Crafting AI Questions

The Heart of Appreciative Inquiry

Crafting bold, provocative, positive questions is at the heart of Appreciative Inquiry and the power of AI lies in the unconditional positive question. This can be a challenge. We often immediately think what we want is the opposite of what we don’t want. That’s a good place to start, but challenge that thought. Is that all you want? Imagine the ideal!

For example, British Airways had a problem with lost luggage. At first all they wanted was every bag to arrive on time at its proper destination. With some thought and a bigger context, what they really wanted was an exceptional arrival experience for their passengers. Their focus went from “fixing the problem” to designing for the ideal outcome. By delivering an exceptional arrival experience, the occasional lost bag turned out not to be such a major problem.

We offer these resources to support you in crafting AI questions:

Navigating Problems to Outcomes a video “short” highlighting 5 steps to help you move from problem/issue to inquiry questions.

Encyclopedia of Positive Questions, 2nd Edition a handbook on the power of positive questions for every aspect of business–measurement systems, customer focus groups, quality management, team building, performance appraisal, surveys.

Monday Kickstarters a free, virtual series from Conversations Worth Having to help you practice generative questions and positive framing on issues and concerns you are currently experiencing. 

Healing, Wholeness, and Holy Days, by Ezelle Theunissen we recommend all of Ezelle’s blog posts which offer questions to support you on poignant, reflective topics.

Photo by Douglas Hawkins on Unsplash