Appreciative Inquiry and Evaluation – Getting to What Works

Authors

  • David J. MacCoy First Leadership Limited, Toronto, Ontario

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3138/cjpe.29.2.104

Keywords:

Appreciative Inquiry, deficits, generativity, positivity, reframing, social constructionism

Abstract

Appreciative Inquiry (Ai) is described as the cooperative search for the best in people, their organizations, and the world around them. This article describes how Ai has been applied to evaluation in ways that build upon strengths and generate support for improvements. An initial criticism of AI can be that it focuses only on positivity and fosters an unrealistic view of human experience. Contributing to tension with the AI process is a mistaken belief that negative phenomena must be ignored. However, evaluators using AI have found that its appreciative questions, reframing, and generative features set the stage for sound assessment of worth as well as offer potential for powerful solutions.

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Published

2014-11-21

How to Cite

MacCoy, D. J. (2014). Appreciative Inquiry and Evaluation – Getting to What Works. Canadian Journal of Program Evaluation, 29(2), 104–127. https://doi.org/10.3138/cjpe.29.2.104

Issue

Vol. 29 No. 2 (2014): Fall

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2014 David J. MacCoy

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