Page 68 - Appreciative Leadership

The Wisdom of Inquiry 41

The Flip can be an individual activity—as you just did it—or it
can be done by a group of people, a team, or department. Because
our organizational realities are created in conversations among many

different people, we strongly suggest that you gather your team or a
cross-department group and guide them through The Flip. Th ey will

appreciate being asked to participate in such a positive and strategic
process. And together you will begin the journey of creating a new
organizational or community reality.

The Anatomy of an Appreciative Inquiry Question

Appreciative leaders are versed in the skills of crafting and asking

appreciative questions. Their ability to ask great questions depends

on their ability to craft great questions. The qualities of appreciative
questions are illustrated in the many examples throughout this book.

They are unconditionally positive. They evoke stories rather than lists

of ideas. They are open-ended—yet at the same time, they probe into

specific causes of success. Most importantly, they are sincere requests
to understand the topic being considered from the perspectives of the
people being asked the questions.
Table 3-3 describes the three parts of a great appreciative question,
together with examples—taken from a health care setting—for each of
the three parts. Use this as a model for craft ing your own appreciative
questions.
Each of the three parts of an appreciative question is important:

• Th e affi rmative topic sets the stage. It says, “This is what is impor-

tant for us to learn about and to act upon.” It conveys your core
leadership value.
• Th e lead-in then conveys confidence that we have experienced the

topic. It invites us to draw on our experiences. It is an implicit
validation of the person being interviewed. It sets the tone of the
interview as an open and sincere invitation to tell a story.
• Th e string of probes invites a deep dive into the causes of success.
Together they provide insight into the specifics of the story: who

did what, and how the success was created.