 In this session we are going to look at appreciating query it is a positive turn of OD or organization development. How it is a positive turn? If you if we look at the general conversation in the field of OD and the language of consulting organization development management of change you will see some of these things are very common like locating the problem work towards desired change addressing the gap between where a system is and where it should be. So, terms like diagnosis, intervention is suggest that OD and management of change are about solving issues and challenges is not it. If we look at the sessions till now and if we analyze the general nature of conversation in tone it looks like as if there are problems and management of change is about addressing those problems. So, if we stretch this language further it these terms sounds as if organizations are problems to be solved and management of change or organization development is a method of solving problem is not it. However they can be an alternative way of looking at the whole thing looking at organization development and looking at management of change. So, AI is a change in that tone of management of change and OD it is an approach which is strength based. So, instead of deficit based and problematizing the change process it looks at organizations not as problems to be solved, but miracles to be embraced. When it was first proposed in late 80s this was seen and still it is recognized as a path breaking change in the field of organization development. Very few changes happen in the social sciences or the field of management which are of this much significance because in a way they have invited to look at the whole enterprise of OD and management of change in a very different way. So, it is a succeeding it is succeeding many of the traditional analytical models in business and society how that works. So, let us take an example like most of the sessions we start with a small situation. So, let us look at this case basically appreciating query is about looking at the positives and converting the situations in positive propositions. Instead of looking at problems we look at the possibilities in this process. So, through a case let we will try to understand. So, this case is about a consulting firm which specializes in dealing with difficult conflict in organizations labor management issues, gender conflicts and issues of diversity. This case is not my personal experience unlike many cases which we have discussed till now. This is drawn from the very famous paper of the David Cooper Rider in Whitney in Public Administration and Public Policy Journal. We will talk about the founder of the AI approach also. Cooper Rider is one of the founders of appreciating query. So, this this is a consulting firm which specializes in dealing with the difficult conflict in organizations. So, this consulting firm is retained by a fortune 500 corporation for the past several years. The contract is around sexual harassment, the issue are about power, the glass ceiling and many things related to sexual harassment. The firm has specialized in this area for some years and now the leader of of the firm is beginning to ask existential questions like are we really helping the organization? We are working with this organization for so many years on this field and here is a existential question. So, they have been working on the issues for two years and bias every major the number of complaints, lawsuits, evaluation from the sexual harassment training programs, word of mouth problem continue to grow and this must be a puzzling thing for a firm which has specialized knowledge in this field and they do not see the impact of their work. So, furthermore people are now are not coming to the workshops, those who come seem to leave with doubts. Post workshop interview show that people feel less able to communicate with those of the opposite gender, they report feeling more distance and less trust and the glass ceiling remains. The leader of the firm approached AI expert and in this field the founder of the AI process himself for the professional help, this is the case. Now, can you imagine how AI appreciating query approach can be used to prevent the sexual harassment and the situation all the right things which any logical person will be doing from the paradigm of problem solving. They have identified the problem, they have identified that training and development is important, they have identified that people have to be sensitized about it, people must be communicated the importance and criticality of this issue and how to handle that. In spite of all this there is no positive sign and here is one AI which looks which says that do not look at problem, look at possibilities. Now, can you imagine how you can use this logic of appreciation and looking at possibilities in this situation. So, how to look at the possibilities in this situation? So, here is a snapshot of the conversation. AI facilitator asked an important question about to the leader of the firm about the requirement as follows. What is that? What is it that you want to learn about and achieve with this whole intervention and by when? What do you want to achieve? That is a simple question asked. What you would what you can imagine would be a answer of the client. The response of the client is as follows. We want to dramatically cut the incidence of the sexual harassment and we want to solve this huge problem or at least make a significant dent. We want to solve this problem. That is a very straightforward requirement and they have the data as well because in last 2 years they know the severity of the problem which are the pockets in terms of the geography or in terms of the corridor where this problem is more prevalent all that is known and they want to at least make a significant dent. After this point the major change in the shift in the conversation happens. So, facilitator ask ok, but is it that all? You just want to solve the problem or can you think about something else in the same domain? And after few iteration what came out was the answer from the client and the answer was what we really want to see is the development of the new century organization a model of high quality cross gender relationships in the workplace. So, you can see instead of looking at the situation as a problem they have now shifted the conversation towards the possibilities. We want to see a new century organization which has high quality cross gender relationships. So, this is a glimpse of the process where we look at a situation from the perspective of possibilities. So, I originates with a affirmative topic choice. In the previous example if the sexual harassment is the situation they want to address the topic the choice of the topic is not about the problem it is about the possibilities. Though it is in the same theme, but instead of calling it sexual harassment if we shift our conversation around good functional cross gender relationship then you see we have given a positive turn to the whole conversation. And secondly, AI is a generative process of search not in current ideals or explanation, but search of the possibilities and that happens not as a top down approach that happens with a collaborative practical and provocative manner. Many a time we will see in the AI hundreds and thousands people are involved in these conversations. How it happens? What are the principles? That is what we are going to look at into this session. So, who propounded this approach? David Cooper Rider. David Cooper Rider was the student of Professor Suryandr Shivastav in the case western university in Cleveland. And while working with the Cleveland hospital with the doctors David came across that the whole perspective about management of change and organization development can be shifted towards the positive toward and that became his thesis. It became a world famous thesis. Professor Suryandr Shivastav died few years ago, but David Cooper Rider continued to work in the field of AI and has influenced hundreds of organizations across the world. Two years ago I have had opportunity of attending his workshop, we are doing some work together in the field of positive change business as agent for positive change. So, AI process it is a inquiry that is a collaborative and collective and applied search for the best in people in their organization and the relevant aspect of their surroundings. It begins with a discovery of what gives life to a system when it is at its best. AI revolves around well crafted questions that very important component of AI is well or well crafted questions because they direct the conversation. Conversation in turn create reality in organizations. So, AI revolves around well crafted questions those lead a system to awaken and heighten its positive potential it may or generally involves hundreds of or sometimes thousands of people. AI process goes through the four key stages. The first stage is called discovery. The key question in the discovery phase is what gives life the best of what is. It is about appreciating what is and as I mentioned before we do not look at organizations or human system as problems to be solved, but miracles to be embraced. So, the conversation do not start with what are the problems conversation is start with what is giving life to the system in spite of the limitations which we are concerned about what are the life giving forces what is positive what is sustaining my this system when I feel great being part of this system. So, these are the kind of questions with which the appreciating query starts and this phase is called discovery phase. Discovery phase leads to dream and dream phase is governed and directed with one key question that is what might be imagine what the world is calling for. So, when I talk about the what is giving life when I talk about the possibilities when I talk about the positives in the system that individual mind and collective mind is ready to look at what we can be. Our individual mind or collective mind which is entrenched in the problem entrenched with the challenges and not in the possibilities cannot dream. For our system to dream collectively naturally the mind has to be linked to the potentials and possibilities and the life giving things and the best aspect of the system. So, that is why the dream is the second phase all this is a collective process it is collaborative process people compile in the small groups then the smaller groups present that to the larger group and whole group the large group reaches to a collective dream and after reaching to the collective dream without worrying about how it will happen how we will get the resources etcetera just they focus on the dream. Here in the dreaming stage we use analogies colors pictures graphics more than the language in words because that unleash these things unleash our creativity and vision. After dream phase comes the design phase that is where the conversation happens about how can it be simply stated in organizational context this is about what systems and processes can help us to realize this dream. After the design the destiny phase comes that is about how to empower learn adjust or improvise to realize and to put up the systems and processes we designed we identified in the design phase. In earlier days destiny phase used to be called delivery, but later on the word delivery was changed to destiny because in a way in this stage you are writing your own destiny because you are creating reality based on your collective and provocative vision for yourself and for the system. So, these are the four key stages in AI which is called four that is why it is called 4D process. In the discovery phase we mobilize the whole system inquiry into positive and the life giving forces and features. In the dream phase we create a clear result oriented vision in relation to discovery potential and the relation to the question of higher purpose what we can become. Design phase is about creating provocative propositions of the ideal organization that is what systems and processes can help us to realize the dream. And the destiny phase is about strengthening the capability of the whole system creating processes for learning adjustment improvisation formation of the groups around provocative propositions and designing on who will do what and when. The question is why this damn thing works and how it works? It looks very simple when we present the apparent form of AI sometime it sounds simplistic as well. How the simple things like turning the process of inquiry towards the possibilities can work? It works in a deeper individual and collective psychological way. So, there are certain principles which are behind the success of the AI process. These principles are called constructionist principle, principle of simultaneity, poetic principle, anticipatory principle and positive principle. We will look at these principles one by one. Constructionist principle arises from the basic tenant of the human reality and that is human reality is socially constructed. There is no reality out there through our conversations and perceptions we create our reality. So, Gargan is the great scholar who first talked about the social constructionist view in a very systematic and powerful way and AI operates on the constructionist principle. If we apply the social constructionist view social construction of reality perspective in the organizational context that means, human knowledge and organizational destiny are interwoven as you start knowing about the system. So, you are able to create that kind of system. If we keep conversing about problems we will keep having problems and we keep solving them and we will keep operating from the deficit mindset. But if we start conversation about the possibilities we can shape the reality around the potentials and possibilities. So, it does not mean that it overlooks the problem, but then problem the conversation about the possibilities and potential overpowers and addresses the problem larger problem. That is the that is how the constructionist view is applied and it works in the AI process. The purpose of inquiry in AI is the creation of generative theory what does that mean? It means theory is not given from outside, theory about organization, theory about a situation, theory about a challenge is not supplied from outside or it is not given. We can create new theory around new conversations which is on the potentials and the possibilities. Not so much mapping of the explanation of what is, but a provocative articulation of what can be. So, that is how the constructionist principle works and that is that makes the AI process successful. Second principle is simultaneity. Simultaneity principle in a very simple term says that inquiry and change are not truly separate moments. You can reflect about your own situation. The moment you start inquiring about your potential and possibilities the change will start. Same thing is about the organizational system. If in organizational system you start an inquiry about the change and possibilities change naturally starts. So, in a way we can say intervention starts with inquiry itself. The seeds of change are implicit in the very first question we ask. If I ask question how I address the sexual harassment problem in the organization I will be open to some type of intervention and a certain type of conversation. When I shift the question when I replace this question with another question that is about how I have, how we as an organization we can have a very functional and joyful cross gender conversations and cross gender relations. We will open up to a different kind of intervention. So, very question directs the people that to think and talk about the things that people discover and learn. The question inspire images of the future determined. So, the question has the potential to inspire the future. In Hindi Heartland there is a common question asked about society or about the individual by some elders at times when they are not very appreciative of those kids. The question is what will happen to you and the very question lead has a generally leads to a negative spiral that we cannot handle few things. So, I can handle this. So, naturally I will be worse in that as well. In my school days one topic in the allocation competition used to be very popular Bharat Ki Dasha and invariably whenever we would talk about Bharat Ki Dasha the topic like this we would start talking about Bharat Ki Durudasha. So, this is the power of the question. The tone and the direction of the inquiry is set by the question. Question we ask set the stage for what we find and what we discover. Question decide which is the kind of data we look at and that data becomes the linguistic material out of which the future is conceived, conversed about and constructed. So, future is not given. We can create the future that is what we hear very often, but how to create the future and that too in organization how to create the future. How our new future how our future which is joyful which we all dream of can be created in the organization where hundreds of people are involved without unleashing their positivity in dreams it cannot happen. But for that we need to have appropriate question and we use the appropriate question that can help organizations to create, conceive and construct the future. That is how the principle of simultaneity works in the AI process. Poetic principle. Poetic principle says that organizations are more like poetry and less like machine. What is the meaning of that? Machine has a definitive functionality. Once machine is installed and created it has a specific functionality, but poetry is a constant process. Poetry can move in any direction. So, organization like poetry, organization story also can constantly evolve and unfold. Unlike non-living systems, organization is a living system and the reality of the organization or organization story can constantly evolve. That means past, present and future are endless source of the learning, inspiration or interpretations. Precisely like for example, the endless interpretive possibilities in good piece of poetry or a biblical text text. We look at our scriptures or biblical text, same story, similar story can be interpreted in hundreds of ways. Similar text is open for the interpretation many many different ways. And that can work for different people. In the same way organizations, organizational reality is also not fixed. It can be interpreted in multiple ways. We need to be awakened to that possibilities. And AI awaken that possibility and that is why this principle is called poetic principle. The important implication is that we can study virtually any topic related to human experience in any human system or organization. So, here David Cooper Ryder gives an example that while working in a social development organization during the discovery phase, when a question was asked what makes you feel best and when you feel best being part of this organization and doing your work, people said that they feel joy when they see they are able to make some positive change in others life. That kind of answer can come from executives of business organizations as well. When you see that your work is making difference, a positive difference to the world, you experience a different kind of joy. But in the management scholarship, there is not much literature on executive joy. In the OB organization behavior course, there might not have you might not have come across a topic like executive joy, but executive joy is so important as part of your work experience. It can be and won't it be wonderful that organizations, won't it be great if in, if people start experiencing and management start gearing up to create joy at work. So, if management is geared up and HR function is geared up not only towards creating commitment, but creating joy at work, you can imagine that the kind of system being developed, the kind of policies being adopted, the kind of workplace you arrange that all will be very different. So, what this poetic principle says is that, don't worry about whether the topic is there in the conditional management text or not. You connect with your experience and if you want to continue that experience, you can create reality even if it is not there and well documented in a conventional literature in management. So, we can inquire into the nature of alienation or joy, enthusiasm or low morale, efficiency or excess in any human organization. There is not a single topic related to organizational life that we could not study in any organization and there is anticipatory principle. Anticipatory principle says that collective imagination and discourse about the future are the infinite human resources we have for generating the constructive organizational we all talk about resources. Organizations pursue to acquire resources to create to develop the future. The anticipatory principle says that collective imagination and collective discourse are the most powerful resources. Otherwise we study that the resources are man, material, machine, money etcetera. But what anticipatory principle indicates and which is very well is used in the AI process is that the greatest resources are the collective imagination and discourse. So, the basic theorem of anticipatory view of the organizational life is that it is the image of the future which in fact, guides what might be called the current behavior of any organism or organization. So, it is much like this projector is projecting these slides on the screen human system keeps projecting its future through its ongoing conversation and the same logic is applied at the organizational level. So, organizational imagination and organizational discourse keep projecting its future on the canvas of reality and that is the greatest resource. If we change the conversation, if we direct the conversations towards possibilities and the potentials, we will create that kind of future, we will not create, we will project that kind of future. What this anticipatory principle says that people in organization behave as per their anticipation of the organization. If I if I anticipate this organization to be great, my behavior will align towards that greatness. If my if I anticipate this organization to be normal mediocre, then my behavior particularly about the organization and within the organization will also be mediocre. So, if we unleash the collective imagination and discourse which is geared up towards the possibilities, we will project the possibilities. So, in my current behavior, in current conversation, the seed of the future lies. Future is not out there, it is right here in my conversation and in my individual and collective imagination. That is the beautiful poetic principle. So, the artful creation of the positive imagery or a collective basis may be the most prolific thing in inquiry we can do. So, these are the these are the descriptions of these principles. These principles have origin in the social sciences, not in the management in some other fields of social sciences, but they are being beautifully used in the AI process. Do not use AI as a approach and it works because these are the principles which govern the human imagination, human enterprise, collective human enterprise in terms of creating their reality. Now, question is this sounds this may sound a bit idealistic, does that work? Many real life stories are published in the journal AI Practitioner. So, AI Practitioner is a regular journal where the leading practitioners of the AI and facilitators of AI are keep contributing the greatest stories. Hundreds and thousands of organizations are being benefited by this, whether government organizations, commercial organizations, private organizations, developmental organizations. When Cooper Ryder and Surinder Srivastav decided to publish their work in the form of a book and they decided a very reputed journal, one of the most reputed journal in the field of management they sent their paper. Their paper was almost accepted and a very renowned management scholar who was the editor of the journal said that your paper is of the 60 pages. I will be happy to publish this paper if you convert that into a 35 pages document. That was the time and this message was coming from a very very reputed perhaps the most reputed journal in the field of management. Cooper Ryder and Surinder Srivastav decided not against following this advice. They decided not to publish in the journal, but to publish even the larger discourse and more elaborate process of AI in the form of the book series. They published it and they got the calls invitation from the UNO to apply this process in the multinational meetings where very responsible policy makers from hundreds of countries were participating. So, this is the impact of this process that is where it worked. And in appreciating query handbook there are dozens of cases, real life cases very well documented it says that it has worked in those organizations. There are many organizations in India as well where they have used the process of AI. They have applied the AI approach and are benefited. Nicholas Pyramel is a life case study. ACG worldwide is again an example where I have had opportunity of implementing the OD process with the AI approach. Many civic groups like Image in Lagerland, Youth for Peace, they are the huge organizations, thousands of people are involved and they are significantly benefited by AI based intervention. My personal experience with the educational institutions like KIT in Bhuvaneshwar, ICT, Matunga, various forums at IIT Bombay, corporates like Nokia Siemens, SITEG, Aztec Center, government departments they have had opportunity of directing the OD process with the AI approach. So, with these documents and experiences of many other practitioners and my personal experience, we can confidently say the AI process works. What is really important is the right approach and if we apply this approach in the true sense AI works, irrespective of the context, irrespective of the nature of the organization we work on it.