Appreciative interviews

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I understand this structure to be a workshop-friendly take on Appreciative Inquiry, and often use it as a collective sense-making step early in the process of identifying the change we want to bring forth.

Sidebar: The first time I did something similar was the Stanford Design School’s crash course on Design Thinking about re-designing the gift giving experience. I remember being amazed that one seemingly banal story (about the last time you selected a gift for someone) could open the door to so many ideas, once I started listening with a different kind of ear.

Facilitation notes

Inquiring into first-person accounts of what’s already working quickly highlights weak signals that can be extrapolated into a bigger story. The cross-storytelling generates warm energy in the group dynamics too, as everyone’s contribution is weaved into the conversation and the group recognizes, hey, we’ve got this.

I like to explicitly prompt the interviewer to open the exchange by asking their partner, “Tell me a story about…” The desired effect is to re-inforce a) that it’s time to share a story, not ideas or opinions b) the question-and-answer dynamic.

Workshop design notes

Sometimes I’ll ask that the outputs of the interview be expressed as storyboards, so that we’re breaking down the behaviors that make up conditions of success.

This entry is part of Liberating Structures Field Notes, my collection of stories and reflections from the field. It's written for people who already know LS and are deepening their practice. If you're just getting started and looking for activity instructions, you'll find them at liberatingstructures.com..