Appreciative Inquiry

[Mike Schutz]

Has anyone had any experience with Appreciative Inquiry, either in church assessment or organizations?

What is your opinion of its usefulness?

[Ryan Scott]

They've been using it here on the KC district for NYI. The district is trying to train people to work with various youth groups in terms of assessment and moving forward. I went to one of the initial meetings. I think it's a good process if you have someone who knows it well. It dwells on the positive rather than what is going wrong. It also seeks to reconnect a group with the aspects of its history which were most important and vibrant.

I plan on exploring it more in the future when I have the opportunity. I could, however, see it being more trouble than its worth if there isn't someone who really knows the process and how to work with the results.