4.3 Appreciative Inquiry
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4.3 Appreciative Inquiry Alphabetical listing Direct decision making Series of events 500+ £40,000+ running over 1 year +/ Ongoing of methods Series of events 100 £30,000 running over several weeks/months Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is an Who participates? AI can work in — sharing responsibility and approach for creating a vision and various ways. In the UK it usually decision-making. planning to achieve it. AI does consists of a small core group this through understanding and to develop and test appreciative Can it be used to make decisions? 50 £20,000 2– 4 day event Consultation appreciating the past, as a basis questions. They then put the Yes for imagining the future. questions to family, friends and T sometimes strangers. Strengths: Description: AI builds a vision for — Community involvement; the future using questions to focus Cost: Usually between £5,000 and — Easy to include the people who people’s attention on success. £20,000. normally don’t take part; 25 £10,000 One day event Information SUITABLE NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS Questions often revolve around what — It builds on what has worked in RESOURCES: BUDGE LENGTH OF PROCESS WHERE ON THE SPECTRUM OF PARTICIPATION METHOD WORKS BEST Giving/gathering people enjoy about an area, their Time requirements: The the past; a b c d aspirations for the future, and their appreciative questions are — Vision; feelings about their communities. developed, tested and analysed — Partnership working. AI facilitates The questions are designed to in two to four half- or full-day the development of partnerships TYPES OF OUTCOMES encourage people to tell stories from workshops. The results are then by helping partners to identify the THAT THE APPROACH IS GOOD AT PRODUCING their own experience of what works. presented to the wider community values and behaviour they want By seeing what works and exploring in a larger event. Analysing the the partnership to have. why, it is possible to imagine and replies to all the questions can be Map of Existing Opinions construct further success, ensuring time-consuming. AI works best when Weaknesses: that a vision of the future is created it is run as a long term process of — AI is a philosophy first and a Map of Informed with a firm basis in reality. change. method second, so it is fairly PARTICIPANTS CAN BE Opinions loose; Origin: Developed by David When should you use? — Some people view the lack of Self-selected Improved Cooperrider and Suresh Srivastra — When you want to energise direct attention to problems as a Relationships at Case Western University in the a depressed community or weakness; US. They wanted to challenge the organisation; — AI pays little attention to who Stakeholder Shared problem-solving approach to the — When you want to build a vision should be involved. Representatives Vision management of change, by showing but do not want it seen as ‘pie in that organisations are not machines the sky’. Can deliver: Demographic New Ideas to be fixed but organisms to be — Energy; Representatives appreciated. When should you not use? — Shared vision. — When it is important to involve all Specific Empowered Used for: Creating energy by key stakeholders; Won’t deliver: Individuals Participants identifying and building on what — If you cannot recruit a good core — Action, unless an action planning e f Notes works and involving lots of people group; element is added on. a Works with any number e Usually selected by the core group which through outreach by the core group. — When there is no interest in puts together the appreciative questions 56 57 Citizens’ Juries Direct decision making Series of events 500+ £40,000+ running over 1 year +/ Ongoing Series of events 100 £30,000 running over several weeks/months 50 £20,000 2– 4 day event Consultation T AI Example: Ryedale Community 25 £10,000 One day event Information SUITABLE NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS Plan RESOURCES: BUDGE LENGTH OF PROCESS WHERE ON THE SPECTRUM OF PARTICIPATION METHOD WORKS BEST Giving/gathering a b c d The Local Authority in Ryedale, North Yorkshire wanted to base their decisions on a vision for the future that was shared with the community. In September 2002 a core TYPES OF OUTCOMES group was set up with the help of the New Economics THAT THE APPROACH IS GOOD AT PRODUCING Foundation. A dozen local activists and council officers were trained in using appreciative questions to identify people’s important values, aspirations and hopes for the Map of Existing Opinions future. The questions were carefully worded so that solutions were emphasised and not just problems. Map of Informed PARTICIPANTS SHOULD BE Opinions These questions were then used in conversations, meetings, classrooms and even on a specially set-up Self-selected Improved phone-in line. Following this, the core group read four Relationships hundred and thirty scripts and drew out the recurring Contact Anne Radford themes and issues. This process culminated in the Telephone 020 7633 9630 Stakeholder Shared drafting of vision statements around six identified Fax 020 7633 9670 Representatives Vision themes. As far as possible, these propositions Email [email protected] Web www.aradford.co.uk incorporated the exact words of the people who had Demographic New Ideas taken part. Online resources Representatives www.appreciativeinquiry.cwru.edu Case Western Reserve University where AI was first developed Next, the vision statements were taken back to those Specific Empowered who had been involved in the process, giving them the Publications Individuals Participants Griffin, T. (Ed.) (2003), The Appreciative Inquiry Summit: A Practitioners opportunity to make changes before the vision became e f Guide for Leading Large Group Change, Berrett-Koehler, San Francisco a part of the community plan. The final output was an Whitney, D. and Trosten-Bloom, A. (2002), The Power of Appreciative agreed vision of Ryedale’s Community Plan. Inquiry: A Practical Guide to Positive Change, Berret-Koehler, San Francisco 58 59 Citizens’ juries consist of a small tools. They are about enhancing — Enables decision-makers to panel of non-specialists, modelled representative democracy, not direct understand what informed to resemble a criminal jury, who democracy. members of the public might carefully examine an issue of regard as realistic solutions; public significance and deliver a Who participates? Most Juries — The results can also be used to “verdict”. include a ‘best fit’ (demographic) generate wider public debate sample of 12 to 16 members about the issues. Description: A Citizens’ Jury is an of the public. They are brought independent forum for members of together to examine both written Weaknesses: the public to examine and discuss an and verbal evidence about different — Only involves a very small important issue of public policy. It is perspectives on the issue they are number of people, which means deliberative in the sense that the Jury deliberating on. that the wider public may still receives information about the issues hold a less informed view; in question. This information includes Cost: A Citizens Jury usually costs — A challenge for policy makers a full range of opinions, often in the between £20,000 and £40,000. The is how to reconcile these two form of worked up options, on what difference in the costing usually different public voices to create should be done about the issue. relates to how long the process is wider public ownership of the Much of this information is presented designed to last and the exact nature jurors’ recommendations; through witness presentations of the methodology. The original — It can also be difficult for policy followed by question and answer type of Jury introduced into the UK makers to decide how to Example: DTI Citizens’ Jury 2004 sessions. Juries are not designed by IPPR and the Kings Fund tends to proceed if they reject the Jury’s to create a consensus amongst the last for four days and involves much recommendations. The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and Minister jurors, but there does tend to be a preparation time. This version would for Women, Patricia Hewitt, wanted to commission a Citizens’ momentum towards consensus. In a be at the higher end of the costing. Can deliver: Jury to help to develop policies that will support people four-day process, day one is largely — Decision-making that better juggling family and work commitments. The Office of Public about bringing jurors up to speed on Time requirements: The set up time reflects the public’s views; Management worked with the Department of Trade and the issue. Days two and three tend for a jury can be anywhere from two — A high profile example of public Industry to make it happen. to focus on witness presentations to four months. engagement. about different ways of dealing with Sixteen jurors, broadly representative of the wider the issue. Most of the fourth day When should you use? Won’t deliver: population, were recruited. Witnesses came from ten is spent by the Jury developing its — When you have a ‘live’ Wider democratic engagement and organisations, including the Confederation of British Industry, recommendations. contentious issue where the way empowerment. Boots plc and the Equal Opportunities Commission. During the forward has not been decided; four-day jury, the jurors also requested an additional witness Origin: Social Research – the — Juries usually work best where from Sure Start to provide information on the government’s model used in the UK is a mixture feasible policy options have been childcare agenda. of the US Citizens’ Jury developed developed by policy makers by the Jefferson Center, and the about how to respond to a The DTI asked some jurors to keep a diary of their experience German Pannungszelle (planning problem. and also videotaped the process – to be able to share the cell) developed by the University of process with other colleagues.