Appreciative Inquiry: List of Principles & Assumptions

When I mention Appreciative Inquiry to someone I often get the response, ‘What’s that?’ So for those new to AI here’s a list of principles and assumptions to whet your appetite. I’ve also provided a link to our previous posts on some of the 8 Principles.

8 Principles

• Descriptive or Contructionist Principle
• Simultaneous Principle
• Poetic Principle
• Anticipatory Principle
• Positive Principle
• Wholeness Principle
• Enactment Principle
• Free Choice Principle

8 Assumptions

• In every society, organization, or group, something works
• What we focus on becomes our reality
• The language we use creates our reality
• Reality is created in the moment, and there are multiple realities
• The act of asking questions of an organization or group influences the group in some way
• People have more confidence and comfort to journey to the future when they carry forward parts of the past
• If we carry parts of the past forward, they should be what is best about the past
• It is important to value differences

For a brief overview of AI go to  Appreciative Inquiry.