Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry

I bought this book on a recommendation of a lecturer at a recent conference. He said that this was the first book to buy if one wants to learn about AI. He was right. The author is straight to the point. The material is easy to digest. The examples are applicable. Because of this book, I can immediately put AI to use in developing better teams and groups.

Recently, I attended a monthly meeting for professional coaches where the speaker made a presentation on Appreciative Inquiry. He passed around many books on the subject as he continued his talk. I was impressed enough with Sue Hammond's Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry to go right home and order it. I am not usually one who cares for national bestsellers, but in this case... I can see why. It is a valuable tool for any coach, mentor or anyone in life who seeks a better, clearer understanding of how to appreciate life, work, people, everything really. Learning to appreciate makes a quantifiable difference in your life and times. Hammond writes with an easy style, touching on most aspects of positive thinking and behaviors that can and will make a difference immediately in whatever you do and how you work with family, friends, co-workers. The focus is on "what is working?" not what is the problem. To me, it's a much better place to start, automatically gives us a leg-up to feel good about something that is already positive. Highly recommended! Thank you Sue Hammond. Pie Dumas - Author & Life Coach

I use this book in my coaching business. The book is a great source of usable information that can be easily understood. Hammond includes tips that can help shift one's thinking in a positive way. If we could all operate in the manner she describes we would be better leaders (at any level).

Too often, analysts try to find problems with organizations so they have something to solve. It's what they live for! Customers come to analysts when they feel there is a problem, so the two seem like a match -- the customer thinks there is a problem, the analyst proves there is. However, usually a customer's business isn't in complete shambles; they usually do something right. Sue's book provides analysts an alternative to always finding problems. Analysts can use appreciateve inquiry to first discover what the customer is doing right. Often applying the same principles, processes, procedures, to what they are doing correctly can solve what the customer perceives as a current problem. This is still a match between the customer and the analyst with one added advantage: it leaves the customer feeling better about him/herself. In 60 pages Sue gives analysts a completely new skill for in their toolkit.

This small book gives one a very good idea of the fundamentals of appreciative inquiry. It is a great stimulus for those looking to approach change from a positive, and often times, very unique perspective. It has a straight forward "how to" process included as well as a nice reference and resource section.