Active Inquiry in Organizational Change
An essential part of Edgar Schein's Process Consulting practice
model (discussed in-depth in my book) is the use of Active
Inquiry. A guiding assumption in Active Inquiry is that an
insecure client will not reveal essential facts about the
organization's situation. Without these essential facts, the
Organizational Change (OC) consultant is placed in a position of
guessing. The consultant is then forced to rely on the dubious
practice of projecting his or her prior experiences into the
client's current situation.
There are four essential elements in Active Inquiry:
1. Build up the client's status and confidence.
2. Gather as much information as possible.
3. Involve the client in the diagnosis.
4. Create a situation that is safe for sharing both facts and
feelings.
Schein describes three levels of Active Inquiry: pure inquiry,
exploratory/diagnostic inquiry, and "confrontive" inquiry. It is
important for the OC consultant to use the appropriate level at
particular points in the process. The type of data being sought
should determine the level of inquiry.
Pure inquiry, the first level, is designed to stimulate full
disclosure. The consultant is simply attempting to get the story
in as factual a manner as possible. At this level, "who" and
"when" questions are appropriate; "why" questions are not.
Exploratory/diagnostic inquiry, the second level, is appropriate
after the whole "factual" story is recorded. The consultant now
redirects the client's focus with questions such as:
"How did you feel about that?"
"Why do you suppose he/she did that?"
"What are you going to do next?"
Exploratory/diagnostic inquiry gets the client to explore at a
deeper level. At this level, feelings, hypotheses, cause and
effect relationships, and forecasted actions can be discussed.
This level reveals organizational and client member
expectations, perceptions, and values.
"Confrontive" (not "confrontational") inquiry, the third level,
must not occur before pure inquiry or exploratory/diagnostic
inquiry. At this level, the consultant interjects his/her ideas
about the situation. The goal here is to move the client members
from unproductive thinking to creative and critical thinking
about the current situation.
Schein's model gives the OC consultant much insight into how to
approach clients in a constructive and helpful way. The other
important parts of Schein's process consulting model are
discussed later in my book, "Strategic Organizational Change."