AI As a DEI Tool
AI as a DEI Tool (Not That AI!)
What is AI?
The AI I am referring to is called Appreciative Inquiry and it was created by David Cooperrider in the late 80s. I first came across it in the mid-90s at an experiential learning professionals conference. I was immediately taken by its power to effect positive change and how much it aligned with my philosophy and personality.
AI is a theory, methodology, and process for organizational and social change. “AI seeks out the best of ‘what is’ to help ignite the collective imagination of ‘what might be.’ The aim is to generate new knowledge that expands the ‘realm of the possible’ and helps members of an organization envision a collectively desired future.” ~David Cooperrider
Let me break it down. To appreciate means that we recognize the best in people and the world around us. To inquire means to explore, discover, and learn. Therefore, Appreciative Inquiry (AI) refers to the discovery of the best that has been and that can be.
The basic assumption is that every organization (family, group, company, organization, society) has something that works well, and these strengths and assets can be a solid foundation for creating positive change.
The AI process is referred to as the 4-D Cycle, Discovery, Dream, Design, Destiny. Briefly:
1. Discovery: “What gives life when we are at our very best?” The positive core and strengths of an organization. The stuff that gives identity and purpose.
2. Dream: “What might be?” “What are we being called to be?” It is what we are collectively envisioning. Dreams are big and not bound by space, time, or resources.
3. Design: “What should be the ideal?” It is how we expand our positive core to encompass our collective dream. This requires co-creation.
4. Destiny: “How do we empower, improvise, and sustain the design?”
Learn more about the AI process at https://www.DavidCooperrider.com/ai-process/
There are a ton of resources about Appreciative Inquiry. I list some at the end of this article. I will leave you to explore. Let me get to my point about how we can use this tool to advance our DEI efforts.
Why AI is a great tool for our DEI efforts.
I belong to an incredible group of DEI professionals in the Omaha Metro that meet monthly to do four things:
1. Make it easy for folks doing DEI work to connect with others doing that work.
2. Learn from each other.
3. Help each other get better by sharing our experiences and expertise.
4. Love and support each other.
I have learned millions of things from this amazing group, but one thing has been made abundantly clear, THIS. WORK. IS. HARD. It is hard to get initiated, hard to keep momentum, hard to keep people focused and engaged, hard to stay empowered, and hard to keep the energy up.
This is why I think AI is a tool that can help. AI is an energizing, creative, and empowering process versus a deficit-driven, problem-focused, morale-busting one as is traditional change processes.
We have long been told that “we learn more from our mistakes than our successes.” Want to know why? Because we study mistakes ad nauseam. I mean we even call it a “post-mortem.” Studying what is wrong is debilitating. When we experience a success, we rarely ever explore why that was so successful or how could we apply that to other efforts. If we were to study our success with the same vigor, we would learn so much more. Studying what is right and how to expand it is motivating.
I hear often that we have come a long way but not nearly far enough. I believe that too. Let’s see what we can learn from the “long way.” Not to the ignorance of the “not far enough” but to study what can be applied from what we have learned to change the “not far enough.” Just looking at the problem from a solution focus.
AI has 8 principles:
1. The Constructionist Principle: Words create worlds. It is through our conversations that knowledge is gained and reality is constructed.
2. The Simultaneity Principle: Inquiry creates change. Just by asking a question we are creating change. The inquiry itself is an intervention.
3. The Poetic Principle: We can choose what we study. Our choice makes a difference, it describes and creates the world as we know it.
4. The Anticipatory Principle: Image inspires action. We move in the direction of our images of the future.
5. The Positive Principle: Positive questions lead to positive change. Momentum is gained through positive questions that amplify the positive core.
6. The Wholeness Principle: Wholeness brings out the best. Bringing all stakeholders together stimulates creativity and builds collective capacity.
7. The Enactment Principle: Active “as if” is self-fulfilling. We must “be the change we want to see.”
8. The Free Choice Principle: Commitment comes from the freedom to choose how and what we contribute.
These principles are all intertwined with each other.
My favorite quote is from Joseph Jaworski in his book, Synchronicity the Inner Path of Leadership. He says, “We do not describe the world we see; we see the world we describe.” How we talk about things to ourselves and each other is how we will see them. Words truly construct our world. When we ask positive questions to spark positive descriptions, we simultaneously create change by just asking. When ALL the stakeholders freely choose to engage, co-create, and commit to the image of the future, it inspires us to take action toward that collective dream because we are already living it.
How we can apply AI to our DEI efforts.
The first step in any AI process is to define what I refer to as the development agenda. What are we trying to affect? The scope of the agenda needs to be clear.
For example: currently, the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce CODE (Commitment, Opportunity, Diversity, Equity) Coalition has put out a bold direction of an Inclusive Omaha by 2035. An AI development agenda could be to discover what an inclusive Omaha would be like.
The next step is to decide how the 4-D Cycle can be applied to the development agenda. There are several things to consider:
· How many stakeholders are there?
· Who will step up as champions and leaders of the process?
· How can we accomplish getting the stakeholder voices in the room?
The following step is to design the inquiry. There are three types of questions: inward, backward, and forward. They will use grand words and be very open-ended. They are written to evoke an appreciative response and get the data necessary to address the development agenda.
The four foundational questions to build off are:
1. Describe a high-point experience in your organization.
2. What do you value most about yourself, your work, and your organization?
3. What are the core factors that give life to your organization when you are at your very best?
4. What three wishes do you have that would heighten the health and vitality of your organization?
If we were to use the Inclusive Omaha by 2035 development agenda those questions could look something like this:
1. Describe a high point experience in your life, a time when you felt the greatest sense of belonging.
2. What do you value most about yourself, your work environment, your neighborhood, and your community?
3. What are the core factors that give life to Greater Omaha when we are the most inclusive?
4. What three wishes do you have that would enhance inclusion and belonging in Omaha?
There can be additional more specific questions and/or drill-down questions to get to the heart of what we need to know.
It is truly necessary that these questions are asked of individuals in an interview format. Not a survey. This is a human experience. The data-gathering part of this process is equally human. It is in the conversation that transformation begins. It is also in the conversation that we learn what we need to know. For instance, we don’t necessarily need to know the content of the story about their high point but instead, what made it their high point. We can learn how to make more high-point experiences for people from that data.
There are a lot of ways to do AI right. Here are some of the ways we can structure the process:
· AI Learning Team: this is a group of interviewers who will engage one-on-one with stakeholders. The size of this team can vary based on the number of voices we are trying to capture. They will be trained in the appreciative interviewing process and how to submit their responses (data) to the repository.
· AI Summit: this is an event where stakeholders attend and interview each other. Their data gets submitted in real-time. Depending on the facilitator(s) summits can have 6 or 600 people present in the room.
· Combination: using an AI Learning Team to gather data from a large group of stakeholders that won’t be present at the Summit. The data gathered by the Learning Team gets added to the data generated at the Summit.
One of the biggest reasons I think AI is a great DEI tool is that every voice is equal. The data captured is in bullet points and not attributed to anyone. No one’s voice can be louder or more influential or taken with greater weight.
Once you have the data captured in what is very much a raw format of a bunch of bullet points. The next step is to compile it into themes or categories. This is typically done in a summit format. The participants are divided into small groups to work with sections of the data.
The initial goal is to clarify the positive core and describe the collective dream with the data provided. This is the Discovery and Dream stages of the 4-D Cycle. As they compile the data, there will be items that a high number of people responded to in the same way. These themes have significance in that there will be emphasis and priority around that item. They will also note there will be unique thoughts and ideas. They also have significance in that it is typically innovative, may be bold, and has potential.
In the Inclusive Omaha example, we would now clearly know what the people of Greater Omaha believe an inclusive Omaha would be like. We would know what our positive core is that we can build upon and expand. We would have a clear image of what we are to Design.
The Design phase of the 4-D Cycle is the connection between the “best that has been” and “what might be.” This is where we pursue the ideal. There are a lot of ways to do this right, too. The stakeholders' voices are present in the data. This part of the process requires people with passion, expertise, and willingness to take responsibility to pursue solutions through collaboration. Their job will be to drill this down into strategies, priorities, and action plans.
There will be low-hanging fruit, things that can quickly make a positive impact and don’t require a great deal of resources. These actions are momentum builders. Other steps will be more complicated and require more significant resources.
An additional tool is called a SOAR analysis. Not to be confused with a SWOT analysis. SOAR stands for Strengths (I include resources here), Opportunities, Aspirations, and Results. Using this tool on the strategies will help in setting priorities, action plans, and responsibilities.
AI as a mindset.
AI is also a way of thinking and approaching problems. Consider asking about what you are seeking rather than what you are avoiding. Examples:
· Capture the ideal. What would the ideal look like for you?
· Talk in moments. Tell me about a moment when you felt the most included.
· Ask about the “why.” Why did that experience mean so much to you?
· Ask about the “what.” What was going on around you when you felt like you belonged? Or What would you like to see?
· Ask about the “how.” How can we build on this?
Consistently asking appreciative questions and considering diverse options and opportunities sets us up to successfully pursue solutions. I believe this mindset is critical in DEI work.
Conclusion.
The three biggest reasons for AI as a DEI tool are:
1. It gets the voices in the room equally.
2. It focuses on what to do.
3. It is energizing and action focused.
I have used this tool in many formats over the past decades and it has never failed to make tremendous strides towards the development agendas set forth. We are in this place in our DEI journey where tremendous strides are crucial.
“We have also come to his hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.” ~Martin Luther King, Jr.
References.
Websites:
· https://www.DavidCooperrider.com/ai-process/#
· https://www.CenterForAppreciativeinquiry.net/
· https://AppreciativeInquiry.champlain.edu/
Books:
· Appreciative Inquiry Handbook – David Cooperrider, Diana Whitney, Jacqueline Stavros
· The Power of Appreciative Inquiry – Diana Whitney, Amanda Trosten-Bloom
· Appreciative Intelligence – Tojo Thatchenkery, Carol Metzker
· Appreciative Leadership – Diana Whitney, Amanda Trosten-Bloom, Kae Rader
· Appreciative Team Building – Diana Whitney, et.al.
About the Author.
Carol Horner is the Founder and President of Synchronicity, Inc. She helps employees, teams, and leaders to "be in synch”, make greater impact, and enjoy that process together. She integrates diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging learning into all her consulting and talent development work. Carol is the author of the Spiral of Accountability™ model and upcoming book.
Carol Horner
Synchronicity, Inc.
www.SpiralOfAccountability.com
402-871-8414