Handbook for Strategic HR

CHAPTER 56

Appreciative Inquiry

Debunking the Mythology Behind Resistance to Change

Thomas C. Head

APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY, as a method for introducing and facilitating organizational change, has proven itself a successful and robust methodology. In many ways Appreciative Inquiry might be considered Organization Development’s aspirin. It works for almost everyone and for almost any problem, but no one knows exactly why. One possible explanation, explored here, is that Appreciative Inquiry is successful because it almost entirely eliminates resistance to change.

Briefly, Appreciative Inquiry is a process for diagnosing an organization’s need for change, but one that focuses on the positive elements of the organization. Appreciative Inquiry requires ...