Page 73 - Appreciative Leadership

46 Appreciative Leadership

it was successful. In these cases they quickly turn why into “Who, what,
where, when, and how was it successful?” Table 3-4 shows negative and
positive variations of who, what, where, when, and how questions. Th ey

are categorically different questions. First, read the column of negative

questions on the left. What do you think of as you read them? How do
you feel? Are they familiar to you? Now, read the column of positive
questions on the right. What do you think about and recall as you read
them? How do they make you feel?
Always focusing on positive possibilities, appreciative leaders
use who, what, where, when, and how questions to uncover strengths,

hopes, and dreams. They ask them to discover who needs to be
involved in a situation, and where or how to go forward in order to
ensure desired outcomes. Consider the following examples:

• When were you at your best?
• Tell me about a high-point experience when you were at your best
doing [your value-based affi rmative topic].

TABLE 3-4
VARIATIONS IN WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, AND HOW
QUESTIONS

Negative Variations Positive Variations
Who Who was involved in creating Who else was involved, and what
this situation? did he or she contribute to the
success?
What What went wrong to cause this What can we do to make a positive
problem? impact?
Where Where are the biggest gaps in our Where are the opportunities to
strategy? leverage our strengths?
When When did this happen? When have we been at our best?
How How did we let this happen? How can we collaborate to get the
results we all want?