Navgati - Consulting

What is it?
A key question: If we want to inspire, mobilize and sustain human energy which is the most effective way -- by focusing on problems or pursuing possibilities?

Appreciative Inquiry (AI) was developed by Dr. David Cooperrider and his colleagues as a new paradigm with the potential to replace the conventional problem-solving methods of organization development. The appreciative eye apprehends "what is" rather than "what is not." AI asks us to pay special attention to "the best of the past and present" -- in order to "ignite the collective imagination of what might be."

Appreciative inquiry is about seeing strength and potential. By focusing on what's right, rather than what's wrong with an organization, an individual or even a society, AI gives us access to the kind of energy that can be transformative.

How does it work?
At Navgati our skilled facilitators ask and guide participants in one-on-one meetings to look for what is working well in the organisation. They focus on the strengths and most positive experiences that the participants have had in the organisation.

Through a carefully developed set of questions and a process of dialogue, stories of "peak experiences" are uncovered.

Sample questions that are used in the one-on-one discussions:

	Could you tell me a story about a time at this organisation when you felt particularly excited or creative or productive or fulfilled? What happened? Who was involved? What part did you play? How did you feel about it? Can you tell me another story?
	What do you experience as the core factors that give life to this organisation?
	If you had three wishes for the future of this organisation, what would they be?

Outcomes

Tangible
A “Positive Core” Report – A document that captures all of the strengths, resources, capabilities, competencies, positive hopes and feelings, etc.of the organisation, expressed through the stories of the organisation members

After discovering and understanding the positive forces, the organisation can now plan to amplify these. Organisation leaders can work on a plan to institutionalise the positive core.

This is also a great document from which one could create corporate folklore. It is a great PR tool as well, with clients and potential employees

Intangible

	Released energy
	Renewed committment