Appreciative Inquiry: A Tool for Organizational, Programmatic, and Project-Focused Change

Kerry L. Priest, Eric K. Kaufman, Kelsey Brunton, Megan Seibel

Journal of Leadership Education

ISSN: 1552-9045

Open Access. Article publication date: 15 January 2013

Issue publication date: 15 January 2013

412
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Abstract

This practice paper describes how leadership education faculty and students at Virginia Tech have facilitated change through the use of appreciative inquiry (Ai) at the departmental level, program level, and project level. Appreciative inquiry has been found to be a useful tool for leadership educators, as its foundation in social constructionist philosophy aligns with contemporary leadership and learning theories. This paper outlines (a) the philosophy of Ai as it applies to organizational development (b) illustrates Ai practices associated with a five-stage model, and (c) highlights three examples that can be used as models for leading change in a variety of organizational situations. The authors suggest that leadership educators are uniquely positioned to serve academic communities as facilitators of change by bridging theory and practice in pursuit of new ways of knowing and working together.

Citation

Priest, K.L., Kaufman, E.K., Brunton, K. and Seibel, M. (2013), "Appreciative Inquiry: A Tool for Organizational, Programmatic, and Project-Focused Change", Journal of Leadership Education, Vol. 12 No. 1, pp. 18-33. https://doi.org/10.12806/V12/I1/R2

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2013, The Journal of Leadership Education

License

This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/


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