ABSTRACT

Appreciative Inquiry is a theory of intentional collective action which provides a model of communication processes for recognizing existing organizational strengths, as opposed to problems, as the basis for action plans. This paper reports on a case where Appreciative Inquiry was improperly applied to an all-day workshop that was aimed at initiating a new interorganizational collaboration (IOC) among 18 different agencies from public transportation and health sectors. We analyze why and how the workshop participants could not envision their potential IOC. The analysis reveals several issues related to the design elements of the workshop, caused in part by the facilitator’s overreliance on Appreciative Inquiry’s 4D model and lack of consideration of the communicative needs in the specific context (i.e. pre-IOC interactions among unfamiliar organizational representatives that have not worked together previously). The paper concludes with suggestions for applying Appreciative Inquiry in IOCs.

摘要

鉴赏性探究是一种有意集体行动的理论，它提供了一种交流过程模型，用于识别与问题相对的现有组织优势，并将其作为行动计划的基础。本文报道了一个案例，该案例将赏识性查询不适当地用于全天的研讨会，该研讨会旨在在公共交通和卫生部门的18个不同机构之间发起新的组织间合作（IOC）。我们分析了研讨会参与者为何以及如何无法设想其潜在的IOC。分析揭示了与讲习班的设计要素相关的几个问题，部分原因是主持人过分依赖鉴赏性查询的4D模型以及在特定情况下未考虑沟通需求（即 以前没有一起工作过的陌生组织代表之间的IOC之前的互动）。本文最后提出了在国际奥委会中运用鉴赏性查询的建议。