World Conference Seeks to Expand Appreciative Inquiry Conversation

Listening to someone’s story of struggle and sorrow, and sharing tears is “very much Appreciative Inquiry (AI),” says Philippe Belien. That could be a radical notion to those who know anything of AI, but that’s the sort of idea Philippe and fellow organizers of the upcoming World AI Conference would like to see explored further.

In addition to providing a space for the exchange of ideas and connectivity, the deep mission of the conference is to foster a shift in the AI conversation.

Part of the goal is to connect AI back to its social constructionist roots, the science that looks to reality as a “relational space of meaning-makers.”

“A leading question is, ‘What does AI do with those relations?’” Philippe proposes.

Philippe Belien

Related to this, and a second aspect of the goal, is to expand the AI methodology beyond what has become a common emphasis on studying success.

The basic mistake many AI practitioners make is that “we think it’s all about positivity,” says Philippe, a former physicist who has since complemented his training and experience with a study of AI under Case Western Reserve University professors David Cooperrider and Ronald Fry. He is now a consultant applying social constructionism and AI as well as his earlier sciences to organizational, leadership and personal development.

Philippe notes there’s a tendency — especially for those just introduced to AI — to think it’s only about appreciating the good, and that is what will spark results.  

But this is only a partial understanding of what AI truly is and can limit its generative qualities, he suggests.

Philippe adds we only work with “half the reality” if we emphasize studying only success. We also risk alienating the majority of people who are trained to be deficit-thinkers.

“I think if AI wants to survive long-term, we need to explain to the community, it’s not just studying success, it’s also studying disaster, but in a way that can lead to success,” says Philippe, noting “there’s a lot of good stuff in things that go wrong as well.”

Philippe says for him the essence of AI is “creating positive emotions” — even those that come through while sharing tears of struggle — and “by sharing these emotions new things happen.”

Generativity, he suggests, may be the word to emphasize in the field going forward, in part because it’s a construct, as opposed to a condition, as is positivity.

“The term solution-focused is good,” he adds. “It says what the consequence should be of an intervention, much more than the principles or the nature (of the intervention).

“To make a difference, we need impact; visible, tangible impact.”

Philippe proposes the conditions and impact of a strong AI intervention and/or question include the following:

• The question is generative: it creates something that was not possible without that “close encounter” where curiousness and positivity is present.
• At the same time, it creates with those involved the willingness and capability to change for the better, in a way that connects strongly across differences.
• It creates positive emotions, which lead to positive and collaborative actions. Therefore, a good AI intervention is always strengthening the relations between those involved.
• It increases the level of collective awareness and creates new insights about the system, which can lead to new outsights.
• Sharing this awareness, as well as the positive emotions, is essential to generate the new, in whatever way, showing the relational nature of an AI intervention. It creates at the same time an improvement of the relation with the self.

While there is still need for change, Philippe suggests advances are already being made in these directions. For instance, the line-up for the conference includes sessions dealing with dark emotions or very high-conflict situations, while still applying AI.

— More to Come

For more on the World AI Conference, click this link.

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