Appreciative Inquiry Accelerating Positive Change James D. Ludema, Ph.D. Benedictine University

What Do We Want? Innovation: “Business Unusual” Strategic Simplification: “A Unique Competitive Advantage” Precision in Planning: “Linked at All Levels” Positive Energy: “A Culture of High Performance”

“The world is increasingly divided into two kinds of organizations -- those that can get no further than continuous improvement, and those who’ve made the jump to radical innovation.” Gary Hamel, Leading the Revolution

Problem Solving Appreciative Inquiry Slow Conservative Leads to Organizational Inertia Mixed Results High-Velocity Change Innovation Explosion.. Energy for Action -- Hope, Cooperation Commitment A Culture of High Performance

Positive Results -- BP Procare 100 stores in two states Interviews with satisfied customers Generative Benchmarking 89% fully satisfied customers after 8 months

Problem Solving Appreciative Inquiry Slow Conservative Leads to Organizational Depression Mixed Results High-Velocity Change Innovation Explosion.. Energy for Action -- Hope, Cooperation Commitment A Culture of High Performance

Positive Results -- Nutrimental Foods (Brazil) Whole System Visioning and Strategic Planning Annual Whole System Summits (over 700 people) 200% increase in profits 300% decrease in absenteeism

Problem Solving Appreciative Inquiry Slow Conservative Leads to Organizational Depression Mixed Results High-Velocity Change Innovation Explosion.. Energy for Action -- Hope, Cooperation Commitment A Culture of High Performance

Positive Results -- John Deere Whole System Visioning & Strategic Planning Appreciative Project Teams Improved Relationships Between Labor and Management New Product Cycle Time from 5 to 3 Years $5 Million in New Market Share

Problem Solving Appreciative Inquiry Slow Conservative Leads to Organizational Depression Mixed Results High-Velocity Change Innovation Explosion.. Energy for Action -- Hope, Cooperation Commitment A Culture of High Performance

Positive Results -- One of Your Major Competitors 94 Restaurant Managers in Chicagoland (33 AI, 32 problem solving, 29 nothing) 2 1/2-Year Program Retention in AI Group 30% Higher than Problem Solving Group, 32% Higher than “Ignored” Group. $103,320 Savings in Training Costs Over $1 Million Savings in Total Costs

What would you call it? (all these things taken together) Achievements Strategic opportunities Product strengths Technical assets Innovations Capacities/capabilities Elevated thoughts Best business practices Positive emotions Financial assets Organization wisdom Core competencies Visions of possibility Vital traditions, values Positive macrotrends Social capital Embedded knowledge Business ecosystems eg. suppliers, partners, competitors, customer

The Positive Core “organization alive"

Discovery Best of “what is” Positive Core Discovery Best of “what is” Positive Core Dream What “could be” Vision Dream What “could be” Vision Design What “should be” Relationship & Organization Design What “should be” Relationship & Organization Destiny What “will be” Action initiatives People, Practices Destiny What “will be” Action initiatives People, Practices AI “4-D” Cycle Positive Topic

The Positive Image, Positive Action Relationship Powerful Placebo Pygmalion: Not just the classroom Imbalanced Inner Dialogue (2:1 positive to negative ratio = Health) Rise and Fall of Cultures Affirmative Competence? (Lessons from athletics and selective self monitoring)