Practicing Organization Development: A Guide for Leading Change: A Third Edition

THE CLASSIC AND POST-MODERN OD PARADIGMS

Since the 1940s, organizations have used the traditional deficit-based approach to solving problems. It starts with identifying problems, then diagnosing and analyzing the problems, and ends with a plan to fix the problems. AI provides an alternative to this traditional approach to a more affirmative, strengths-based way to look for what is working well in the organization. As Cooperrider, Whitney, and Stavros (2008) describe:

“In its most practical construction, Appreciative Inquiry is a form of organizational study that selectively seeks to locate, highlight, and illuminate the life-giving forces of the organization’s existence. Appreciative Inquiry seeks out the best of ‘what is’ to help ignite ...