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from IBM

“Gary's visit was a powerful reminder that no obstacle should remain unchallenged and that no person should be dismissed without the opportunity to prove what their passion and determination can accomplish.”

Training Workshops - Apreciative Inquiry

Appreciative Inquiry

Modern organizations participate in constant social and economic change.  They need to continually perform and grow in the face of internal and external uncertainties.  Contemporary organizations accomplish this by remaining perennially adaptive to their environment.  In addition, they also employ innovation as an approach for securing competitive advantage.

Adaptation is propelled by two fundamental sources of energy: Fear and Aspiration.  While Fear has been found to be instrumental in producing extraordinary accomplishments in short periods of time, Aspiration is the engine that has proven to deliver enduring collective learning and change.

Content

Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is an affirmative approach to organizational innovation and adaptation in a fast-paced environment.  It is a paradigm for accelerating organizational learning so as to help build positive, life-centred organizations.  AI is grounded on two basic premises.

The fundamental premise is that human life is a profound mystery to be embraced and explored, rather than a series of problems to be solved.  The corollary premise is that questions and dialogue about strengths, successes, values, hopes and dreams are themselves positively transformational.

The practice of AI involves asking questions in a manner that strengthens a group's capacity to first connect with, and then enhance, its own productive potential.  This approach has been used successfully all over the world to collectively consult with people and learn from their experiences.  It involves whole organizations in change and development.  This methodology also helps build a vision for the future that everyone can share and put into practice.

This workshop on Appreciative Inquiry, upon successful completion, certifies the participant's proficiency in deploying the methodology for organization development and change.

Participation

The participants at the workshop shall learn to:

  • Apply the Appreciative Inquiry framework to a variety of interventions, including strategic planning, change leadership, mergers and acquisitions, employee relations and executive coaching
  • Initiate, facilitate and implement organization development projects using AI
  • Learn the use of Appreciative Inquiry tools that include the practice of appreciative questioning, conduct of appreciative interviews, thematic data analysis, and creation of possibility propositions
  • Frame active propositions that function as a foundation for specific and concrete actions.

This program is specifically intended for internal and external agents who are entrusted with the mandate of facilitating organizational change.  All leaders who want to learn to use AI exclusively or in conjunction with their existing organizational change efforts will also find the workshop very beneficial.