Appreciative Inquiry

Appreciative Inquiry (sometimes shortened to "AI") is primarily an organizational development method which focuses on increasing what an organization does well rather than on eliminating what it does badly. Through an inquiry which appreciates the positive and engages all levels of an organization (and often its customers and suppliers) it seeks to renew, develop and build on this. Its proponents view it as being applicable to organizations facing rapid change or growth. Stowell and West (1991) have been credited with the development of the "Appreciative Inquiry Method" (AIM). The Appreciative Inquiry method was proposed in the 1990s and arose out of the lessons learnt from research undertaken into the methods of knowledge elicitation (West,1991). AIM was developed over the years and examples can be seen in Stowell and West (1990) as part of the process of knowledge elicitation and in gathering of expertise in (West, 1992; West and Thomas, 2005; West and Braganca, 2011); as a means of gaining understanding of complex decision making in Smith's (2001) work in mental health; and in understanding management problems Stowell (2001-2009)in a number of systems workshops within the Systems Practice for Managing Complexity network (http://northumbria.ac.uk/spmc)