Teaching Appreciative Inquiry: A Positive Interviewing Approach to Organizational Change

In this experiential exercise, students learn about and participate in an abbreviated Appreciative Inquiry (AI) workshop. AI is an approach to organizational change that focuses on strengths and aspirations of what is possible (positive inquiry) in contrast to more traditional approaches to change which often hinge on the assumption that the organization is broken and needs to be fixed. By interviewing each other and engaging in idea generation about the positive aspects of their university, students experience the first two stages of the AI process. Through this activity, students can reflect on the benefits of a strengths-based model of change.