The planning process is at its best when it is open, inclusive and creative. Appreciative Inquiry, or, AI, is an organizational development process or philosophy that engages individuals within an organizational system in its renewal, change and focused performance.

AI is based on the assumption that organizations change in the way they inquire and the claim that an organization that merely studies problems or difficult situations will keep finding more of the same, but an organization that tries to understand and appreciate what is best in itself will find/discover more and more of what it can actually be great at. Our goal is help you leverage your core strengths to achieve your noblest ambitions. Toward that end we will help you:

• Focus on the strengths of your organization and its stakeholders’ values and shared vision
• Implement a plan that relies on regular, real-time assessments
• Achieve measurable results
• Revise the plan based on developing conditions within the framework of the organization’s core values and strengths
• Involve the whole organization
  • We recognize that in order to achieve optimal growth, we must involve as much of the organization as possible, in appropriate ways
  • We seek to utilize the experience and wisdom of the entire organization, especially those who actually carry out the plans.
• Make it Positive
  • In addition to a standard SWOT, we use the concept of SOAR, as in Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations (the preferred future) and Results (what will it look like when we’ve succeeded)
  • SOAR’s positive, future-focused approach has a number of benefits and ideally leads to open dialog and meaningful conversations, providing plans based on the deepest collective wisdom.