The Other AI

We live in an age where crisis intervention has become a standard part of organisational development. Conflicts escalate more quickly, funding dries up, teams work under constant pressure, and time and again, discussions begin in much the same way: “We made this mistake here, that problem has cropped up there, and we can improve on that too.”

For years, I’ve been wondering what we lose when we approach things from the perspective of problems. What do we overlook, and what becomes invisible when we focus on shortcomings?

An old love returns

For the second module of our training course “Self:Organisation:Development”, entitled “Transformation at a Deep Level”, I have once again delved deeply into dialogical organisational development, read works by Bushe and Marshak, and prepared for exercises involving generative imagery.

And right in the middle of this row, she turned up again: Appreciative Inquiry.

AI – the ‘other’ AI, as I like to call it – is not a new concept. David Cooperrider and Suresh Srivastva developed it in the 1980s at Case Western Reserve University. Twenty years ago, I I facilitated an AI process for the first time (inspired by Matthias zur Bonsen and Carole Maleh) and have since incorporated the approach into my own processes on many occasions. Unfortunately, it has taken a bit of a back seat in my practice in recent years.

Now he’s back, with a certain sense of urgency, somehow.

What AI actually is – and what it isn’t

Appreciative Inquiry can be translated as appreciative inquiry. That sounds harmless and gentle at first.

Behind this, however, lies an epistemological choice: the way we ask questions determines what we see. And what we see determines what we consider possible.

When I go into an organisation and ask, „What are your biggest problems?", I get a list of problems. If I ask, „When has your collaboration worked so well that you were truly satisfied?" – I get a completely different response. This isn’t about sugar-coating things or denying difficulties; it’s about taking a different perspective and highlighting the living knowledge of what is already working well.

And this knowledge is the real resource.

The classic AI process follows four phases, all of which begin with the letter D:

Discovery – Exploring. What has already worked well within this organisation? What were the highlights, the moments of success? In structured interviews, the participants explore their own stories – and share them with one another. The key here is to gather together lots of little stories, anecdotes and specific memories relating to a place, a time, a topic and the people involved.

Dreaming – Envisioning. Building on what they have discovered, the participants ask: What might be possible? What might this organisation look like if it looked to the future, drawing on its finest moments? Visions take shape – and are allowed to be creative: as a play, a song, a picture, an installation or an exhibition.

Design – Shaping the future. Visions take shape. For individual areas – leadership, communication, culture, structure, etc. – those involved formulate statements about the future. Positive, achievable, understandable. Not as a wish list, but as a shared direction.

Destiny – Making it a reality. Who is doing what? What projects are taking shape? What are the specific next steps? This is where vision becomes action.

Sometimes the term ‘5D process’ is also used; in this case, it also refers to the ‘Define’ stage, which comes at the beginning when the subject of the process is defined.

What I’ve been missing ever since is at least one more phase that celebrates what has been achieved: Dance – dancing. Between Destiny and Dance, there could still be a (Deep)Dive – a deep dive – because achieving genuine transformation often requires staying power.

Attitude before method – and: method is not nothing

I have encountered AI in many different forms: organisations that, at the outset – essentially to get things off to a good start and build momentum – went through the initial ‘Discovery’ phase, only to revert to traditional problem-solving approaches. Or organisations that have soared all the way to the ‘Dreaming’ phase, full of enthusiasm and euphoria, only for those dreams to burst like soap bubbles in everyday life before anything could take concrete shape.

I am happy to recommend that organisations go through the entire AI process, because I believe that the magic of AI lies above all in seeing the process through to the end. Of course, the shift in perspective during the discovery phase can already make a significant difference, and vision-building also features in many other strategic processes; nevertheless, the AI process only truly reveals its magic when it is carried through to completion and when the participants’ mindset is clear: we believe that there are forces within our system that enable development.

Then we look for these strengths, rather than identifying the weaknesses.

And so AI becomes more than just a workshop format; it is an entire organisational development process that requires time and commitment.

A process that still gives me goosebumps to this day

There is one AI process that I still remember clearly, even after twenty years.

An educational institution with forty staff members from a wide variety of roles (craftspeople, teachers, administrative staff, managers) asked us to facilitate a team-building process. We suggested AI and were turned down: there was supposedly so much friction within the team, an unclear division of responsibilities, the different professions would have to adapt to one another, and, in any case, perhaps none of this was necessary after all. We were a little disappointed but accepted the decision. Six months later, the managing director got back in touch: “Let’s go ahead with it after all! If you’re recommending it, it’s probably exactly what we need!” And so it began:

A steering group of six people, drawn from across all departments, took charge of the process. And we spent a total of four full days planning together, spread over a good six months – each day was to be devoted to a specific phase.

During the Discovery session, timelines full of memories emerged, bringing the whole system together – stories that some had never heard before, even though they’d been working there for years, and certain anecdotes that were already doing the rounds were given context for those who’d only just joined the team. I always find the question asked following the exploration(s) particularly powerful: What helped to make these experiences possible? What did you do to make it a success? During the Dreaming session, a new school building was baked out of biscuits, a small wooden house in the garden was redesigned, songs were sung and there was a circus performance. The atmosphere was exuberant, cheerful and truly productive. In the “Design” phase, concrete statements about the future were formulated in response to the questions: How do we want to relate to one another? How do we want to lead? What culture do we want to foster? And because the group had a whole day to work on this, there were many small groups that were able to finalise these statements without an editorial group having to take on this work as part of their day-to-day tasks. In the final phase, the mood became somewhat ‘heavier’, as the euphoria had subsided and the weight of what they had set out to do became palpable. Nevertheless, the first project groups began to form within Destiny, the first steps were taken, and the day ended with 40 commitments, voiced aloud, to each individual’s contribution to the organisation’s continued development.

What really surprised me – twenty years on

Over the years, I’ve been in touch with this organisation time and again; it has grown many times over since then and, last year, took another step (or is it still taking steps?) towards realising one of the many dreams we had back then.

This is not a given, nor is it a promise made by AI. And yet it is a potential that this process offers. And it has to do with leadership.

The leadership of this organisation genuinely wanted this process to happen back then: they had no interest in a feel-good event for the stressed team, nor did they want anything that merely ticked the boxes of employee participation; instead, they wanted real change. They created the space for this and were able to accept that there were answers and ideas which they did not favour, but which emerged from within the system. And they listened and did not forget.

Why this is important right now

In my consultancy work, I am currently seeing many organisations that are under considerable pressure: funding is drying up, structures are breaking down, and teams are exhausted. Crisis is everywhere. It is therefore natural to think mainly in terms of problem categories, and often necessary too; after all, crisis intervention is absolutely justified.

And that is not enough. Organisations that focus solely on their shortcomings lose sight of something crucial: access to what is already alive within them, and to the people who already know how things could be improved. They forget the moments of success from which new energy can spring.

Confidence is not naivety. Confidence is a choice.

Even in difficult times, we can turn our gaze towards where strength lies; perhaps that is precisely what will turn the tide.

I hope we all have the courage, in times of crisis and change, to ask this thoughtful question:

What’s actually going right here?