When To Use Appreciative Inquiry - And When Not To Use It
Appreciative Inquiry is an attractive approach to change for many reasons; it generates results fast, it engages people, it liberates creativity, it moves away from ‘blame culture’, and – not least – it feels good to focus on the positive.
Even so, a full-scale Appreciative Inquiry intervention requires a considerable investment of time and resources, and perhaps a shift of attitude on the part of senior management, if it is to succeed.
For simple problems it can be overkill, and a more traditional ‘problem-focused’ approach (diagnose the problem, find the cause, design a solution, and implement it) may be all you need.
So when should you choose Appreciative Inquiry as your problem-solving approach? When one or more of these circumstances are present:
Traditional problem-solving works well in simple systems, or for problems where there is a single, easily-identifiable cause. Where there are multiple causes, or the system is complex, it becomes more productive to identify what is already working, and build on it.
Recurrent problems suggest that the fixes already tried are not addressing root causes, or that some causes have been missed. Even if all the causes are identified, the interactions between them may be too complex to predict that any given fix could guarantee a lasting resolution.
In complex systems, the fix designed to solve a problem in one area can cause worse problems to emerge later, or in other areas. Systemic effects and time-lags can lead to unforeseen consequences.
There's actually a name for this - the "Cobra Effect". When India was part of the British Empire, the authorities were alarmed by the number of poisonous cobras in the Delhi area, so they offered a bounty for each dead cobra that people handed over.
It seemed to work at first - but eventually, there seemed to be just as many cobras as before. Unfortunately, people had begun to breed cobras to get more bounty money.
Once they realised that they were paying out on farmed cobras, the authorities stopped the bounty. This put the cobra farmers out of business, but they released their surplus stock into the wild - so Delhi ended up with even more poisonous snakes than before.
By their nature, complex problems are harder to diagnose. Where no single cause can be identified, this suggests that a different approach is needed. Similarly, where every proposed fix seems to be outweighed by potential downsides, it’s worth turning attention away from the problem and looking for the places where the problem isn’t happening. These will be where the seeds of solutions are already starting to grow.
When You Shouldn't Use Appreciative Inquiry
There are some cases where Appreciative Inquiry isn't the best approach, because of the time and investment involved.
One is where the problem is simple. In that case, just fix the problem! If the problem doesn't come back, then you've fixed it. If it does keep coming back, or the fix causes problems somewhere else in the system, maybe the problem is more complex than you thought and then you can look at using Appreciative Inquiry.
The other case is the kind of 'complicated' problem where nevertheless we can break it down into component problems that can be dealt with by established best practice, and where we can see the causal relationships.
In that situation, just break it down and apply the best practice. Again, if that doesn't work, and you're not sure why, maybe it's a 'complex' problem where Appreciative Inquiry is justified.
If you would like to get started using Appreciative Inquiry confidently with teams and small groups, book your place now on the Practical Appreciative Inquiry course starting on 1st September.
It's only just been announced - so if you'd like to get an additional super-early booking discount (on top of the $100 early booking discount that applies at the time of writing), send me a LinkedIn message or email me at [email protected]