Appreciative Inquiry Model

In the early 20th Century, a major development in philosophy took place called the Linguistic Turn. Not to bore you into a state of comatose ~ the linguistic turn is based on the notion that language constitutes reality and is not a transparent medium for thought. In layman’s terms: your language defines the way you see the world.

The appreciative inquiry model is not far off from this notion – it asserts that discussions should focus on positive attributes, strengths, and latent potential rather the weaknesses. The principle behind the model is that everything has faults, and an awareness of this fact sets people on a course to continuously improve and develop towards perfection.

There are four archetypes in this model:

• The fault finder: Destructive positive discourses. “Good idea, but …”
• The dictator: Destructive negative discourses. “No!”
• The school teacher: Constructive negative discourses. “No, this isn’t good because …”
• The Appreciative Inquiry Thinker: Constructive positive discourses. “Yes, and we could also …”

Next time you’re in a meeting, try and identify how each person forms their arguments. What category do you fall into?

This model is from The Decision Book. Please make sure to visit 50 Top Models – the author’s website. If you like what you see, buy the book! Support the author and awesome content.