“Make your organization more positive!”: The power of appreciative inquiry

This paper aims to describe the methodological aspects, the contents, and the usefulness of the appreciative inquiry (AI) approach, a methodology aimed to generate new knowledge and to produce change, leveraging positivity and generativity. The paper describes the activities of an action research project which used the AI 4D model (Discovery, Dream, Design, Destiny) in a residential care setting, and proposes a specific kit designed for and used by the researcher-consultant to support the AI pro-cess. One hundred nineteen healthcare providers participated in the AI intervention. Data were collec-ted through the Positive Organization Questionnaire (POQ), the “like a garden” metaphor, and the edu-cational intervention. Some categories of objectives emerged from the data analysis: a) feeling better at work; b) improving the management of one’s work; c) improving the relationship with others. These themes consolidate what emerged in the phase of imagining a desired future and with the preliminary results of the questionnaire. Theoretical, methodological, and practical implications for positive organizations are discussed.