WFED884:

Lesson 4: 4-D Model, Discovery Phase

Discovery, What Gives Life?

Some practitioners have modified the 4-D Cycle into the 5-D version adding a Definition phase on the front end (Watkins & Mohr, 2001). This initial work includes identifying the stakeholders who will become the steering committee of the initiative, determining the outline of the initiative, and possibly designing the questions.

When a practitioner follows the typical 4-D methodology all of the minutia development of the AI occurs at the beginning of the discovery phase. Once the defining details are set, and the appreciative questions are established, the discovery stage of AI is comprised of participants sharing stories of “life-giving energy” which means they are recollecting memories of optimal performance or times when the organization’s members were at their best. This is a data collection seeking peak experiences.

As mentioned in last week’s lesson, the focus of the inquiry in an AI must be positive. Further, it must also be clearly stated since the outcome depends on the clarity of the goal. This focus will drive the entire inquiry, so organizations need to be certain that they are asking the appropriate questions.

Posing the right question is critical to the outcome of any initiative, because as in underlying AI philosophy, inquiry is intervention and the question is all about the vision that the organization is seeking to create. The AI practitioner plays a vital role as guide to that end.

So imagine the following scenario. As practitioners entering into an initial client dialogue, you might hear a client in a customer service business decry, “Well, I wish we could avoid these service breakdowns that keep occurring. Too often, some of our people fail to close the loop for the customer, who is then left with an incomplete experience or unanswered questions. I need my customer service reps to stop falling short for the customer. How can we fix this?”

An AI practitioner might hear this scenario and pose the following question instead, “How can we always provide the most complete and satisfying service to keep amazing our customers?” Here, the focus of the inquiry is affirmative and any questions from that focus will energize participants as they recount memories were processes were successful and customers were satisfied and pleased. The embedded belief is that every system has strengths and victories.

In a real-life example from an AI at British Air, AI expert Diana Whitney heard from management that it simply wanted the organization to stop losing luggage. Whitney introduced the team to AI, and instead, had the team explore how to ensure that every passenger enjoyed an outstanding arrival experience (Lee, 2010).