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Help me prepare and run the exercise below. First ask for my participant count, time, setting, access needs and intended result. Check these against the stated limits. Use the supplied rules and materials. Explain any proposed changes before using them, and label them as adaptations. Do not invent source claims or require personal disclosure. Give me one step at a time when I say start. I manage the people, physical activity and clock; do not claim to observe the room. Ask me what happened before choosing a next step.

Reference revision: 3f7aa03836a44a3faf66d4c1fe9c52eab3d1a2c3936eb92c83b2f69b732010a6

# Appreciative Inquiry 4-D Mini-Session

Participants conduct paired interviews about past peak performance, cluster the conditions that made that success possible, and draft present-tense vision statements. They produce shared posters documenting core success factors, provocative propositions, and initial operational commitments.

**Time:** 120 minutes. Source specifies 2 to 8 hours; this run sheet sets a self-contained 120-minute format.
**People:** 4 to 24. Pairs for discovery interviews, then table groups of 4 to 7 for synthesis and design

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Identify past conditions of peak performance to guide practical operational commitments without focusing on deficits.
**Use it when:** Use during strategic visioning, team culture reviews, or project kickoffs to root planning in proven internal capabilities.
**Skip it when:** Skip when an immediate operational failure requires urgent crisis triage or emergency hazard response.

## Materials and tools

- 1 printed interview guide per participant
- 1 flip chart pad per table group
- 1 package of broad chisel markers per table group
- Sticky notes (1 pad per participant)
- Wall-safe masking tape or display stands for flip charts

## Before participants arrive

1. Arrange tables seating 4 to 7 people.
2. Place one interview guide and one sticky note pad at each seat.
3. Set blank flip chart paper and markers at each table.

## Say this to open

Welcome. Today we are using Appreciative Inquiry to guide our plans. Instead of focusing on problems, we will examine moments when our work was at its absolute best. You will interview a partner about a specific success, uncover the conditions that made it possible, extract key themes, write clear statements of our preferred future, and agree on practical next steps.

## How to run it

### 1. Frame affirmative topic and pair participants (10 minutes)

Explain the chosen affirmative topic, such as cross-team collaboration or client responsiveness. Review the interview questions on the printed guide. Ask participants to pair with someone they do not work with daily. If an odd number is present, form one trio where two people share the interviewer role in turns.

### 2. Discover: Conduct paired appreciative interviews (30 minutes)

Partner A interviews Partner B for 14 minutes using the guide. Ring a chime at 14 minutes to swap roles. Partner B interviews Partner A for 14 minutes. Both record specific quotes, supporting conditions, and personal contributions. Use the final 2 minutes to complete written notes.

### 3. Synthesize peak condition themes (20 minutes)

Combine pairs into table groups of 4 to 7. If exactly 7 people attend, keep them together as one whole table. Each person reads two standout conditions from their notes. The table clusters these factors on flip chart paper under clear categories such as Tools, Leadership, Communication, or Workflow. Stop when each group has identified 3 to 5 core factors.

### 4. Dream: Write provocative propositions (25 minutes)

Instruct each table to draft 1 or 2 bold statements describing the organization in three years as if it already exists right now. Neutral example: 'Every project begins with transparent cross-department resource commitments established within 48 hours.' Require present tense language grounded in their discovered themes.

### 5. Design and Destiny: Establish commitments (20 minutes)

Each table reviews its proposition and selects two operational requirements: one procedural adjustment and one personal habit. Participants write these commitments on sticky notes and attach them directly to their table poster.

### 6. Gallery review and closing debrief (15 minutes)

Participants walk the room to read all posters. Gather the whole group. Take up to 4 brief reflections across the room addressing the debrief questions. Assign an owner to collect the posters for implementation tracking.


## Debrief questions

- What common operating condition showed up repeatedly across your stories?
- Which proposition feels closest to our current work, and which will demand the most change?
- What is one concrete practice from your notes that you can apply immediately this week?

**Finished output:** Flip chart posters displaying clustered success factors, present-tense provocative propositions, and initial operational commitments.

## Remote

Run paired interviews in two-person breakout rooms. Reconvene in breakout rooms of 4 to 7 using a digital whiteboard divided into columns for themes, propositions, and commitments. Gather the full room for debriefing via chat or unmuted verbal reflections.

## Hybrid

Pair remote attendees together in video breakout rooms while in-person participants interview each other locally. Have in-person groups take photos of their flip chart posters and upload them to the shared digital whiteboard so remote members can read and contribute during the gallery phase.

## Access and participation choices

- Participants may type interview responses digitally or reference experiences from previous workplaces if new to the current team.
- Any participant may pass on sharing personal work stories and instead serve as table scribe or timekeeper.

## If the session gets stuck

**A participant uses the interview time to complain about current workplace flaws.**

Refocus them gently: 'What does that frustration show you about what you need when work goes smoothly? Let us look at a specific time when that need was met.'

**A table writes vague, generic slogans such as 'We will communicate better.'**

Ask the table to restate the sentence with an observable action: 'What specific behavior will an observer actually see or hear happening on a normal workday?'


## Terms used here

- Affirmative Topic: The specific focus area described in positive, strength-oriented terms rather than deficit terms.
- Provocative Proposition: A bold statement written in the present tense describing an ideal future state as if it is already true.

## Participant material: Appreciative Inquiry Discovery Guide

Affirmative Focus: [Insert Focus Topic]

Interviewer: _________________   Interviewee: _________________

Interview Questions:
1. Think of a time when our work in this area was at its absolute best. What was happening? Describe the specific situation.

2. What internal and external conditions made that success possible? (Consider tools, culture, communication, leadership, resources)

3. What did you and your colleagues contribute to make that moment work?

Notes & Standout Quotes:
- Key condition 1:
- Key condition 2:
- Key condition 3:
- Notable quote or insight:

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in Workshop Weaver's Facilitation Methods library, which attributes the underlying Appreciative Inquiry framework to David Cooperrider.

Retained the 4-D cycle (Discover, Dream, Design, Destiny) and paired interview method from Workshop Weaver. Adjusted table group sizing from 4-6 to 4-7 to ensure groups of 7 participants have a clean, unbroken structure. Set a fixed 120-minute facilitation schedule with clear scripts, explicit hybrid directions, and a printable interview guide.

[Workshop Weaver](https://workshopweaver.com/facilitation-methods/appreciative-inquiry)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/appreciative-inquiry-facilitation-method/