Appreciative Inquiry of David Cooperrider - Essay Example

Appreciative Inquiry of David Cooperrider Introduction Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is described as discovering and applying new knowledge and innovative ideas about key aspects of organizational life. It basically focuses on the generation and application of knowledge that comes from inquiry into moments of excellence. The concept was developed by David Cooperrider and his team mates in mid 1980’s. It consists of 5 stages of inquiry which are definition, discovery, dream, design and destiny and thus is known as 5D framework. Definition The first stage is “define” which focuses on the awareness of the development. During this stage the topic of inquiry becomes the organization’s main agenda for learning as well as innovation. The questions asked are affirmative in nature and it focuses on the topic valuable to the people who are involved and directed at topics and issues for the success of organization. This inquiry identifies “the area” where the organization needs to change. The change can be of different types which are as follows: Structural Changes The major parts of the organizational changes which are made are the structural changes. These types of changes typically impact how an organisation is run, from the traditional top-down hierarchy. Strategic Changes When an organization has to adapt to external factors, it may go through a major strategic change. Strategic organizational changes are usually quite transformative in nature as they include major adjustments and complete upheavals of the present way the organization operates. People Changes People changes can be of large-scale or incremental. Large-scale people changes include replacement of the top executives with new employees in order to change the entire organization’s culture. Smaller-scale or incremental people changes include sending of management workers to team-building workshops and classes. These changes can be planned or unplanned, which may impact the employee’s attitudes towards work, behaviors of the individual and their performances. Process Changes Process changes define to be an attempt to improve the overall workflow efficiency and productivity of the organization. Organizations implementing these types of changes are highly successful when the new innovative process is applied to employee groups and the outcome of the new process work (Sharma, 2008). In Silkeborg Council (Denmark) the problem in every department was absenteeism. The average number of working days that are lost over the first six months of 2001 was 9.25. One of the departments in which absenteeism was very high was the elderly care department. At this stage the employees and the employers are inquired about the reason for absenteeism and then they are informed about the type of change which should be undertaken by them. The type of change which is made in the Council is people change. The changes are made to help the employees and the employer to reduce absenteeism. These changes can be planned or unplanned, which may impact the employee’s attitudes towards work, behaviors of the individual and their performances. The area of change once identified should be worked upon rigorously to bring productivity in the Council. The factor which is preventing long-term change is the attitude, behavior and performances of the employees towards their work and that’s why the number of absentees increased during that period. The possible reason for absenteeism can be personal problems, or health problems or job dissatisfaction. These are the possible areas where the management should work upon to bring in discipline and proper working of the organization without lost time. The changes implemented at that period could not remain for long time because of the fluctuating behavior and attitude of the employees. The management could not mange properly which led to these disturbances in the council. Discovery The discovery phase is defined as an extensive search phase for “the best of what is“by focusing on the times of organizational excellence. The main outcome of the process aims to give a good depiction of the organization’s affirmative factors which are the intangible and tangible strengths, resources and possessions. The data collected during the process helps to locate and understand the distinctive strengths which lead the organization process when it is functioning to its best. Data collection and the exploration of data detect the main area of the inquiry process. They serve as the main source of learning and then the theories are identified, which will lead to innovation and change. Collecting data is not the main goal of Appreciative Inquiry process as the interviewers assume an active role in order to explore and interview process through their stories of the organization. To lead the Discovery phase interview, the interviewer must listen and learn the main problems of the interviewee. Data collection and its narration are basically the mutual learning processes which lead to increase in knowledge of the interviewer about the main problem areas of the interviewee. Both the interviewer and the interviewee gain knowledge as they explore the interviewee’s values, experiences and aspirations for the organization’s future development. At this stage the actual desire of the interviewee is expressed and thus this stage becomes a very important stage in the whole model (Cooperrider, Whitney and Stavros, 2003). The leadership theory which helps the interviewer to learn about the problem of the interviewee and also motivate the interviewee to accomplish the indentified goals is called the Path-Goal Theory. It explains that good leaders have the ability to improve the motivation of their subordinates by listening to them carefully, identify their problems. Then the leader attempts to clarify the paths they are facing problem in and instructing them in removing the obstacles and to produce good performances. The main belief of Path-Goal theory is that people will have to be more focused and motivated in their decision if they know that they are highly capable of good performances. Then their belief will surely result in appropriate results desired (Wolinski, 2010). John Kotter has introduced eight step change process which leads to change. One of the steps is “Form a Powerful Coalition”. The stage convinces people that change is necessary when there is a problem. This often needs strong leadership quality in a leader to judge the change needed and to support the key people within the organization who need to have change in their work process. To lead to a successful change it is needed to bring together a coalition or a team of workers whose power comes from different sources (Kotter, 2013). Thus in the Silkeborg Council case, the interviewer must possess such leadership quality which convinces the interviewee that change is needed in the working pattern of the interviewee which is affecting the organization. The interviewer should not force his judgment on the interviewee to adopt change but make him understand that change is needed to his working pattern. Based on the interview, different initiatives are undertaken to lead the department without time loss and address the deeper underlying problems which are defined in the first phase. To do so the next step “dream” is explained. Dream The dream phase is a good investigation of “what might be” by escalating on “the best of what is”. It is the point of time when people discover their hopes jointly with their ideas for the organization and world they desire to work for and exist in. During this stage participants are asked to make their own group or community at its best and then an attempt is taken to identify the main goal of the system members and convert the goal in a more appropriate form which will be realistic and meaningful to the whole organization (Cooperrider, Whitney and Stavros, 2003). Thus in this stage initiatives (i.e. “the best of what” meaning the best of the practices that will lead to the solution of the underlying problem) are made to bring in changes such as Organizational Development (OD). In the Silkeborg Council case, following initiatives are taken by the Council to reduce absenteeism: The first initiative is to analyze the reason for lost. Here lost time refers to the time when the employee was not working. Introducing a ‘Stop-Lift’ policy is another initiative, to improve practices in moving and handling in order to reduce lost time caused by back injuries. Here Stop-Lift Policy means a remediation program which helps the employees to identify, examine and eradicate the problems that lead to the behavior that should be addressed. Other initiatives include helping group leaders to develop their supervisory skills by giving them classes to nurture the leadership qualities in them. Initiative is also taken to educate the management team in the area of supervision and leadership. By this the management will become goal oriented and thus will work in favor of eradicating problems like absenteeism. And lastly by helping the management team to take care of the problems of the staff members and motivating them to make absenteeism policy together. An important element of the new absenteeism policy is that illness should be regarded as a common concern for both employer and employee. It should not be treated as a private issue for the employee alone. If the employee is off sick very often or for a prolonged time period then their managers should go into a conversation with the employee about his work, level of satisfaction in work and inquire about his health problem. Then the manager must explore the possible changes that should be made in order to satisfy the employee and reduce his reason of absenteeism. Time Based organizational development methods such as open space and future search can be implemented to bring in changes. The two methods are combined together for helping the employees, to decide how they will implement the change in their life. By doing so, the employee can eliminate the consequences of situations which can bring problem to their life as well as personal life. It also gives them the strength to handle the situation and motivate them to give better performance to the organization (Mehta, 2009). Design In this phase the “vision” of the future is structured which is initially created in the dream phase. Design activities consist of detailed description of the social as well as the infrastructural changes that are needed in the organization that will lead to a better and prosperous future for the organization. This stage looks forward at the practical works that are required to support the vision of the organization. Here, the possible outcomes are expected by undertaking some practical methods for supporting organizational change. Here the types of systems and processes are identified which enables the dream to be realized. Organization development (OD) is a process or activity which is based on behavioral sciences which has the ability to develop an organizational setting which enhances knowledge, satisfaction, interpersonal relationships etc. for the benefit of the organization and even humanity. The process of OD starts with the situational assessment which leads to problem identification. This leads to planning of action and then the plan is implemented to gather data about the problem. Then the data are analyzed to get result and finally feedback is generated by the person who is interviewing the process (White, 2013). In Silkeborg Council case, the following process is to be implemented by the interviewer in order to identify the problems that the employees are facing and also the level of dissatisfaction the employees are having with the work, which is forcing them not to take their work in the way they should be taking it. By doing so the managers should be working on a plan to eliminate the problems of the employee and give him the best way to cope up with the problems. In this stage, specific change management practices are implemented such as Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) or Engagement and Leadership Development Programmes which specifically explain the way that how the change management intervention can be implemented. This enables an effective long term change management and reduction in absenteeism. EAP are the employee benefit programs that are offered by employers to their employees. It is given to the employees to help them with personal problems that might adversely affect their work performances, health and well-being. It generally consists of short-term counseling and referral services for employees. Through EAP the organization and the government agency provides supportive programmes to the employees in order to help them in eliminating the professional difficulties. It can also eliminate the problems that are originating outside the organization which affects the work attendance or the on-job performances (Ludema, 2003). EAP are implemented to deal with a number of problems like marital problems, depression, nervousness and illness. These issues needs consultation and the problem of the employees are kept confidential. The consultation is at no cost for the betterment of the employee. Organizations with established and good EAP succeed to keep in good talents by nurturing their talent and make them comfortable and motivate them to give positive contribution to the organization (Executive Education, 2013). In this Silkeborg Council case, if EAP is implemented then it will bring positive result in the department. If the employees are supported to eliminate their work related difficulties by the employers then the employees will give their full effort and interest to the organizational work and thus can give positive contribution to the organization. If implemented successfully, EAP offer employees to fight against their personal problems and work dissatisfaction and thus motivates them to take interest and responsibility in the work they are assigned to do. As a result the number of days of absents are reduced. The council must also take care of the employee’s health problem through frequent check up of the employees, so that the employee does not suffer from frequent health problems, which increases the number of absenteeism in the organization. A good short-term counseling for employees of the council can detect the problems that are faced by the employees (Gallos, 2006). Destiny Destiny phase also called the delivery phase is the last phase and is the implementation phase which requires a great deal of planning and preparation. The main key to a successful outcome is to ensure that the dream is the focal point. When all the team members engage themselves in the processes the outcome is raft of changes that occurs all over the organization. This stage fuses the personal commitments and organizational commitments for innovating “what will be”. The result of the destiny phase is an array of changes that is undertaken at social and technical infrastructural level of the organization. Change intervention is the key to the process (Warner, 1994). Intervention refers to an intended activity that brings in changes in the organization and the activities in the organization. It is carried out to make improvement in an organization from its current position to a desired position. To achieve the desired change a number of techniques are undertaken. There are many reasons for undertaking change intervention but the main reasons are the following: Feedbacks are provided for the task of the individual or the team of the organizational dynamics. To provide awareness regarding the changing rules and regulations which are created to confront and deal with the issues practically. Improvement in interaction among the employees and openness between the employer and employee is created. To educate the employees to improve their skills and knowledge about the work they are concerned for. Constructive changes are brought to improve the individual and organizational performances. The change management intervention may also fail to take place because of four factors which are epistemic factor, Structural factor, inertia factor and the complexity factor. These factors not only act as the main barrier to change management but also become the main cause which drive the organization into the condition of crisis and even the stage when a second order change intervention is required (Management for all, 2009). The complexity factor refers to the systemic nature of the organizations in socio-economic and even the political context within which an organization operates. It is characterized by the large number of variables and multiple interactions. These characteristics often create counter-intuitive behavior and even make accurate predictions which are difficult to follow in genuine cases. Epistemic factors refer to the difficulties that are significant in managing change situations which relates to the persistent “mental models” and the limitations lies in the inherent knowledge and language (Schien, 2004). The structural factors refer to the difficulties that arise when change efforts fail to produce desired results while the declaration about the need for the structural change is left untouched. Structural resistance to change is often not well understood, which becomes the main difficulty for the successful change intervention. The inertia factor refers to the both living and non-living system which create various modes of resistance to change (Ben-Eli, 2013). In the Silkeborg Council case, the main limitation of the change management intervention is the epistemic factor. The factor describes that difficulties arise in managing change situations which relates to the persistent “mental models” and the limitations lies in the inherent knowledge and language. Here, the employees of the council are reluctant to take in the knowledge that the organization is providing them and they are even reluctant to abide by the rules and regulations of the council and thus are making their own mental model of working in a way they want to. These employees are not only disobedient to the management decisions but also make their own way of work pattern in the council. Thus the number of absentees increased in the period of 2001 (Hotes, 2011). The solution which can balance the situation is the requirement for comprehensiveness which comes from the fact that a whole range of institutional aspects must come under simultaneous consideration. These encompasses the value-related issues which includes intention over all vision and underlying purpose and the core “business”-related issues, institutional culture and leadership style to organizational management processes. In the Silkeborg Council case, the employees should be given knowledge about the organization rules and regulation and also the core business issues along with the organizational culture (Dodu, 2013). References Ben-Eli, M., 2013. Why is managing change difficult. [online] Available at: [Accessed 28 July 2013]. Cooperrider, L., Stavros, J. and Whitney, D., 2003. Appreciative inquiry handbook. San Francisco : Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Dodu, M., 2013. Organizational Development. [online] Available at: [Accessed 28 July 2013]. Executive Education, 2013. Programs for Leadership development. [omline] Available at: [Accessed 28 July 2013]. Gallos, J., 2006. Organizational development. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons Inc. Hotes, W., 2011. Organizational development in 21st Century. Bloomington: iUniverse Kotter, J., 2013. Kotter's 8-Step Change Model Implementing Change Powerfully and Successfully. [online]Available at: [Accessed 28 July 2013]. Ludema, J., 2003. Appreciative inquiry. 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