Appreciative Inquiry

In the fall of 2006, the officers of Gladwyne Presbyterian Church meet to discuss ways in which we could begin to plan for our future. We discovered a process called Appreciative Inquiry which has previously been used in the business sector and is becoming more prominent in church us. Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is a visioning process that builds upon the positive energy of an organization to create positive change that will lead to a more dynamic organization. It is not change for change’s sake, but change to make the organization healthier with more vitality.

After their experience, the members of the session and deacons agreed that the community of faith at GPC would greatly enjoy and benefit from the AI process. Over the past six months a Vision Team has been formed, they have been trained in the AI process and now are beginning to conduct interviews of the congregation. Yet, many probably have questions about this process, so the Vision Team has decided to provide some more background to the process as well as to provide periodic updates so that the GPC community can follow the Team in its work.

Appreciative Inquiry is based upon the premise that every organization has a life-giving source, a positive core, that provides for the organization. AI, therefore, believes in building upon the positive. The goal of AI is to study the organization and determine what the life-giving source is.

In order to study this source, AI uses a 4D process: discover, dream, design, destiny, in a circular fashion, acknowledging that any community will grow in the direction of its study. If you study and focus upon positive aspects, you will grow in such a manner. This philosophy is very similar to the concept that the body will follow where the eyes lead it. Perhaps you notice when you are driving, that if you focus your eyes on something up ahead, the car will follow where your eyes are directing.

As a process, AI is questioning. It focuses on a question, and allows conversations to help flush out responses to the questions. The questions are offered to help spur thoughts toward a positive outcome. Dialogue is very important as people tell their stories. It is all encompassing, everyone is important in this process.

What assumptions undergird the AI process?

Mark Lau Branson provides a list of 10 assumptions that guide the AI process:

1. In every organization some things work well.

2. What we focus on becomes our reality.

3. Asking questions influences the group.

4. People are more confident in their journey to the future when they carry forward parts of the past.

5. If we carry parts of the past into the future, it should be what is best about the past.

6. It is important to value differences.

7. The language we use creates our reality.

8. Organizations are heliotropic (They gravitate to energy).

9. Outcomes should be useful.

10. All steps are collaborative.

With these ten assumptions, the process takes five main steps:

1. Choose the positive as the focus of inquiry.

2. Inquire into stories of life-giving forces.

3. Locate themes that appear in the stories and select further topics for inquiry.

4. Create and share images for a preferred future.

5. Find innovative ways to create that future.

After discussing many aspects of GPC, the Vision Team found consensus around the concept of community. Whenever the Team discussed GPC, the word community came up time and again. Yet, when we tried to define that sense of community we could not, so the Team has decided to begin its inquiry exploring GPC’s sense of community. At our recent Ocean Grove retreat, the Team began the interviewing process. This process is open to all of the community, members and friends alike, and will also attempt to reach out to those who have worshipped with us in the past. It is the Team’s hope that 80% of the community will participate and offer their stories regarding the community that they have found at GPC.

Be on the look out in the near future for announcements regarding times when the congregation will gather and share their stories.