Module 4 - SLPAppreciative Inquiry

For this assignment, think about a team you currently work with or have worked with in the past and how well this team has functioned. Think about both the positives and the negatives, and how the material from the background readings applies to what youve experienced. Then write a 2- to 3-page paper answering the following three questions below. Make sure to cite at least one of the required readings for each of your answers, and to cite at least two of the required readings in your paper:

1. What are some of the key positive aspects of this team? Discuss some specific positives and include some stories of times when the team functioned especially well. Do you think these stories could work in an Appreciative Inquiry approach to come up with a plan to improve the performance of the team?
2. How is the effectiveness or performance of this team usually measured? Could a traditional organizational development approach help identify problems in this team as well as find ways in which team performance could be improved?
3. Overall, do you think an Appreciative Inquiry or a traditional organizational development would be better for this team? If your team was to hire a consultant, what type of approach would you want the consultant to take?

SLP Assignment Expectations

• Answer the assignment questions directly.
• Stay focused on the precise assignment questions; dont go off on tangents or devote a lot of space to summarizing general background materials.
• Make sure to use reliable and credible sources as your references. Articles published in established newspapers or business journals/magazines are preferred. If you use articles from the Internet, make sure they are from credible sources.
• Reference your sources of information with both a bibliography and in-text citations. See the Student Guide to Writing a High-Quality Academic Paper, including pages 13 and 14 on in-text citations. Another resource is the Writing Style Guide, which is found under My Resources in the TLC portal.

Module 4 - BackgroundAppreciative InquiryRequired Reading

To start off, take a look at this very short introduction to the basic concept of Appreciative Inquiry:

Hayes, J. (2009). Appreciative inquiry. Aarhus School of Business https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqHeujLHPkw

Now take a look at this slightly more detailed video. Pay close attention to the discussion of the 4D Model towards the end of the video:

Kelm, J. (2011). What is Appreciative Inquiry? Appreciative Engagement. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwGNZ63hj5k

For a more detailed discussion about Appreciative Inquiry review this book chapter. Pay special attention to discussion starting on page 169 about the differences between Appreciative Inquiry and traditional Organizational Development approaches, as well as the section starting on page 175 about the AI 4-D Cycle:

Rothwell, W. (2010). Chapter 7: Appreciative inquiry. Practicing Organization Development: A Guide for Leading Change (3rd Edition). Hoboken, NJ, USA: Pfeiffer. [Ebrary]

Finally, take a close look at these two short but important articles which provide direct comparisons between Appreciative Inquiry and traditional Organizational Development techniques as well as some of the main advantages and disadvantages of Appreciative Inquiry:

Venter, J. (2010). Appreciative inquiry. Accountancy SA, 42-44. [Proquest]

Zemke, R. (1999). Don't fix that company! Training, 36(6), 26-33. [Proquest]

For more information about Appreciative Inquiry, take a look at the optional readings below which includes an article about a real life practical use of this method and another book chapter that gives a very thorough overview of this method.

Optional Reading

The following book is a comprehensive guide to Appreciative Inquiry:

Watkins, J. M., & Mohr, B. J. (2011). Appreciative Inquiry: Change at the Speed of Imagination (2nd Edition). Hoboken, NJ, USA: John Wiley & Sons. [Ebrary]

For a detailed case study of a real-life use of Appreciative Inquiry, see the following article:

Berrisford, S. (2005). Using Appreciative Inquiry to drive change at the BBC. Strategic Communication Management, 9(3), 22-25. [ProQuest]