Over the past twenty years, there have been many approaches to appreciative inquiry. Two key methods of the appreciative inquiry used often in organizations are Whole System Inquiry and the AI Summit.
Whole-System Inquiry
Whole-System Inquiry follows the 4-D cycle to involve all stakeholders (employees, customers, vendors, and interested community members) in the appreciative inquiry process.
The AI Summit
The AI Summit is a full-scale meeting process that concentrates on the discovery and development of an organization’s positive core. The process participants then use this knowledge to design strategic business processes (marketing, customer service, leadership, human resources development, new products). Cross sections of diverse stakeholders participate.
Typically a four-day event, each day focuses on one of the cycle phases.
Case Studies
Roadway Express
In 2000, Roadway Express, a leading transporter of industrial, commercial, and retail goods decided to drive down costs and increase business by creating an organization that expressed leadership at every level. At facilities around their network, drivers, dock workers, and office workers and professionals at all levels would join senior management at annual strategic planning sessions, learn the business, and create new levels of partnership between the unions and the company. Appreciative inquiry was chosen as the change methodology.
At many AI Summits, Roadway looked to increase employee leadership empowerment to increase net profit margins of 5%. At a Summit held at a Winston-Salem, NC terminal, a team of short-haul drivers generated twelve cost-cutting measures. For example, if each of 32 drivers made only one extra delivery per hour, that would result in 288 additional daily shipments.
In first quarter 2003, Roadway reported that their fourth quarter revenues were up 25.7 percent versus the same quarter one year earlier. During the AI Summit process, Roadway stock increased from $14 per share to $40 per share.
When Roadway merged with Yellow to form the new YRC Company, the AI Summit was selected as the vehicle to propel the merger integration to a higher level. As of 2005, more than ten thousand people at YRC had participated in at least one AI Summit. A new electronic and virtual architecture called the Core Strength Network has allowed employees to spread innovation and best practices throughout the organization. Now using virtual meetings with the Network, the company has redesigned the dock in Akron, allowed drivers the opportunity to become successful salespersons, and encouraged one terminal to become the highest margin facility in the company. New software called OvationNet is now taking the online knowledge sharing and collaboration to the next level.
British Airways
In 1999, David Erich, V.P. of Customer Service for British Airways North America wanted to engage employees to make changes to increase work satisfaction and to provide the level of customer service for which the airline is known worldwide. In North America, it was found that best practices were not being identified, shared, or replicated across the 22 stations. Mr. Erich undertook a whole-system appreciative inquiry process to transform the organizational culture.
After several preliminary briefings and meetings where more than fifty line managers and organizational development professionals learned about appreciative inquiry and checked with colleagues in two other companies, a full-scale appreciative inquiry initiative was launched.
During a pivotal core team meeting where affirmative inquiry topics were being selected, the issue of the cost and frustrations of delayed and lost baggage emerged. However upon further exploration by the facilitators, it was determined that the ability of customer service agents to provide an exceptional arrival experience would be a more positive focus. Three other topics agreed to were happiness at work, continuous people development, and harmony among work groups.
Two initiatives would be required in order to effect positive change with the four topics: management commitment and the involvement of the entire workforce. This meant that a whole-system involvement would be needed to achieve the goals.
With the agreement of the core team to steward the process, volunteers signed up for roles including:
- Conducting interviews
- Naming and branding the initiative
- Speaking about AI to groups
- Writing articles or being interviewed for in-house communications
- Serving as the AI coordinator at the station.
A cross-level, cross-functional steering team that included an AI consultant was formed to oversee the issues and team progress. The process was given a name, “The Power of Two”, and the AI initiative took off at British Airways.
Typical of the questions that were asked were:
- Describe your most memorable arrival experience, as a customer or, as airline personnel. What made it memorable for you? How did you feel?
- Tell me a story about your most powerful service recovery. Describe the situation. What was it about you that made it happen?
- Who else was involved and why was he or she significant?
- What tools did you use or what did you do that others might be able to do when in a similar situation?
The Imagine Chicago Project
A third case involves a non-profit community organization in Chicago. Imagine Chicago was founded by Bliss Browne in 1992 to help people imagine and create a positive future for Chicago and its children. Its first project was a city-wide appreciative inquiry process in which 50 at risk youths interviewed more than 150 adult community builders in Chicago to learn about the highlights of their lives as citizens — and their hopes and plans for the city’s future.
During a five-month period, several different strategies were used:
- Provide training to citizen leaders about the appreciative inquiry process
- Learning to ask positive questions
- Team formation and organization strategies
- Brainstorming strategies to determine project focuses
- Action planning
- Implementation and sustaining strategies.
IMAGINE Chicago’s AI work involved three core processes:
- Dialogue — across cultural, racial, and generational boundaries
- Curriculum development — frameworks and organizers to understand, imagine and create projects that build community
- Network formation — to link individuals and organizations committed to developing a positive future for Chicago and its children.
As a result of the AI project consisting mainly of inter generational interviews, Imagine Chicago leaders discovered that commitments of the adult community citizens were rejuvenated, a new sense of shared civic identify was cultivated, and young people felt a greater commitment toward making a difference.