Appreciative Inquiry

Maureen Sullivan's article "The Promise of Appreciative Inquiry in Library Organizations" offered one of the most interesting approaches to organizational development that I have learned about this semester. This approach is extremely innovative and emphasizes the most effective practices and major contributions of staff within participating organizations.

The Appreciative Inquiry approach seems to fit naturally with the goal of libraries to become "third places" for their community members. This approach would be a practical way to discover ways to bridge the gap between library workers' and patrons' perceptions of library services.

The approach can be implemented gradually - it does not have to be done through radical restructuring. Because it can be implemented anywhere at any time, library leaders can start the process by choosing to start with a particular topic. This may help library workers to become more comfortable and accepting of the approach by using it on a trial basis.
The Appreciative Inquiry 4-D process which consists of Discovery, Dream, Design and Destiny stages allows library workers to focus on the positive effects of their work. Staff at all levels of the organization can contribute to the 4-D process.

Personally, I embrace the life-giving approach of Appreciative Inquiry. It allows libraries to maintain best practices and continue to improve them. Libraries have a lot to lose by not trying to implement this approach. While they are continuously focusing on their organizations' problems, they may neglect what is functioning in their organization. This could cause current effective practices to become problems later.