New World Wine in Old World Bottles?

摘要

In the middle of a dinner party, the host invited his guests to sample a new wine. In turn, they inspected its color, swirled the dark liquid, and inhaled its "nose" before tasting it, allowing it to linger on their taste buds. "Well, what's the verdict?" inquired the host. "Where is it from?" asked one guest, a self-styled wine buff. "It's from the new vineyard in the village, just across the lake," offered the host. "Hmm," said the guest, "doesn't travel well, does it?" As a European-based consulting company with strong North American links, we find ourselves intrigued by debates concerning the culture-bound nature of appreciative inquiry (AI). Is AI's evident popularity in North America as an approach to organization change and growth attributable to its North American origins? In this article, we describe the introduction and use of AI in a UK organization, the Inner London Magistrates' Courts Service (ILMCS). The magistrates' courts are local courts that are primarily concerned with misdemeanors. They also refer criminal cases to the higher courts. The courts service provides administrative and legal support to the individual courts that are located throughout London. We describe the challenges and dilemmas associated with introducing the New World wine of AI into a setting that embodies the Old World.