"The appreciative inquiry framework is provocative and powerful!"
— CDI training participant
What We Do
Since
1970, CDI has helped thousands of leaders and their organizations
achieve excellence in product and service delivery.
CDI staff are experts in organizational development, having worked at all levels of public and private agencies and organizations. A sampling of groups CDI has worked with include preschool, community colleges, universities and government agencies, including the DHHS, IRS, Forest Service and the U.S. Navy and major corporations including RR Donnelly and Kodak-Manville.
Highlights of CDI's Recent Experience:
- An extensive research project and study of the early childhood development program at Santa Fe Community College, in Santa Fe, NM. The project evaluated the existing structures of the academic program and on-campus child care program and made recommendations for best practice, economies of scale and conditions for a break-even budget — while addressing issues of staff turnover and morale.
- Two CDI principals facilitated an Appreciative Inquiry session for Sound Partners for Community Health. Sound Partners is a program of the Benton Foundation, which is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The summit, which involved approximately 125 public radio programmers, executives and community partners, allowed Sound Partners to identify lessons learned over their 10 year history and to create a new vision for collaborative community media partnerships.
- CDI staff facilitated a series of one-day organizational development Appreciative Inquiry sessions with Metropolitan State College's Institute for Women's Studies and Services in Denver, CO.
- CDI staff partnered with Corporation for Positive change to conduct a multi-stage county-wide assessment of services and vision for the future utilizing the Appreciative Inquiry model with the Boulder County Department on Aging in Boulder, CO.
Appreciative Inquiry (AI)
Appreciative Inquiry is an approach to organization change that has been used successfully, over the last 20 years, in small and large change projects worldwide. AI is based on the simple idea that organizations move in the direction of what they ask questions about.
For example, when groups study human problems and conflicts, they often find that both the number and severity of these problems grow. When groups study high human ideals and achievements, such as peak experiences, best practices and noble accomplishments, these phenomena, too, tend to expand and flourish, producing lightening fast results.
AI distinguishes itself from other change methodologies by deliberately asking positive questions to ignite constructive conversations and inspired action within organizations.
Our Results
RR Donnelly was suffering from the inefficiencies of a strong hierarchical structure. Applying the principles of high-performance work systems, we were able to turn this around — positively impacting employees and increasing their bottom line. Read more...
