Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-1-2007
Abstract
This paper describes the design, conduct and outcomes of an Appreciative Inquiry-based intervention. The subject group was a newly formed unit of a health care organization. The unit was formed by merging elements of two preexisting groups, and was guided by inexperienced managers. Previous interaction between those groups had been characterized by distrust and competition. Appreciative Inquiry provided the foundation for the intervention. Members of the unit galvanized around identified strengths, shared values and beliefs, shared perspectives, and a positive vision of their future; the normative-relational aspect of the intervention. On that foundation, members of the unit developed generative skills and new behaviors for building trust, communicating, connecting, collaborating in thought and task, and organizational learning; the cognitive-behavioral aspect of the intervention. The collective pursuit of their vision and other possibilities, and the use of active application of new behaviors are reflected in the changing structural attributes of the unit's social network. Findings provide insight into how Appreciative Inquiry works, and suggest that the unit has begun a process of conscious evolution and organizational renewal.
Keywords
appreciative Inquiry, social networks, organizational learning, social capital, intellectual capital, social construction, conscious evolution, organizational renewal
Rights
© The Author(s). Kelvin Smith Library provides access for non-commercial, personal, or research use only. All other use, including but not limited to commercial or scholarly reproductions, redistribution, publication or transmission, whether by electronic means or otherwise, without prior written permission is strictly prohibited.
Department/Center
Design & Innovation
Recommended Citation
Carlson, Thomas H., "Appreciative Inquiry-Based Intervention: A Network View of Organizational Renewal" (2007). Student Scholarship. 80.
https://commons.case.edu/studentworks/80