Appreciative inquiry provides the OD practitioner not only with an approach to change, but also with an opportunity to fundamentally reframe one s philosophical stance that is, to be deliberately hopeful, to work with optimism, to create opportunity, to celebrate the human spirit in change. The AI approach offers us all the process and potential to positively explore, collectively imagine, collaboratively design and jointly commit to a path forward. Assumptions of AI include the following. In every society, organisation or group something works. What we focus on becomes our reality.
Reality is created in the moment, and there are multiple realities.
The act of asking questions of an organisation or group influences the group in some way. If we carry parts of the past forward, they should be what is best about the past. It is important to value differences. The language we use creates our reality. The principles of AI are as follows.