How Appreciative Inquiry's 5-D Model Compares to the GROW Model in Coaching

Image from Wikimedia

The last dozen or so issues of this newsletter have been about how to apply Appreciative Inquiry principles and formats to one-to-one coaching. As there are far more people out there using coaching as part or all of their roles than there are people familiar with Appreciative Inquiry, I thought it would be worth exploring how the 5-D model compares to the most widely used format for coaching, the GROW model.

The GROW model, developed by Graham Alexander and popularised by Sir John Whitmore in his book Coaching For Performance, is designed to provide a structure for a coaching session in these stages:

1. Goal – the topic you want to work on, your desired outcome for this session, and/or the long-term goal this is related to
2. Reality - exploring the present situation
3. Options - options generated by the coachee for reaching the goal
4. Wrap-up (or What Next?, or Will) – the coachee chooses an option and plans how to implement it

In some presentations of the model (e.g. in Effective Coaching by Myles Downey) the Topic for coaching is separated out, giving us the 'TGROW' model.

So how does the 5-D model relate to GROW?

The Affirmative Topic coming out of the Definition stage is similar to the Topic in TGROW, or the topic part of the Goal stage in the original GROW formulation.

The Discovery stage is similar to the Reality stage in the GROW model, but with the crucial difference that we are focusing on what works. The GROW model could also ask problem-focused questions like “What stopped you from doing more?”, which could demotivate the coaching client by focusing on limitations.

The Dream stage is in some ways similar to the Goal stage in the GROW model. A crucial difference is that in Appreciative Inquiry, the Dream comes after the Discovery stage – the client is not expected to dream up their goal without first exploring where they currently are.

The GROW model, by contrast, presupposes that the goal is clear from the start, which it may not always be. In practice it can be hard to know what your goal should be until you have explored the current situation.

The Design stage performs a similar function to the 'Options' stage in GROW. The Appreciative Inquiry approach is more likely to result in more creative options, because the client will usually be feeling more positive and may have gained some ideas from exploring what has worked in the past during the Discovery stage.

The Delivery stage in appreciative coaching is again broadly similar to the 'Wrap-Up' in GROW.

Where Appreciative Coaching Scores

I believe that Appreciative Inquiry's 5-D model has two main advantages over GROW and its variants:

1. It focuses on what is working rather than problems and limitations, so it energises the coaching client and builds their morale. Of course, a coach using the GROW model could also do this, but there's nothing in the actual model that highlights that as the path to go down.
2. Because the Discovery stage precedes the Dream and Design stages, the client will have a firmer basis to formulate their desired goals and actions – in contrast to the GROW model which expects the coachee to define where they want to get to before they have an opportunity to examine where they are now.

Bonus Bit - How Coaching With 5-D Relates to Solution Focused Coaching

Appreciative Inquiry and Solution Focus are closely related and share many assumptions. One difference, though, is that the Solution Focus approach often looks at the desired outcome first (perhaps using the ‘Miracle Question’), whereas the 5D model of AI explicitly makes you look at the current situation first to discover what is working.

In my experience it is easier to get clear about desired outcomes when the positive aspects of the current situation have been highlighted. It's also easier to believe that it's achievable, because the client already has some positive reference experiences of similar things happening in the past, at least partially.

Only 3 places left on the Practical Appreciative Inquiry facilitator training starting in February 2025, so secure your place now if you want to get started using Appreciative Inquiry with teams and small groups.

"Thank you Andy for bringing this course to life. After reading your book 'Practical Appreciative Inquiry' I was inspired for a deep dive learning experience and hear more about the practical steps involved. I enjoyed the small group size as well as being able to apply the learning during our calls with fellow participants. The resources and knowledge sharing that you provide is beyond!" - Dan Watkins, shaping care-based cultures, Australia

Book before December 10 to get the $100 early booking discount