Appreciative inquiry

Appreciative inquiry is an approach which seeks to promote improvement by identifying existing good practices and building on them rather than identifying problems and solving them. It involves:

• Appreciating and valuing what is (identifying potential strengths)

• Envisioning what could be (exploring what could be enabled through developing those potential strengths)

• Dialoguing what should be (gaining perspectives on the benefits of utilising developed strengths for various stakeholders)

• Designing what will be (planning for the development and deployment of those strengths)

(See also Counterfactual thinking)