Purpose and outcomes
To enable full-voice appreciative participation that taps the organization’s positive change core and inspires collaborative action that serves the whole system
Number of participants
20–2,000 involved in interviews, large-scale meetings and collaborative actions
Types of participants
Internal and external stakeholders — all co-creators — those who hold images and tell stories about the organization
Typical duration
- Preparation: work begins with the first question asked
- Conduct method: 1 day to many months in nonconference design; AI Summit: 4–6 days
- Total transition: 3 months to 1 year
When to use
- To create a positive revolution
- To enhance strategic cooperation overcoming conflict, competition
- To catalyze whole-system culture change
- To facilitate high-participation planning
- To mobilize global organization design and development
- To integrate multiple change initiatives into a focused whole-system effort
- To support large-scale mergers and acquisitions
When not to use
- What you are doing already is getting the results you desire
- Commitment to a positive approach to change is lacking
Impact on cultural assumptions
Fundamental shift occurs toward cooperation, equality of voice, high participation, a positive revolution, inquiry and improvisational learning as daily practices, appreciative leadership, and focus on life-giving forces — social, financial and ecological
Creators
David Cooperrider, Suresh Srivastva and colleagues at Case Western Reserve University and the Taos Institute. Created in 1987
Historical context
Theory: Social construction, anticipatory imagery theory, narrative theory
Pragmatics: Postmodern shifts in global organizing, deficit models of change that simply do not serve the greater good
Reprinted with permission from Peggy Holman and Tom Devane, The Change Handbook: Group methods for shaping the future. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
