” “What assumptions am I holding?” “What do others experience?” “What conditions make that possible?” Appreciation therefore becomes not simply praise. It becomes a method for studying effective action.
15. Appreciative Inquiry and Motivational Inquiry
There is also a natural complementarity between Appreciative Inquiry and Motivational Inquiry. Appreciative Inquiry asks: “What gives life?” Motivational Inquiry asks: “What matters to you, and what moves you toward change?”
Together, Appreciative Inquiry can generate possibility. Motivational Inquiry can generate personal ownership.
For example: “Tell me about a time when you felt proud of your work” followed by:“What was important about that experience for you?” and: “How might you create more of that?” The conversation moves from memory → meaning → motivation → action.
16. The danger of superficial Appreciative Inquiry
There is a risk that Appreciative Inquiry becomes reduced to: “Let’s focus on the positive.” That would miss its transformative potential. The real discipline is much deeper. Appreciative Inquiry asks us to become curious about:
- what gives life;
- what creates excellence;
- what enables human flourishing;
- what people value;
- what stories shape identity;
- what relationships make success possible;
- what possibilities are emerging.
And then: How can we intentionally create more of these conditions? That is not positive thinking. It is generative inquiry.
17. From Fixing Problems to Building What Gives Life
Perhaps the deepest shift can be represented like this:
| Traditional diagnostic approach | Appreciative Inquiry |
| What is wrong? | What is working? |
| What caused the problem? | What makes success possible? |
| Where is the gap? | What is already emerging? |
| Who is responsible? | What can we learn? |
| How do we fix it? | What can we build? |
| What should stop? | What should we amplify? |
| Expert diagnosis | Collective inquiry |
| Corrective action | Generative action |
Neither side is sufficient by itself. Healthy organisations need the capacity to diagnose problems and the capacity to discover possibilities. The real question is knowing when each is needed.
18. From Fixing Problems to Helping Organisations flourish
This may be the most important contribution of Appreciative Inquiry. It changes the fundamental question of organisational development. Instead of asking only: “How do we fix what is broken?” we can also ask: “What do we want to bring more fully into being?” That question is especially relevant in complex environments. Because the future cannot always be predicted. Sometimes it has to be constructed collectively.
And perhaps the most powerful way to begin is not with what is missing. It is with what is already present, the moments of courage, connection, creativity, compassion, excellence and possibility that reveal something about who the organisation can become.
The task of leadership is then not simply to solve yesterday’s problems. It is to notice what is giving life today and create the conditions for more of it tomorrow.
A Final Question for leaders
At your next team meeting, instead of beginning with: “What isn’t working?” try asking: “When have we been at our best, and what can that teach us about the organisation we want to become?” You may discover that the future is already present in small moments.
The work of Appreciative Inquiry is to notice them, learn from them, and build from them.
