Working "retreat"

I spent the last few days at the Interim Minister's Annual Seminar.  It was held just North of Sarasota, Florida so it just drove down to the retreat center.  Like many UUA events it was meetings from morning through the evening, so it wasn't exactly a retreat, despite the setting. 
On Tuesday, we had a seminar on personal management,  which I found very useful.  I wished I had such a seminar in theological school,  Supervising staff is one of the most difficult things a minister does.  I have supervised administrators, music directors, music staff, and religious education directors and religious education assistants.  If a member of the staff is not performing, I have been expected to somehow change their performance.  If the religious educator is discouraging the religious education teachers, it is the minister who must fix the religious educator.  Sometimes that has meant termination, sometimes the staff member can be instructed in a way to change their performance.  We were taught how to be proactive in communicating expectations and how to be clear about goals.  I found it very useful. 
Why are interim ministers taught this, and not settled ministers?  The training of the interim ministers is much more direct,  these are the problems that will occur in the year that you are with a congregation.  Making changes in the staff is often left to the interim year.  Settled ministers are more conflict averse, disciplining a popular but incompetent staff member might cause waves in the congregation.  The interim minister has a short term contract, so the interim is already fired. 
The Wednesday, we had a training on the use of appreciative inquiry in managing transitions.  I had heard of appreciative inquiry, and it seemed like a useful tool, but I had no deep training in the AI prior to this.  Now I understand that this a first cousin to narrative therapy,  Both assume that we mediate our understanding of the world through social constructions, and that some social constructions are limiting, while others are empowering.  We help people tell a new story,  a story that allows them to see themselves as capable people.  We are trying to prompt people to adopt a new way of understanding their world, that will lead to constructive change. 
I am very interested in learning more about appreciate inquiry.  I believe it has tremendous potential for helping congregations that are trying to make positive changes.