Sue Annis Hammond, The Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry, 2nd Edition. Thin Book Publishing 1998.
Referenced in: Strategies for Church Renewal – Whole Systems, Large Groups
LifeandLeadership.com Summary
This book discusses Appreciative Inquiry (AI), a Whole Systems approach to organizational renewal that has been useful in many churches. This is perhaps the most popular book on AI, having sold over 150,000 copies. It provides brief articles, bulleted lists, sidebars, sample questions, and resource lists for AI practitioners, along with clear guidance on how to go to the next level. This should be seen as more of an invitation to AI, and may be useful for church leaders looking for ways to give others introductory exposure to the practice. See the Resource Guide for other suggestions on AI and other Whole Systems approaches.
From the Publisher
The Thin Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry is the introduction to the exciting organizational change philosophy called Appreciative Inquiry. Appreciative Inquiry is a way of thinking, seeing and acting for powerful, purposeful change in organizations.
It is particularly useful in systems being overwhelmed by a constant demand for change. Appreciative Inquiry approaches change by assuming that whatever you want more of already exists in all organizations.
While traditional problem-solving processes separate, dissect, and pull apart, Appreciative Inquiry generates affirming images that pull people together. People discover what the organization does well, how it does it and design ways to do more of what works. Unlike a cookbook approach to change, Appreciative Inquiry is a thought process. The book is written in simple language and includes references on where to go for more in-depth study.
About the Author
Sue Annis Hammond is a Change Management Consultant with a unique combination of extensive consulting and entrepreneurial experience. She has more than 20 years of consulting experience, including 10 years of internal work at Meredith Corporation and Principal Financial Group, 12 years of external consulting, and six years as an entrepreneur.
Sue is a nationally recognized expert in Appreciative Inquiry, a process that changes the focus from finding out what is going wrong to discovering and expanding best practices in organizations. Her first book The Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry is a national bestseller, with sales in excess of 125,000 copies. Sue started Thin Book Publishing in response to the book’s success and customer requests for more “thin books”. The company is devoted to publishing “just in time” cutting-edge knowledge for organizational clients. Thin Book Publishing currently has four books in print, two of which have been honored with industry awards. Her latest book is co-authored with Andrea B. Mayfield and is called, The Thin Book of Naming Elephants: How to Surface Undiscussables for Greater Organizational Success.
Sue completed a Masters of Organizational Development at Bowling Green Graduate School of Business, where she was the 1991 Minninger Foundation Fellow. She also holds a B.A. and a M.A. in English from SUNY Fredonia, and currently lives in Bend, Oregon.
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