Appreciative Intelligence

As David Cooperrider and Suresh Srivastva have pointed out, there are two kinds of action research. The first is based on a problem-solving paradigm, and the second focuses on what works or gives life to organizations and is known as Appreciative Inquiry. To engage in affirmatively oriented action research, an individual ability called Appreciative Intelligence® is needed. The construct of Appreciative Intelligence® is embedded in the theory of multiple intelligences proposed by Howard Gardner. He demonstrated that intelligence was not a single ability but a number of capacities. Based on findings from the fields of anthropology, psychology, brain research and cognitive science and the biographies of exceptional individuals, Gardner concluded that there were at least seven types of intelligences: (1) linguistic, (2) bodily kinesthetic, (3) spatial, [Page 54](4) musical, (5) logical-mathematical, (6) intra-personal and (7) interpersonal. Appreciative intelligence may be seen as another type of intelligence within the multiple-intelligence framework. It is the ability to perceive the positive potential in a given situation and to act purposively to transform the potential to outcomes. Put in a simple way, Appreciative Intelligence® is the ability to see the mighty oak in the acorn.

The organizational science researcher Tojo Thatchenkery coined the term appreciative intelligence in 1996 after studying the phenomenal growth of entrepreneurship in the Silicon Valley in the USA. Talents of all sorts congregated around a small region in northern California beginning in the mid-1980s. Venture capitalists and immigrant entrepreneurs (primarily from Asia) took significant risks that led to the rise of the Internet, social media and the networked world. Thatchenkery hypothesized that Appreciative Intelligence® is the individual ability that partly contributed to the success of the Silicon Valley. His research about Indian American entrepreneurs in the early 1990s suggested that the various ethnic groups felt valued and experienced the freedom to experiment in the Silicon Valley. An environment of opportunity recognition, persistence, resilience and anticipation of positive outcomes existed in the region that defined the area as a fertile ground for entrepreneurship.

Appreciative Intelligence® has three components: (1) reframing, (2) appreciating the positive and (3) seeing how the future unfolds from the present. Reframing is seeing problems in a new light and creating alternatives that have not occurred within the old frame. It involves shifting a frame so that new relationships and dependencies become apparent. For example, Muhammad Yunus, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for 2006, felt the need to reframe the concept of collateral in providing credit to the poor in Bangladesh and founded the Grameen Bank. His use of ‘microcredit’, or small loans to entrepreneurs too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans, was an instance of reframing.

Appreciating the positive, the second component of Appreciative Intelligence®, is based on social constructionist philosophy and leverages the stance that language creates reality. As participants in organizations, we are embedded in an all-pervasive deficit discourse with a vocabulary consisting of thousands of negative words. Appreciating the positive is about intentionally seeking the generative vocabulary that looks at what works in a system as opposed to what does not. Appreciating the positives must become a habit if it is to have a lasting impact. Due to the learned helplessness generated by past experiences, individuals may not notice the positive possibilities already embedded in scenarios similar to the ones that Yunus had faced. They have to observe with an open mind and truly believe that positive possibilities can be brought to the surface with intentional reframing.

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