They analyze problems, diagnose root causes, and work to fix what isn’t working. While this can be useful, it often comes at a cost—draining energy, narrowing focus, and unintentionally turning people and organizations into problems to be solved.
It begins with a simple but powerful shift: asking questions that help people see what’s working, what’s strong, and what’s worth building on. Instead of leading with gaps and deficits, it invites people into conversations about strengths, successes, and possibilities.
When you lead with an appreciative approach, conversations feel different. People become more engaged, more open, and more willing to contribute. Instead of defending what’s not working, they begin sharing stories of when they’ve been at their best—moments of success, pride, and connection. Those stories aren’t just feel-good reflections; they are rich with insight into what gives life to a team or organization and how to create more of it.
At its core, Appreciative Inquiry is grounded in a few powerful ideas. The questions we ask shape what people notice and talk about, and over time, they shape reality itself. The images we create of the future influence how we act in the present, which is why taking time to imagine a compelling, shared future is so important. Change is more effective and sustainable when it includes many voices, inviting people across a system to participate in creating what comes next. And perhaps most importantly, growth happens faster and more sustainably when we build on strengths and successes rather than focusing exclusively on problems.
People are naturally more energized by conversations about what’s possible than by prolonged analysis of what’s broken. When individuals and teams connect to their strengths and past successes, they gain confidence in their ability to move forward. Ideas for change come from real experience, not abstract best practices, and when people are involved in shaping the future, they are far more committed to bringing it to life.
Over the past several decades, Appreciative Inquiry has been used by organizations around the world—from global companies to nonprofits, governments, and communities—to lead change that is more engaging, more collaborative, and more enduring. What makes it so powerful is that it is not just a method or a set of tools. It is a way of thinking, a way of leading, and a way of being in conversation with others.
You can use Appreciative Inquiry in a one-on-one conversation, in a team meeting, or across an entire organization. It helps you ask better, more generative questions, involve people in meaningful ways, uncover and amplify strengths, and align around a future that people genuinely want to create.
David Cooperrider, PhD, holds the title of “Distinguished University Professor” and is the Fairmount Santrol- David L. Cooperrider Professor of Appreciative Inquiry at Case Western Reserve University, where he is the faculty founder of the Fowler Center for Business as an Agent of World Benefit. David is best known for his original theoretical articulation of “AI” or Appreciative Inquiry with his mentor Suresh Srivastva. Today AI’s approach to strengths-inspired, instead of problematizing change, is being practiced everywhere: the corporate world, the world of public service, of economics, of education, of faith, of philanthropy, and social science scholarship-it is affecting them all. Jane Nelson, at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Leadership recently wrote, “David Cooperrider is one of the outstanding scholar-practitioners of our generation.”
David has served as advisor to prominent leaders in business and society, including projects with five Presidents and/or Nobel Laureates such as William Jefferson Clinton, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Kofi Annan, and Jimmy Carter. David advises a wide variety of corporations including Apple, Johnson & Johnson, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Verizon, Hunter Douglas, Cleveland Clinic, National Grid, Smuckers, Clarke, Fairmount Minerals, McKinsey, Parker, Dealer Tire, and Wal-Mart as well as the Navy, Red Cross, United Way of America, and the United Nations. David is also a founding Board Member of the Taos Institute and the International Association of Positive Psychology. David has published 25 books and authored over 100 articles and book chapters.
“David is an amazing thought leader and his gentle and powerful style of leadership throughout the Appreciative Inquiry process is one that moves people and worlds to better understanding and creative decisions. David not only “leads” people in this process, he inspires people to come together in the AI approach when the participants may be extremely far apart in their thinking at the onset of discussion.”
He has served as editor of both the Journal of Corporate Citizenship with Ron Fry and the current academic research 4-volume series on Advances for Appreciative Inquiry, with Michel Avital. In 2010 David was honored with the Peter F. Drucker Distinguished Fellow award. David’s books include Appreciative Inquiry: A Positive Revolution in Change (with Diana Whitney); The Organization Dimensions of Global Change (with Jane Dutton); Organizational Courage and Executive Wisdom (with Suresh Srivastva); and The Strengths-based Leadership Handbook (with Brun & Ejsing.) David’s work has received many of awards including Distinguished Contribution to Workplace Learning by ASTD; the Porter Award for Best writing in the field of Organization Development and the Aspen Institute Faculty Pioneer Award. In 2016 David was named as one of the nation’s top thought leaders by Trust Across America, and honored as one of “AACSB’s Most Influential Leaders.” In the highest recognition, Champlain College’s Stiller School of Business honored David’s impact with an academic center in his name. Opened in 2014 it is called the David L. Cooperrider Center for Appreciative Inquiry, and David serves as its Honorary Chair and Professor Lindsey Godwin is the Faculty Director. For the center’s dedication Professor Martin Seligman, the father of the positive psychology movement wrote: “David Cooperrider is a giant: a giant of discovery, a giant of dissemination, and a giant of generosity.” Likewise Jane Dutton, former President of the Academy of Management said, “David Cooperrider is changing the world with his ideas and who he is as a person. There are few who combine such insight, inspiration and energy.”
AI is one of those rare grounded and practical frameworks that can change one’s perspective of what is possible. It provides a process for channeling the amorphous energy of social constructionism into coherent and inspirational visions and actions.
Interested in learning more about AI? Want to help you or your organization grow in positive ways? Have research or real-world successes to share?
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