Nov. 20 Study Guide

Book: Hammond, Sue Annis. The Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry. 2005. 70 pages. $7.90.

This is an introduction to the principles of Appreciative Inquiry, a process for helping organizations and groups bring about change. Appreciative Inquiry focuses on building from what is right, or what is working, within an organization. Hammond offers eight assumptions of Appreciative Inquiry, which serve as building blocks. This list of assumptions is taken directly from Hammond's book (pages 20-21):

1. In every society, or organization, or group, something works.
2. What we focus on becomes our reality.
3. Reality is created in the moment, and there are multiple realities.
4. The act of asking questions of an organization or group influences the group in some way.
5. People have more confidence and comfort to journey to the future (the unknown) when they carry forward parts of the past (the unknown).
6. If we carry parts of the past forward, they should be what is best about the past.
7. It is important to value differences.
8. The language we use creates our reality.

Much of this “thin” volume outlines a process for using Appreciative Inquiry, based on the assumptions. Hammond details the following:

1. Begin with a topic, and take care in crafting questions the group can explore.
2. Make inquiries about the question to the group, either during group sessions or through interviews.
3. Work as a group to develop “provocative propositions,” which must be affirmative statements.
4. Incorporate and use these propositions so they become part of the group will, and emerge spontaneously.

The author hopes to entice the reader to explore the subject in greater detail, and provides a list of resources at the end. She also provides sample questions to use in the Appreciative Inquiry process.

About the Author: Sue Annis Hammond bills herself as a change management consultant. She has more than 20 years of consulting experience. She has a Masters of Organizational Development from 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. This book has sold more than 150,000 copies.

Questions:
1. What kind of problem solving processes do you currently use? How do they work for you?
2. The book defines Appreciative Inquiry as a group process. Can we, as individuals, incorporate these ideas into other activities?
3. Pages 20-21 list eight assumptions, and they are also listed above. Do you react emotionally or defensively to any of the assumptions?
4. The author says she selected this change model because it recognizes and honors the human spirit. Do you think that’s important for change?
5. At the end, the author says, “I think that the one key assumption of Appreciative Inquiry is to learn to value differences.” Do you agree that it is the key assumption?