Introduction to Appreciative Inquiry

This is our foundational appreciative inquiry program that introduces people not only to Appreciative Inquiry but also to the Appreciative Way. All of our other programs are built on the philosophy and practice of appreciative inquiry.

The Appreciative Way, is Rob and Kim Voyle's synthesis of:

• The practice and philosophy of Appreciative Inquiry.
• The work of Milton Erickson and his students, especially Steve Andreas.
• Positive Psychology.
• Compassion as the agent of transformation.
• Contemplative Spirituality.

Because this program is a foundational program it is often presented in conjunction with other 2 1/2 day programs such as:

• Introduction to Appreciative Transitional Ministry (AIM I)
• Congregational Development

Understanding the Appreciative Way

What did Jesus come for?

• Was it to give us less death?
• Or was it to give us life?

Simple question, but consider the following:

• Do you spend too much time working to have less of what you don't want in your life?
• Or are you working to discover and grow what is life-giving?
• Do the organizations you work for focus most of their energy on what they don't want?

Sadly many people, churches, and our society as a whole spend more time working on having less of what they don't want and fail to live a life worth living.

In the Appreciative world we say "What you focus on will become your reality." If we focus on problems (what we don't want) we will simply grow the problems.

This training program teaches the fundamentals of the Appreciative Way and is designed to help you discover and grow what is life-giving in your your personal life and the lives of the organizations you work with.

Who Should Attend This Program: Not Just for Clergy

Although this program is designed with clergy in mind, it would also be appropriate for anyone who can articulate and reflect psychologically and theologically on their ministry or vocation. It is especially relevant for:

• Clergy
• Non-ordained persons engaged in ministry and church leadership
• Psychologists, Consultants and Counselors who are also clergy or who work with clergy and churches
• People who want to reflect theologically and psychologically on the work they do

I loved this workshop. It was deeply spiritual, entertaining, and very practical and applicable.
It is rare in my experience to find all of these in one workshop. - KR, UCC Minister

Course Description

The overal objective is to introduce people to a synthesis of three bodies of knowledge:

• The theory and research that under girds Appreciative Inquiry
• The change work of Milton Erickson, MD. AND his students.
• Contemplative Spirituality as distinct from religion and how spirituality can be used as an agent of transformation.

This synthesis which we call the Appreciative Way, a way of seeing, being and doing in the world.

From this synthesized body of knowledge participants wil be able to:

• Implement an Appreciative Inquiry process with themselves, others, congregations and organizations, to enable innovative, creative personal and organizational change.
• Identifying appreciative processes in contrast to problem or pathology driven models of intervention and to use these appreciative processes to enhance personal and organizational effectiveness.
• Use both who they are and what they do as an appreciative agent of transformation in the world

Learning Objectives

Because this is a multi-day program specific learning objectives are provided for each day.

Specific Leaning Objectives Day 1: (full-day, 6.5 hrs.)

Participants will be able to:

1. Describe the basic theory and practice of Appreciative Inquiry (AI);
2. Explain the application of AI and its understanding of change dynamics which has been used to fuel innovation in organizations as diverse as GTE and Habitat for Humanity;
3. Describe AI as it forms the basis as the emerging "cutting edge" approach in the organization development and coaching fields;
4. Discover and use an individual client's or an organization's core strengths, passion, and purpose to create resourceful motivated states;
5. Transform negative goals and problem orientations into positive goals and preferred future orientations;
6. Utilize resistance to increase motivation and create sustainable outcomes;
7. Develop the strategies to design powerful AI questions and conduct AI interviews to discover people at their best and most resourceful states;

Specific Leaning Objectives Day 2: (full-day, 6.5 hrs.)

Participants will be able to:

8. Describe the differences between linear incremental change and transformational change;
9. Create and utilize confusion to provide opportunities for transformation with individuals and organizations;
10. Use the three faces of compassion: tenderness, fierceness, and mischievousness as an agent of transformation in the world;
11. Identify the external environmental, internal skills, and motivational resources and strengths individuals and groups possess to achieve desired outcomes;
12. Use the power of an individual or group's imagination to create dreams and stretch goals that are also reality based and resourced;
13. Help individuals and organization discover and articulate their core purpose and organize their goals and activities around manifesting that purpose in the world;
14. Transform failure states into learning opportunities;

Specific Leaning Objectives Day 3: (half-day, 3 hrs.)

Participants will be able to:

15. Design and implement an Appreciative Inquiry Summit for large scale strategic planning and organization development;
16. Design and implement a small group Appreciative Inquiry process to review past performance and empower future performance to help client's achieve their dreams;
17. Shift their personal way of being and seeing to an appreciative approach, to focus on and grow what's right in the organization and their world, rather than on what's wrong;

Continuing Education Credit

This program qualifies for 16 hours of continuing education credit.

Partial continuing education credit is not provided. You must attend all 16 hours to receive continuing education credit.

Program Materials and Pre-Reading

No pre-reading or backgound in Appreciative Inquiry is required for this program.

You will be provided an extensive 70 page handout and folder and participants will be able to access additional online resources after the completion of the program.

For those interested in pre-reading we recommend the following:

• Core Elements of the Appreciative Way by Rob and Kim Voyle which is available at our Bookstore.
• Another brief alternative is the Thinbook of Appreciative Inquiry available from the Thin Book publishing Company
• For those interested more specifically in Organizational Development written for the secular world we recommend Change at the Speed of Imagination by Watkins and Mohr. It is available at most major book stores.

Webinar Schedule: Introduction to Appreciative Inquiry

Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 9:00 am-12:00 noon PST.

Five, 3 hour sessions on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9:00 am-12:00 noon PST.
Classes begin on Wednesday, January 29, 2025 and end on Wednesday, February 12, 2025

Please see training schedule for a complete listing of all webinar programs

Webinar Format

The webinar training sessions are live online via Zoom. You will need a reliable computer and internet service to participate in the webinar.

To allow for participant engagement, each webinar is limited to twenty participants to allow.

Each session will be recorded and made available for participants to review after the class.

Each webinar session will include:

• Didactic presentations.
• Experiential learning of specific approaches and strategies.
• Small group breakout sessions online during class to engage the material.
• Conducting an Appreciative Inquiry into your own professional life to experience and learn the appreciative process.

Some "home-work" to practice specific strategies will be encouraged and subsequent sessions will allow for follow-up question and answers to debrief and learn from the exercises.

Each 3 hour session will include a 10 minute mid-session refreshment break.

In-Person Workshop Format

No In-Person Appreciative Inquiry Workshops are currently scheduled.

Please Email Rob Voyle if you would like to host an in-person training in your congregation or organizational setting.

The inperson workshop will typically be conducted in a commuter/residential setting with:

• Didactic presentations.
• Experiential learning of specific approaches and strategies.
• Conducting an Appreciative Inquiry into your own professional life to experience and learn the appreciative process.
• Opportunity for creative reflection on the past and anticipation of the future

Costs for 2025

Introduction to Appreciative Inquiry

Wednesday, January 2025 — Wednesday, February 2025
15.0 hours of live online content plus online access to training manuals and other resources.

Early Registration Cost (Before Wednesday 22, January 2025): $395.00

Cancellation and Refund Policy

Tuition Refunds

Your registration is completely refundable, minus a 15% service fee, up to seven days before the start of the program. Thereafter the registration fee will be forfeited.

For more information please see our Cancellation Policies.

Presenter: Rob Voyle

Rob Voyle is a New Zealand born and trained Mechanical Engineer, Episcopal Priest, and Psychologist. He has a doctorate in clinical psychology from Fuller Theological Seminary in addition to degrees in Theology, Counseling and Mechanical Engineering.

Rob’s employment history includes extensive work as a teacher, an interim pastor, interposed with research and development engineering, behavioral medicine, clinical psychology, coaching and organizational consulting.

Rob is an internationally recognized leader in the use of appreciative inquiry in church settings. He is the Director of the Clergy Leadership Institute and the Founder of The Appreciative Way, a positive way to grow what is life-giving in people and organizations.

While he no longer works as an engineer, Rob sees much of his work as “engineering” solutions for people as they confront the challenges of their lives and work. Rob’s personal mission is to be “helpful, humorous, and healing,” which is manifested in his passion for conducting training. He is a gifted storyteller and has a penchant for mischievously confronting listeners with new insights that are both affirming and liberating.

Rob is the author of several Appreciative Way approaches to life and work including:

• Core Elements of the Appreciative Way
• Creating Cultures of Excellence: An Appreciative Inquiry Based Guide to Mutual Ministry Reviews
• Restoring Hope: Appreciative Strategies to Resolve Grief and Resentment

      and the congregation based teaching programs

• Teach Your congregation How To Forgive
• Yes!³  Creating a Life In Which You Can Say:
  Yes! to God, Yes! to your Neighbor: Yes! to Yourself.

In addition to teaching ministry intensives, Rob also leads one-day workshops for vestries, church boards, and congregation development teams. Please Email Rob if you would like to host a training program in your congregation or organizational setting.