The related field of appreciative inquiry offers similar
flip-the-question approaches but is more specific, asking us to look for and
build on the positive case or “outlier.” Is there someone in the community
already exhibiting the desired behavior? What is enabling them to outperform?
What resources are they tapping into that others are not?
Not
“Why are staph infections so high in the hospital?” but “Why are staph
infections lower on the third floor?”
Not
“Why are sales down in Regions 6 and 9?” but “Why are sales up in Region 4?”
Not
“Why do so few graduates of our leadership academy get promoted?” but “Why did
these seven graduates get promoted?”
Why
is the accident rate lower in _______? Why is the turnover rate lower in
______? Why are there fewer ethics complaints about ______ division?