Ravalier PhD Theis.pdf - Anglia Ruskin Research Online

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2. The Principle of Simultaneity: this claims that the process of inquiry itself influences the direction of the
change to be attained (Krattenmaker, 2001). Since organisations are living, human creations, inquiry and
change cannot be separated and as such occur simultaneously (Fitzgerald, Murrell & Miller, 2003) in as much
as the change process begins from the moment a question is asked and the dialogue begins (Cooperrider,
Whitney & Stavros, 2008).
3. The Poetic Principle: this is a metaphor which sees the human organisation as an ‘open book’, and is
related to the fact that the organisation is open to endless interpretive possibilities (Richer et al., 2010).
Moreover we learn and are inspired by all experiences past, present and future (Cooperrider, Whitney and
Stavros, 2008). Consequently, an organisation’s ‘story’ is constantly being re-written by all those involved
with the organisation, and therefore the organisation, like a good poem or piece of literature, is constantly
being reinterpreted (Krattenmaker, 2001).
A key element of the AI approach is the creation of a collective image designed to stimulate change amongst
individuals. This positive expectancy effect, where positive thoughts and actions bring about lasting change,
provides the underpinnings for the two remaining AI principles. These are (Fitzgerald, Murrell & Miller, 2003):
4. The Anticipatory Principle: maintains that the most powerful vehicle for organisational improvement is
the group's ideas for the future (Krattenmaker, 2001), and the most important resource for generating
constructive organisational change is collective imagination and discourse about the future (Cooperrider,
Whitney & Stavros, 2008). Therefore anticipation of the future is a catalytic force, and it is the image of the
future which guides the current behaviours of any organism/organisation. For example, anticipating a