Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is about learning what makes an organisation tick, what makes it a great place to work and enhancing that, so the organisation can learn and develop more of the same. As suggested by the name, this is a process of asking questions that allow people space to reflect on what is good about their organisation and what they can do to enhance that ‘goodness’.

“People live in the worlds their questions create …… if you wish to change your world, you must change your way of asking questions. It could be the moment you do so, a totally new world will take shape around you.” From the Encyclopedia of Positive Questions, Whitney et al, 2002. AI can enhance mediation when the mediator can focus on what has been good, what has been positive and how that positivity can be recreated within the future world of the party.

Examples of four key AI questions used by TCM mediators when working with groups who are experiencing conflict:

1. What has been your best experience of working in your team – a time when you felt most alive, most engaged, and proud of yourself and your work?
2. What’s really important about this experience?
3. What do you value most about it? What do you value most about your work?
4. Without being humble, what do you value most about yourself and the way that you do your work?

Key Authors: David Cooperrider, check out this website