Appreciative Inquiry: Three decades of generative impact

In the thirty years since Cooperrider and Srivastva (1987) invited the world to reimagine action research in our organizations as a truly generative tool for social innovation, Appreciative Inquiry has become a generative force in organization development and change. After highlighting in this article some of the many impacts AI has had, horizons for the future of our work as both AI scholars and practitioners are discussed. Written by Lindsey Godwin.

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Lindsey N. Godwin, Ph.D

Lindsey is the Robert P. Stiller Endowed Chair of Management at the Robert P. Stiller School of Business. She holds an MS in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University and a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University, where she studied with David Cooperrider and Ron Fry, the thought leaders in Appreciative Inquiry. Before coming to Champlain, Lindsey served as a research associate for the Center for Business as Agent of World Benefit (B.A.W.B.) at Case Western Reserve University (now the Fowler Center for Sustainable Value) and remains a creative contributor to the Fowler Center today. Her work has been published in a variety of journals and books, such as the Oxford Handbook of Positive Organizational Scholarship. Lindsey was recently a Journal of Business Ethics guest editor for a special issue on positive organizational ethics; she also served as guest editor for a special issue on advances in the AI Summit for the AI Practitioner Journal. Lindsey is an editor and contributor for the fourth volume in the research book series Advances in Appreciative Inquiry. Lindsey has presented at national and international conferences, including the Annual Academy of Management Meetings. She has served as co-chair for past World Appreciative Inquiry Conferences held in Orlando, Florida and Kathmandu, Nepal and on the Advisory Board for the conference in Ghent, Belgium as well as a 2015 conference in South Africa. With a passion for helping organizations leverage their potential through strengths-based change, Lindsey has consulted with organizations including Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, the Vermont Federal Executive Association (VTFEA), World Vision, the Houston Independent School District, the California Teachers Association, Imagine Nepal, the United Nations, the American Society of Association Executives and the Leahy Center for Lake Champlain.

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