Copyright: 2005

Publisher: Berrett - Koehler

ISBN: 1-57675-356-5

With my tongue in my cheek, I want the express my appreciation to the authors of Appreciative Inquiry for making this book so short!  It is intended as an introduction to the "hottest new change management approach" but it reads more like a laundry list of management buzz words.   

In a nutshell

The basic premise of Appreciative Inquiry seems to be taking a more positive approach to change management.  Underlying most approaches is the idea of "finding what's wrong and fixing it."  Appreciative inquiry seeks to find what is right and use that to base the direction of the change. 

This book may have been the wrong book for me to read.  I was hoping to find a book that would give me a quick understanding of the principles behind the approach.  Instead I was completely turned off from even pursuing the knowledge.  I heard about appreciative inquiry from some people that I respect in the software world.  After thinking about it however, they were in the consulting business and consultants tend to be suckers for pop-management buzz words. 

The best thing I can say about the book is that it was short and didn't take up much of my time in the reading!  I do like the premise of looking at what an organization is doing right in order to decide on changes, however it doesn't seem like you would need a book to figure that out.