Appreciative Inquiry

Published in the Idaho State Journal on Sunday, March 28, 2010

Appreciative Inquiry is an organizational development model created by Dr. David Cooperrider and colleagues at Case Western Reserve University. With a focus on developing an appreciative eye for that which is life-affirming and generative in businesses and other organizations, Appreciative Inquiry (AI) has many gems of insight that can help us on an individual basis as well. Jacqueline Kelm, in Appreciative Living—The Principles of Appreciative Inquiry in Personal Life, says “Discovering and appreciating what is right builds energy and momentum for change. Feeling good…expands our thinking, buffers against depression, and builds resilience in handling future difficulties.” There are a few principles of AI that can be particularly useful to keep in mind when seeking to change one’s life for the better.

In every society, organization, group, or individual, something works. This can be something in your family unit, something in your job, something in a strained relationship, or something within yourself. Identifying areas in our life and relationships that work well can help us feel like there is a stable foundation on which to build. This principle does not suggest finding reasons to stay in abusive environments; instead, it suggests we identify our personal strengths and capacities to help us leave if necessary and seek a better way of life.

What we focus our attention on becomes our reality. The research behind AI has found that focusing attention on problems and things that are wrong tends to create more problems and things that are wrong. Every minute of every day, we make choices about where to focus our attention. Those areas of attention drive our feelings, decisions, and actions, which serve to nurture and grow whatever it is we’re paying attention to, good or bad.

The act of asking questions is influential in and of itself. If you ask “what’s wrong with me,” there will always be an answer—in excruciating, distorted detail. It might seem an exercise in futility some days to ask “what’s right with me,” but developing an appreciative eye for your strengths, values, and assets creates the beacon, the spot of light, that glows with possibility and hope.

I like the pen and paper approach to mental wellness, and here’s an exercise to try out this appreciative inquiry concept. In the center of a piece of paper, draw a circle and write your name in it. Then, like you might draw a sun, draw out three or four lines. For each line, write a positive aspect of yourself. And everything counts. If you took 3^rd place in the middle school spelling bee, write it down. If you’re nice to people, if you’re good at a craft, if you do well at work, if you volunteer, if you recycle, if you dog-sit. Then, by each item, create branches with all the details. What feelings are associated with it, how does it reflect your personality and values, specific examples, and anything else. If you find yourself on a roll, feel free to make more lines, get a bigger piece of paper, draw pictures, or anything else that inspires you.

Now, you have written documentation of you at your best, which can be a very handy and powerful personal resource. Appreciative Inquiry calls us to re-wire our minds to seek what is good, right, and possible in our lives and work. Considering the long-term emotional and physical toll of doing the opposite, a little re-wiring might be just what we need. Onward!