Along with millions of other people, my husband and I traveled to Washington, DC last week to witness the inauguration of our 44th President. Between the communal spirit, the call to service, and the Arctic weather, it felt like one part Woodstock, one part March on Washington, and one part March of the Penguins. Despite the waiting, the crowds, and the cold, it was an inspiring event.

In an age when our politics have done more to divide us than to bring us together, how is it that a political event captured the feeling of a once-in-a-generation movement?

As many have noted, President Obama is a gifted orator. His rhetoric and personal appeal certainly accounts for some of that feeling. But it seems to me that an even greater portion of his power derives from the philosophy behind his rhetoric. He’s not flattering us and telling us how great we are. Neither is he calling for a fundamental shift in who we are as a nation. Rather, he’s reminding us of who we can be when we’re at our best:

"In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given…it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things -- some celebrated, but more often men and women obscure in their labor -- who have carried us up the long, rugged path toward prosperity and freedom.

…This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions -- that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America."

His words are inspiring precisely because they speak to what we as Americans consider our best qualities – the side of us that works hard, develops creative new ideas, helps our neighbors, puts our community first, has patience with our children, and acts as a good citizen of the planet – much as Lincoln called on “the better angels of our nature." In the midst of seemingly unending wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, having lost our stature in the international community, and with our economy going into a tailspin, his appeal is above all a reminder that those selves still exist.

Whether knowingly or otherwise, Obama is drawing on a method that smart business leaders are increasingly relying upon: Appreciative Inquiry. Formalized at Case Western University, Appreciative Inquiry is a method for evolving corporate culture and improving organizational effectiveness. It seeks to build on an organization’s core strengths and capabilities to achieve better business results. In effect, Appreciate Inquiry balks the current trend toward external benchmarking, and instead builds on what’s already working well.

Appreciate Inquiry starts with a series of interviews to identify the moments when a company has been at its best, and piece apart the conditions that created those optimal results. Questions look a lot like storytelling:

- Tell us about some times when you have done great work which has significantly impacted performance within the corporation. What were the significant things you did to act as a catalyst for success?

- Tell me something you have done this year which you consider to be progressive or innovative. What key challenges did you face? What influence did you have?
(Source: Clark Amadon)

Once those conditions for success have been identified, an AI team can then look for ways to re-create those conditions more often, for more people. While Appreciative Inquiry starts with what already works well, it doesn’t discourage further evolution – rather, it identifies the most productive ways to achieve a company’s strategic goals based on its “corporate DNA.” Because AI draws on behaviors, beliefs, values, and strengths that already exist inside an organization, it tends to produce more lasting results than other types of cultural change initiatives. AI tends to enroll a greater number of people in its goals, because they can see how their existing knowledge, talents, and skills can contribute to the effort. (Incidentally, this is directly related to my post about IBM’s efforts to build on its strengths to grow the business).

That’s exactly what Obama has done: he has identified the strengths that lie in our cultural DNA, dusted them off, and reminded us that they still exist. In his call for change, he has asked us to choose the best side of each of us, both as individuals and as Americans.

We’ve already seen initial signs of success of this approach. Obama’s campaign saw unprecedented numbers of small donations from first-time givers. And his call for a day of service on Martin Luther King Jr. Day drew record numbers of participants. We don’t want to change, exactly – we don’t want to think like the Swiss, live like Koreans, or act like the British. But we do want to see progress in the workplace, in our communities, on the international stage, and in our everyday lives.

That’s not an easy task – it’s one that will require all of us to pitch in one way or another, whether through volunteerism, community outreach, changing business practices, or in myriad other ways. Even though it’s more work for everyone, for the first time in a long time, people seem excited about that call to duty. I think that’s because we want to measure up. We want to be our best selves. And in the end, that’s the most inspiring call of all.