Carol Sager asks for further info on Appreciative Inquiry (my post
LO4555). Carol, you should really contact Bliss Brown at Imagine Chicago.
Sounds like you two have similar experiences and objectives. She can fill
you in on the details of applying Appreciative Inquiry to community work.
Mention that you heard about her from a colleague of David Cooperrider
(I've met Bliss once; she may remember me).
In terms of the application of AI to the private sector, I see it as an
alternative approach to visioning. Through interviews with cross-sections
of people asking about things like "what attracted you to this
organization?" "describe this organization when things are functioning at
their best;" and "what would you say is the 'glue' or 'life-giving force'
that holds this organization together, without which it couldn't exist?"
themes emerge which can become the basis for an articulation of
principles, values and aspirations. The top can definitely be involved
(of course, it's better if they sponsor the process), but to me the
process is a bit more of bottoms-up (vs. top-down) visioning. But the
real power is in translating the energy created through this step to an
action phase where people are encouraged to be creative in closing the gap
between their espoused vision and their current reality. Cooperrider at
Case has published examples of how the process was applied to private
sector orgs (e.g. Cooperrider & Barrett J. of Applied Behavior Science
(1991)) and, more recently, global change orgs.
-- Hank Jonas JonasHS@corning.com