Appreciative Inquiry - Facilitation Method
Appreciative Inquiry - Facilitation Method is a structured group exercise for closure and transfer: it helps participants close the session and carry learning into the next action.
How to run it
- Define the affirmative topic: what aspect of the organisation do you want to strengthen? Frame it positively.
- Discover: conduct paired appreciative interviews. 'Tell me about a time when \ was at its best. What were the conditions? What did you contribute?'
- Collect stories and identify the themes and factors present when things work best.
- Dream: based on what we discovered, what could be possible? Create provocative propositions - bold statements of the desired future as if it already exists.
- Destiny: what specific commitments and actions will we take to move toward the design?
- Implement and sustain through ongoing appreciative practices.
- Discover: conduct paired appreciative interviews. 'Tell me about a time when was at its best. What were the conditions? What did you contribute?'
Run this exercise live
The facilitator console stays in this browser. Its QR handoff is a short-lived participant snapshot containing only public exercise instructions, phase, prompt, and timer state.
What participants need now
Materials:
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Prompts to use +
Discover: conduct paired appreciative interviews. 'Tell me about a time when \ was at its best. What were the conditions? What did you contribute?'
Collect stories and identify the themes and factors present when things work best.
Dream: based on what we discovered, what could be possible? Create provocative propositions - bold statements of the desired future as if it already exists.
Destiny: what specific commitments and actions will we take to move toward the design?
Discover: conduct paired appreciative interviews. 'Tell me about a time when was at its best. What were the conditions? What did you contribute?'
Run this with your AI assistant +
Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or your own local model: paste this prompt and your AI will co-facilitate this exercise with you.
Adapt this exercise for my exact room. Exercise: Appreciative Inquiry - Facilitation Method. Readiness: Publishable Draft. Core moves: Discover: conduct paired appreciative interviews. 'Tell me about a time when \ was at its best. What were the conditions? What did you contribute?'; Collect stories and identify the themes and factors present when things work best.; Dream: based on what we discovered, what could be possible? Create provocative propositions - bold statements of the desired future as if it already exists.; Destiny: what specific commitments and actions will we take to move toward the design?. Return a concise facilitator script with timing, wording, safety notes, and remote/in-person adjustments.
Origin unverified
- Where we observed it: The current corpus has one observed source organization: Workshop Weaver. (1 source observed, including Workshop Weaver.)
- What that means: we track where an exercise has been observed in public sources. We do not claim to know who created it, or how popular it is.
- No efficacy claims: appearing in this library is not a claim that the exercise is proven effective. Facilitator judgment and context decide whether it works for a given room.
- Method lineage: this exercise shares its method name with work attributed to David L. Cooperrider and David Cooperrider in our people index. That is a name match, not an origin claim.
- Corrections: if you have evidence of an earlier or more accurate source, read our methodology and trust boundary and tell us.