The guest editors and Resources column editors of the February 2017 issue of AI Practitioner have brought together resources relating to Appreciative Inquiry and its use with and by young practitioners. Some are new, some are rediscoveries of materials relevant to the topic. We hope that these resources will be useful to both practitioners, researchers and leaders of today, and those of tomorrow.

Articles and Papers

Appreciative Inquiry with Children and Youth: Harnessing a Powerful Approach to Occupational Change

Heidi Cramm and Wendy Pentland (2012)
Journal of Occupational Therapy, Schools, & Early Intervention, 5 (3–4), pp.
239–247. DOI: http://dx.doi .org/10.1080/19411243.2012.744649

This paper focuses on how occupational therapists can use AI to seek answers when practising occupational therapy with children or youth. The paper asserts how, when occupational therapists intentionally use AI approach with children and youth, it changes perspective on framing the problem and how to solve it, as well as locating possible solutions in a given situation.

Preparing Leaders for the Multi-generational Workforce
Rocky J. Dw yer and Ana Azevedo (2016)
Journal of Enterprising Communities : People and Places in the Global
Economy 10(3), pp. 281–305.
DOI: http://dx.doi .org/10.1108/JEC-08-2013-0025

This paper provides insights into how organisational leaders can promote a multicultural environment that leverages multi-generational differences and offers innovative pedagogical approaches that can help better prepare future business leaders for these challenges. It advocates the need to understand generational differences to manage the challenges associated with differences in attitudes, values and preferences regarding leadership, human resource practices and organisational change initiatives.

Appreciative Inquiry Evaluation of Child and Adolescent Community Interventions in South Africa and United Kingdom
David J. Edwards (2015)
Journal of Psychology in Africa, 25(1), pp. 91–94.
DOI: http://dx.doi .org/10.1080/14330237.2015.1007612

The refreshing perspective of this paper is the use of AI for the comparative evaluation of South African and United Kingdom child and adolescent community interventions. South African practitioners in were represented by psychology categories such as student, education, counselling and clinical categories,
whereas UK practitioners were represented by correctional officers and educational specialists. It might be interesting to read the evaluation through the appreciative lens: the word ‘evaluation’ seldom reflects ‘appreciation’.

Changing Landscapes of Education: Teaching Architecture through Inquiry-Based Approaches
aylin yildirim tSCHoePe (2014)
IN: INQuIrY-BaSED lEarNINg fOr thE artS, humaNItIES, aND SOCIal SCIENCES: aConCePtual and PraCtiCal reSourCe for eduCatorS (innovationS in HigHer
eduCation, teaCHing and learning, volume 2), editorS PatriCk BleSSinger, JOhN m. CarfOra.
EmEralD grOup puBlIShINg lImItED, pp.169–195.
DOI: http://Dx.DOI.Org/10.1108/S2055-364120140000002033

Most educational activities still take place in a conservative format of the hierarchical teacher–student relationship in rather traditional educational facilities. But students are motivated and engaged when they understand why information is important for them. Through an inquiry-based approach, abstract information becomes tangible and contextualized. Although addressing courses for architecture students, the inquiry-based learning and teaching experiences from these courses will inform a larger, more general audience interested in the subject matter.

A Balanced Approach to Youth Justice: Strengths-based Practice, Appreciative Inquiry and the Group Consult Tool
Dave Wood (2009)
SOCIal WOrK NOW, VOl 42 aprIl 2009, pp. 30–36.

This article draws attention to vocabularies that are defi cit based in youth justice work with a contrast to vocabularies that are strength based. The focus on a strength based approach is viewed as a shift in paradigm that creates opportunities to look at off enders in diff erent light. It creates space for respecting the off ender and considers them as people who can be dealt with cooperation compared to coercion. The author asserts how, within the context of youth justice, vocabularies of deficit and pathology are dominant and viewing the same situation through an appreciative lens creates an environment of collaboration, participation and empowerment. It also allows for meaningful engagement with youth and their families.

Websites and blogs

How to wrangle a millennial
dangerouS mereditH (2015)
httpS://DaNgErOuSmErEDIth.COm.au/tag/apprECIatIVE-INQuIrY/

Millennials tend to be described either as paragons of empathy and creativity or narcissistic, over-indulged brats. To borrow a phrase from Jane Austen, they
“deserve neither such praise nor such censure”. This article talks about how to manage them in appreciative way – they’re just people, respect them and talk to
them in the same way you do with your older colleagues.

Life-Giving Change: Using Appreciative Inquiry for Youth Ministry
Jake mulder (2012)
httpS://fullErYOuthINStItutE.Org/artIClES/lIfE-gIVINg-ChaNgE-uSINg-apprECIatIVE-INQuIrY-fOr-YOuth-mINIStrY

This blog discusses administering Appreciative Inquiry for congregational services with youth who are new to church. To quote the author “By asking the right people the right questions, it is possible for you to help recreate your youth ministry or even your entire church.” The power of right questions is significant, and it can make a difference in the way the we view the world and our entire surroundings.

Conscious Parenting Through Appreciative Inquiry
tHe PerSonal WellneSS Center (nd)
http://thEpErSONalWEllNESSCENtEr.COm/SErVICES/CONSCIOuS-parENtINg-thrOugh-apprECIatIVE-INQuIrY/

This blog aims to provide insight on how parenting can be infused with AI. The article provides details by raising curiosity regarding conscious parenting. If parenting is designed appreciatively, there is space for building and strengthening relationships with children. In addition, if parents take responsibility for every action, they are able to demonstrate love and affection in a better way, and everyday living is signifi cantly changed for the better. The article provides questions that can be used by readers at all the four stages of the AI 4D cycle.

Positive Questions and Interview Guides Detail
JaCkie StavroS (2014)
httpS://apprECIatIVEINQuIrY.CaSE.EDu/praCtICE/tOOlSQuEStIONSDEtaIl.Cfm?COID=5121

This article is remarkable as it introduces Appreciative Inquiry to kindergarten students. It’s an interesting way to engage the students at start of their schooling
journey. By knowing and using appreciative questions, kindergarten and first grade students get involved in locating possibilities at every level of interaction.
The article provides questions that can be used by consultants and teachers to initiate appreciative conversations. What makes this article thought provoking is
its ability to challenge the preconceived notion of interacting with kindergarten students, at the same time propelling conversations that have the potential to
design and create a future of choice.

Roopa Nandi, Hardik Shah, Dan Saint and Joep de Jong made a selection of research papers and books on the topic Appreciative Leadership. Read all their suggestion here

The research papers are introduced below:

Appreciative inquiry and leadership transitions

Research Paper

Authors: Maureen R Keefe, PhD, RN^∗, ,  (FAAN), Daniel Pesut, PhD, RN, APRN, BC^† (FAAN)

In times of accelerated change accompanied by leadership transitions, Appreciative Inquiry (AI) and sensemaking skills are necessary. AI is a philosophy, a model of change, and a set of tools and techniques that support discovery, dreaming, design, and creation of a vision that inspires people in an organization to move toward a collective destiny. Sensemaking involves sizing up a situation to create a framework for decision-making, creating a context for communication, linking with others, and focusing on what is and what could be. Sensemaking can be facilitated by applying appreciative leadership techniques. In this article, the story of the University of Utah College of Nursing’s and the faculty’s experience with an AI process illustrates the application of the AI leadership strategy to navigating organizational change and a leadership transition.

Journal of Professional Nursing Volume 20, Issue 2, March–April 2004, Pages 103–109

Dialogue on leadership development

Interview

Authors: C. Manohar Reddy*, Vasanthi Srinivasan

Sharing our considerable experience as teachers who have designed and conducted leadership development programmes, we discuss the challenges in the field of leadership development. We distinguish between leader development and leadership development; differentiate leadership theories from leadership development theories; discuss the goals of leadership development programmes and their implications for the design of such programmes e the knowing, being and doing gap and how the goal, cognitive understanding vs. deeper internalization vs. transformation would impact the design; the need to synthesize Western and Indian approaches to leadership development; and the importance of designing coherent leadership development programmes which combine multiple methods and approaches.

www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/iimb Production and hosting by Elsevier IIMB Management Review (2015) 27, 44e55 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.iimb.2015.02.001

Leadership & Organization Development Journal Seeking and measuring the essential behaviors of servant leadership

Research Paper

Bruce Winston

The purpose of this paper was to clarify the nature of how servant leadership is established and transmitted among members of an organization. The second goal was to identify and evaluate the unique actions by a leader essential to establishing servant leadership. The authors’ efforts resulted in identification and validation of ten leader behaviors that seem to be essential to servant leadership. The findings  concluded that the ten-item scale accounts for 75 percent of the variance with a scale reliability α ¼ 0.96. Convergent validity was determined through comparison to Liden et al. (2008) measure of servant leadership. Discriminant validity was established through confirmatory analysis of leader effectiveness, transformational leadership’s four dimensions, a measure of transactional leadership, and an alternative multi-dimensional measure of servant leadership.

Bruce Winston Dail Fields , (2015),”Seeking and measuring the essential behaviors of servant leadership”, Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 36 (4) pp. 413 – 434 Permanent link to this document: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/LODJ-10-2013-0135

“Appreciative Leadership: Focus on What Works to Build a Thriving Organization”.

Video

Diana Whitney

Diana Whitney defines leadership as a powerful relational process and offers five strategies for extraordinary performance in this new video from her presentation to NC SmartStart entitled “Appreciative Leadership: Focus on What Works to Build a Thriving Organization.” because people have continually wanted to talk to me about overcoming adversity. She has going to make an admission that this phrase never sat right with her,  and she always felt uneasy trying to answer people’s questions about it, and she think she started figure out why.”

Distinguishing between transformational and servant leadership

Research paper

Jeanine Parolini, Kathleen Patterson, Bruce Winston

Although transformational and servant leadership has been in existence since the 1970s and theoretical assumptions about the differences began in the 1990s, this paper seeks to relate the first empirical investigation distinguishing between the two leaders, which was conducted recently by the first author.

– Through a review of the literature, the first author established 19 semantic differential scales and two self‐typing paragraphs to differentiate between the two leaders. The scales and paragraphs were formed into an online survey, reviewed by an expert panel, and distributed to 56 randomly selected contacts where 514 participants responded.  Through discriminant analysis, five statistically significant (p=0.000) discriminant items were found that differentiated between transformational and servant leadership.

Jeanine Parolini, Kathleen Patterson, Bruce Winston, (2009) “Distinguishing between transformational and servant leadership”, Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 30 (3) pp.274 – 291DOI

http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.imt.edu:2048/10.1108/01437730910949544

Bridge leadership: a case study of leadership in a bridging organization”,

Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 32 Iss: 7, pp.715 – 735

Case

Ronald S. McMullen, Henry Adobor, (2011) ”

Abstract:

– The purpose of this research is to examine leadership in an intermediary organization whose mission is to facilitate collaboration between large corporations and their smaller suppliers, a bridging organization. A qualitative approach using a single case revelatory method was adopted. Data were collected from a bridgeleader as well as 20 executives of companies involved in the collaboration.

The analysis revealed that the successful bridge leader tended: to build personal relations and goodwill as a way of creating personal obligations on the part of the stakeholders he led; championed the cause of the stakeholders and made their mission his/her own; created opportunities for individual and collective goal achievement; relied on symbolic behavior and ceremonies to reify the bridge mission; and engaged in frequent communication with a liberal use of humor and playfulness to make goals embraceable by the stakeholders in the collaboration.

DOI http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.imt.edu:2048/10.1108/01437731111170012

Toward a theory of spiritual leadership

Research Paper

Louis W. Fry*

A causal theory of spiritual leadership is developed within an intrinsic motivation model that incorporates vision, hope/faith, and altruistic love, theories of workplace spirituality, and spiritual survival. The purpose of spiritual leadership is to create vision and value congruence across the strategic, empowered team, and individual levels and, ultimately, to foster higher levels of organizational commitment and productivity. The author’s first examine leadership as motivation to change and review motivation-based leadership theories. Second, author notes the accelerating call for spirituality in the workplace, describe the universal human need for spiritual survival through calling and membership, and distinguish between religion and spirituality. Next, he introduce a generic definition of God as a higher power with a continuum upon which humanistic, theistic, and pantheistic definitions of God can be placed. He  also review religious and ethics-and-values-based leadership theories and conclude that, to motivate followers, leaders must get in touch with their core values and communicate them to followers through vision and personal actions to create a sense of spiritual survival through calling and membership.

1048-9843/$ – see front matter D 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2003.09.001

and more books…

see more suggestions here 

Appreciative Inquiry Resources features a rediscovery of classic and new resources for your use. Here we are sharing resources that span the young history of Appreciative Inquiry.

Starting with one of Ken Gergen’s influential resources from 1982, we decided to look for resources that show the development of Appreciative Inquiry in (roughly) five-year periods of time. If you are new to exploring these Appreciative Inquiry resources, we hope you enjoy seeing the progression of AI throughout these years. For those of you who are revisiting these resources and the development of AI, we hope that you enjoy revisiting the evolving story of AI and these resources as much as we have.

1982

Toward Transformation in Social Knowledge, Ken Gergen (1982), ISBN: 978-1-4612-5708-0

Ken Gergen’s ideas in this book were influential in the development of Appreciative Inquiry. The discussion on generative theory is embedded into the core of AI philosophical discussions as well as AI methods. Ken Gergen published a second edition to this text in 1994.

1987

Appreciative Inquiry in Organizational Life, David Cooperrider & Suresh Srivastva (1987). In Research in Organizational Change and development, Vol. 1 (129–169), http://goo.gl/sh1PiL

This chapter summarizes well many of the early ideas of AI. Much like David Cooperrider’s doctoral dissertation, this chapter is a call for action research to reach its potential as a tool for fostering social innovation and to advance theory and practice.

1992

A Chicago Case Study in Intergenerational Appreciative Inquiry, Bliss Browne (1995), http://goo.gl/phwaCn

Imagine Chicago was created in 1992. This article by Bliss Browne is an early writing about the use of AI by Imagine Chicago to foster intergenerational civic engagement and community development.

1997

Lessons from the Field, Sue Hammond and Cathy Royal (1998)

This is one of the first published books that focused on practitioner stories about AI. The book is divided into five sections, including case studies, community application and application of theory, as well as other resources. Sue and Cathy also published a revised version of this text in 2001.

1998

To further contribute this sharing of stories by practitioners, Anne Radford published the first electronic AI Newsletter in 1998, leading to the development of the AI Practitioner.

2002–2004

In the years around 2002, there were three cases of Appreciative Inquiry that demonstrate how AI had broadened its application into multiple sectors by this time. These sectors were the military, education, and global politics and corporate citizenship. The following are three resources that tell the story of three events from these three sectors.

US Navy Leadership Summit (2002), https://appreciativeinquiry.case.edu/practice/ppNavy.cfm

Many of the documents and resources related to the US Navy Leadership. Summit and its AI design are still available on the AI Commons.

Leap of Faith: ReDiscovering the Wonder-Full World of Education (2003) https://goo.gl/0Uz9dN

This summary PowerPoint presentation tells the story of this wonderful gathering of people focused on AI and education.

UN Global Compact (2004) https://appreciativeinquiry.case.edu/intro/commentFeb05.cfm

This page in the AI Commons provides commentary and resources related to the UN Global Compact gathering in 2004, where the Appreciative Inquiry approach was used with about 500 participants.

2007

Just like a series of events around 2002 showcase the development of Appreciative Inquiry, a series of publications about five years later reveal how the roots of AI were spreading into different fields. In 2005, Jackie Kelm published her first book on Appreciative Living. In 2008, Dawn Cooperrider Dole, Jen Hetzel Silbert, Ada Jo Mann and Diana Whitney shared their ideas about using Appreciative Inquiry to help families thrive. Then, in 2009, Jackie Starvros, Gina Hinrichs and Sue Hammond published a book about SOAR.

At this point in time, the practice of AI had clearly grown in many different directions.

Appreciative Living: The Principles of Appreciative Inquiry in Personal Life, Jackie Kelm (2005), ISBN: 978-0977216109

Positive Family Dynamics, Dawn Cooperrider Dole, Jen Hetzel Silbert, Ada Jo Mann, Diana Whitney (2008), ISBN: 978-0971231290

The Thin Book of SOAR: Building Strengths-based Strategy, Jackie Starvros, Gina Hinrichs, and Sue Hammond (2009), ISBN: 978-0982206805

2012

A Contemporary Commentary on Appreciative Inquiry in Organizational Life, David Cooperrider (2013), ISBN: 978-1848554887, doi: 10.1108/S1475-9152(2013)0000004001

In the fourth edition of Advances in Appreciative Inquiry, David shared his latest ideas about Appreciative Inquiry in organizational life. It is most interesting to pair this chapter with a revisit to the Cooperrider & Srivastva article of 1987 shared above to get another sense of the development of AI through these years.

2015

An Invitation to Social Construction (3rd Edition), Ken Gergen (2015), ISBN: 978-1412923019

It seems fitting that the most recent resource we share is connected to a resource that is so much a part of the foundation of Appreciative Inquiry. Ken Gergen’s latest edition of this book on social construction is written especially for readers who are new to the idea of social construction.

These Resources are gathered by Roopa Nandi, Matthew Moehle, Hardik Shah

aip-feb-16-ai-promises-and-future-resources are also downloadable as pdf. With more interesting papers and blogs.

Articles and Papers

The Usefulness of Appreciative Inquiry as a Method to Identify Mass Sports Program Success

BERNADINE VAN GRAMBERG (2010) TRANSYLVANIAN REVIEW OF ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCES, 30E, 118-131 HTTP://RTSA.RO/TRAS/INDEX.PHP/TRAS/ARTICLE/VIEW/172/168

This paper considers Appreciative Inquiry as an approach to evaluate the effectiveness of sport service providers who offer mass sports programs. The need for this study is premised on the understanding that there is a relationship between physical activity and good health. With an eye on the intended outcome, it is essential to evaluate mass sports programs that engage people at large. Appreciative Inquiry facilitates understanding and addressing the gap in evaluating the services offered by these programs. Using a strengths-based mechanism, AI focuses on identifying what works best in a culturally sensitive environment, and what draws on lessons from successful mass sports program for future implementation.

Looking Beyond What’s Broken: Towards an Appreciative Research Agenda for Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy

ELMEAR ENRIGHT, JOANNE HILL, RACHEL SANDFORD, & MICHAEL GARD (2014) SPORT, EDUCATION AND SOCIETY, 19(7) DOI:HTTP://DX.DOI.ORG/10.1080/13573322.2013.854764

This paper makes an attempt to use Appreciative Inquiry to conceptualise, change and imagine the pedagogy for sport and physical education. Scholars in the field of physical education realise the absence of effectiveness in the pedagogy of physical education and the need to make it effective. An explicit philosophical move towards a strengths-based approach emphasises questions such as “What keeps me healthy and active?” rather than “What risks, diseases and behaviors should I learn to avoid?” Though this paper explicitly suggests looking at possibilities, at the same time encourages keeping an eye on deficit stories as well. It proposes keeping an overall view of what exists and following a strengths-based approach.

An Appreciative Inquiry Exploring Game Sense Teaching in Physical Education

SHANE PILL (2014) SPORT, EDUCATION AND SOCIETY, 21(2)  DOI:HTTP://DX.DOI.ORG/10.1080/13573322.2016.1160373

This report of research shares a strengths-based appreciative inquiry into the use of a game sense approach for sport and games teaching in physical education. The stories that were part of this research reveal elements “giving life” to the PE teachers’ practice. It is a very interesting report about the use of appreciative inquiry in the context of research, education, and sport.

Changing Lives Through Sport: The Story of the Positive Mental Attitude Sports Foundation Trust

JANETTE HYNES (2010) ADVANCES IN DUAL DIAGNOSIS, (3)1  DOI:HTTP://DX.DOI.ORG/10.5042/ADD.2010.0193

The Positive Mental Attitude Sports Foundation Trust (PMASFT) is a community interest company that uses sport as a therapeutic tool to support the recovery and social inclusion of people living with enduring mental health issues. The PMASFT seeks to engage participants in meaningful activity, build their confidence, support the development of life skills and healthy living, improve physical health and promote education, training and employment opportunities. Through their work the PMASFT develops a sustainable working partnership with health and social care organisations, local authorities and other community services. This paper describes how the PMASFT came into being and highlights some of its achievements.

Books

Flourishing for Sports: Well-Being of a Sportsman from Perspectives of Positive Psychology

CRYSTAL WU (2014) ISBN: 978-1482826043

This book is about flourishing of life in the field of sports. It contains the latest concepts about psychological well-being, from the perspectives of positive psychology. We expect sports fan or just pursuers of happiness and a quality life will find this book enjoyable and get ideas for pursing a flourishing life.

Leisure and Positive Psychology: Linking Activities with Positiveness

ROBERT STEBBINS (2015) ISBN: 978-1137569936

This book explores, from a leisure studies perspective, the central role that leisure has to play in positive psychology, exploring themes such as flow, fulfilment, altruism, well-being, and interpersonal relationships.

Websites & Multimedia

Advising the College Student Athlete: Issues and Strengths

MATTHEW L. KELLY HTTPS://GOO.GL/GZNPLP

Matthew Kelly shares an article online about academic advising for college students who participate in athletics, with a special emphasis on students who are often labeled as “at-risk”.

The Opportunity of Adversity

AIMEE MULLENS (2009) HTTPS://GOO.GL/1T3RNY

In this TED Talk, Aimee shares her own example of how adults in positions of power can ignite the power of a child. She describes her life experiences and how “our language isn’t allowing us to evolve into the reality that we would all want, the possibility of an individual to see themselves as capable.” She further shares that “The human ability to adapt, it’s an interesting thing, because people have continually wanted to talk to me about overcoming adversity, and I’m going to make an admission: This phrase never sat right with me, and I always felt uneasy trying to answer people’s questions about it, and I think I’m starting to figure out why.”

Exploring Advising Models for Effective Student Athlete Advisement

ROBERT LYONS JUNIOR, E NEWTON JACKSON JUNIOR, AARON LIVINGSTON (2015)

THE SPORT JOURNAL HTTP://GOO.GL/LSURQB

This paper focuses on the significance of effective advising in sports education. Citing the advantages of advising students in sports, the authors examine various academic advising models. The appreciative model for academic advising discussed here, is based on Appreciative Inquiry that allow students to make connections between their current academic experience and their future career aspirations. The authors assert that appreciative advising optimises advisor interactions with students in both individual and group settings.

Using Coaching to Unlock Creativity

PERSONNEL TODAY (2008) HTTP://GOO.GL/A4G7GH

This article emphasizes on using coaching with an appreciative lens to release creativity. Appreciative Inquiry is viewed as a focused approach to unleash creativity due to its capability to generate powerful conversations in the process. Compared to a negative or degenerative environment, the presence of a positive environment facilitates generation of creative thought, which is further enhanced by appreciative inquiry. This article intends to give directions in coaching that can be used in various circumstances including sports. This article presents a brief discussion on ‘poetry in motion’, which many enthusiasts can apply in any chosen field.