Articles and Information

Appreciative Living articles and questionnaires

Appreciative Inquiry articles and information

Book support materials for The Joy of Appreciative Living

Class website for Foundations of Appreciative Engagement

Who is Jackie Kelm

What is Appreciative Living?
Appreciative living is a philosophy for personal growth and change that was presented in the book, Appreciative Living by Jackie Kelm. It suggests we create whatever we want in our lives by focusing on, asking questions about, and creating mental pictures of what’s right, what’s working, and what we want most in our lives. It is based on the principles of Appreciative Inquiry, with constructs from Positive Psychology, law of attraction, chaos theory, and other strength-based approaches.

There are three basic steps in Appreciative Living:

1. Appreciating the present
2. Imagining the Ideal
3. Acting in Alignmen

For more information, including articles on how to apply Appreciative Living to parenting, career, relationships and more, visit the AL info/articles page.

What is Appreciative Inquiry?
Appreciative Inquiry (AI) was conceived at Case Western Reserve University in 1980 by doctoral student David Cooperrider and his thesis advisor, Suresh Srivastva. Fundamentally, “AI is about the co-evolutionary search for the best in people, their organizations, and the relevant world around them.”(1) It suggests that we do not just experience reality, we actually create it in our conversations and interactions with others.

Appreciative Inquiry is a positive, strength-based approach to making change in organizations. It includes co-creating inspiring images of what we want, and then building on positive aspects to make them happen. It means becoming more aware of our internal and external dialogues and intentionally shifting them to focus on what we want. It unleashes the positive potential within people and organizations through attention to the positive core. It suggests we build on our strengths, successes, and best practices to achieve our greatest hopes and dreams. AI is all this and more.

For additional information on AI, visit the AI info/articles page.