A Complex Adaptive Systems Perspective to Appreciative Inquiry

Abstract

Appreciate Inquiry (AI) is utilized to facilitate organizational change by encouraging stakeholders to explore positives and generative capacities within their organization. In the literature, analysis of the effectiveness of AI is confined to psychological and managerial explanations such as highlighting the promotion of positive mindset and collective organizational planning. This paper will discuss a Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) perspective and present a new model for understanding the functionality of AI. The emphasis of this paper is placed on exploring the effects of AI on the behavior and interactions of agents/employees related to how they cope with change. An analysis of AI’s functionality through the lens of CAS reveals two critical insights: a) AI enhances adaptability to change by strengthening communication among agents, which in turn fosters the emergence of effective team arrangements and a more rapid collective response to change and b) AI possesses the potential to generate a collective memory for social systems within an organization. Furthermore, a systematic analysis of AI indicates a close connection between this method and CAS-based styles of management. This paper concludes by suggesting that AI might represent a potential method with the capacity to place organizational teams in “the edge of chaos”.

Keywords: appreciative inquiry, organizational change, management, complex adaptive systems, edge of chaos