The 4-D Model is based on Appreciative Inquiry (AI) which is a larger framework for human or organizational change. Like AI itself, it is based on a shift in paradigms on human interaction. The core can be captured in the idea that we create the world as we describe it.
Appreciative Inquiry (often known as AI) was developed by David Cooperrider and Suresh Srivastva in the 1980s. The approach is based on the premise that 'organisations change in the direction in which they inquire.' So an organisation which inquires into problems will keep finding problems but an organisation which attempts to appreciate what is best in itself will discover more and more that is good. It can then to use these discoveries to build a new future where the best becomes more common.