Training

We offer Foundations training as well as advanced workshops in Appreciative Inquiry.

The Lincoln Workshop Series trains Appreciative Inquiry practitioners. Our primary objective is to further good and sound practice of Appreciative Inquiry, as an approach to organisational and community development, in personal relationships and in life in general. Our roots go back to the theories developed by David Cooperrider and his colleagues at Case Western Reserve University, and the practice and training of Appreciative Inquiry developed by Jane Magruder Watkins and colleagues at the NTL Institute for Applied Human Behavioural Science. We abide by the high standards set by the NTL Institute and all trainers in our workshops are either members or associates of NTL and have all been trained at NTL.

The Lincoln Workshop Series have been run on a regular basis in the UK since 2000 and attract participants from the UK as well as the rest of Europe, Africa and Asia. The workshops attract people from very diverse backgrounds, such as individual OD consultants, HR managers, business leaders, coaches, NGOs, national and local government, development aid professionals and consultants in many other fields. We believe that mixed and diverse groups widen the field of practice, enable cross-fertilisation, and enhance the learning experience.

The lead trainers in the Lincoln Workshop Series have been involved with the development and practice of Appreciative Inquiry for a minimum of 15 years. We believe that it is important that those who train are not only well versed in the theoretical underpinnings of Appreciative Inquiry but also have many years of experience using the approach in their own work and consulting practice.

Introductory Film

Our approach

We use experiential learning as the main approach in all of our workshops. Experiential learning is a holistic perspective that combines experience, perception, cognition and behaviour. Thus it is a powerful partner for organisations and individuals seeking to maximise their performance. NTL has been the premier source of experiential learning since 1947 when it was founded by, amongst others, Kurt Lewin who was a seminal theorist who deepened our understanding of groups, experiential learning, action research and learning which is practiced by a wide community of businesses, governments, non-profits, and educational institutions today.

The five-day workshops

We are often asked about the length of the workshops. Appreciative Inquiry is a change in paradigm and not a technique or process that can simply be learnt by reading a book or following instructions. Our many years of experience have shown us that it takes a minimum of four to five days in relatively small groups, for people to feel confident that they walk away with enough knowledge to start practicing. It takes time to understand the underlying theory, get a feel for how to use Appreciative Inquiry, experiment with applications and not least have the time and space to reflect, ask questions and get satisfactory answers.

   View our forthcoming workshops

Facebook Group

This is a closed group for alumni of the Lincoln Workshop Series. The group is created to encourage practitioner sharing. Please sign into your Facebook account and then visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/lincolnworkshopseries/