“Provocative . . . reveals the ability behind exciting and unexpected innovations, turnarounds, or accomplishments that were once considered impossible.” —W. Warner Burke, Edward L. Thorndike Professor of Psychology and Education, Teachers College, Columbia University Appreciative Intelligence provides a new answer to what enables successful people to dream up their extraordinary and innovative ideas; why employees, partners, colleagues, investors, and other stakeholders join them on the path to their goals, and how they achieve these goals despite obstacles and challenges. It is not simple optimism. People with appreciative intelligence are realistic and action oriented—they have the ability not just to identify positive potential, but to devise a course of action to take advantage of it. Drawing on their own original research and recent discoveries in psychology and cognitive neuroscience, Thatchenkery and Metzker outline the evidence for appreciative intelligence, detail its specific characteristics, and show how you can develop this skill and use it in your own life and work. They show how the most successful leaders are able to spread appreciative intelligence throughout an organization, and they offer tools and exercises you can use to increase your own level of appreciative intelligence and so become more creative, resilient, successful, and personally fulfilled. “An inspiring and practical account of how to develop the capacity to see potential within the present and to develop this capacity within oneself and in others.” —Jane E. Dutton, William Russell Kelly Professor of Business Administration and Professor of Psychology, Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan “A compelling justification for . . . what endows successful leaders with the qualities of persistence, conviction, comfort with uncertainty, and resilience to overcome challenges.” —Dr. V. Nilakant, coauthor of Change Management

Brings Appreciative Intelligence (AI) into the public discourse. This work illustrates how AI can be found in individuals regardless of position or level of leadership.

Written by the two most recognized Appreciative Inquiry thought leaders A quick, accessible introduction to one of the most popular change methods today--proven effective in organizations ranging from Roadway Express and British Airways to the United Nations and the United States Navy Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is a model of change management uniquely suited to the values, beliefs, and challenges of organizations today. AI is a process that emphasizes identifying and building on strengths, rather than focusing exclusively on fixing weaknesses as most other change processes do. As the stories in this book illustrate, it results in dramatic improvements in the triple bottom line: people, profits, and planet. AI has been used to significantly enhance customer satisfaction, cost competitiveness, revenues, profits, and employee engagement, retention, and morale, as well as organizations' abilities to meet the needs of society. This book is a concise introduction to Appreciative Inquiry. It provides a basic overview of the process and principles of AI along with exciting stories illustrating how organizations have applied AI and the benefits they have gained as a result. It has been specifically designed to be accessible to a wide audience so that it can be handed out in organizations where AI is either being contemplated or being implemented. Written by two of the key figures in the development of Appreciative Inquiry, this is the most authoritative guide available to a change method that systematically taps the potential of human beings to make themselves, their organizations, and their communities more adaptive and more effective.

Appreciative Intelligence provides a new answer to what enables successful people to dream up their extraordinary and innovative ideas; why employees, partners, colleagues, investors, and other stakeholders join them on the path to their goals, and how they achieve these goals despite obstacles and challenges. It is not simple optimism. People with appreciative intelligence are realistic and action oriented--they have the ability not just to identify positive potential, but to devise a course of action to take advantage of it. Drawing on their own original research and recent discoveries in psychology and cognitive neuroscience, Thatchenkery and Metzker outline the evidence for appreciative intelligence, detail its specific characteristics, and show how you can develop this skill and use it in your own life and work. They show how the most successful leaders are able to spread appreciative intelligence throughout an organization, and they offer tools and exercises you can use to increase your own level of appreciative intelligence and so become more creative, resilient, successful, and personally fulfilled.

The ability to be resilient--to pick oneself up after setbacks and keep on going no matter the challenges--is critical not only to successful leadership but also to fostering teams, generating collaboration, and igniting the organization. In this book, the authors show that Appreciative Inquiry canbe an invaluable tool to build that resilience.

ASKing (Appreciative Sharing of Knowledge) is at the heart of this comprehensive, compelling, and cutting edge guide to appreciative knowing and innovation. The authors have really managed to push the appreciative envelope here. They ve taken well-known appreciative inquiry frameworks and methods, effectively improved on them, and extended them into the all important area of knowledge development and knowledge sharing. I expect that readers in all kinds of organizations and at many levels will find the ASK system readily usable and effective. The in-depth case studies across a wide variety of industries (including government) turn the book into a fine guide for knowledge sharing, making it particularly easy to Learn how to ASK . At the same time, academics, teachers, and students will find this book does a terrific job of summarizing and enlivening the existing appreciative inquiry/intelligence literature. If you've only got time and money for one book on appreciative organizational approaches, this is the one to get. David Barry, Nova University, Lisbon, Portugal Thatchenkery and Chowdhry have given those of us challenged with global knowledge sharing a way through the muddle of the traditional knowledge management paradigm. Fusing Knowledge Sharing and Appreciative Sharing concepts leads to a true appreciation of the value of knowledge dissemination and away from knowledge hoarding. With new technology migration occurring at warp speed and globalization of product sourcing markets requiring co-location of manufacturing facilities close to the customer, our company relies on state of the art knowledge sharing capabilities to shorten conventional and expensive training methodologies. Positive team collaboration with representation from all international sites and across functional areas in effect, simultaneously managing time, distance, and culture barriers is substantially facilitated by thinking of knowledge sharing in new and appreciative ways. This book helps chart the new path. Hank Jonas, Organization Effectiveness Corning Incorporated The authors of this book advance the Appreciative Sharing of Knowledge (ASK), a unique approach by which organizations create a culture that facilitates the sharing of information. Using social constructionist approaches, historical data, and case studies, the authors demonstrate that appreciation or affirmation is the key ingredient for people to trust each other and overcome their inhibitions and concerns about sharing what they know. The hyper-competitive culture of many organizations has created a knowledge-hoarding climate that many firms struggle to change. The ASK process can reinvent, in a sustainable manner, how we think about organizing knowledge. By linking practices, artifacts, technologies and managerial skills, the ASK model offers a management framework for a wide range of enterprises. One of the basic tenets put forth is that if knowledge is shared appreciatively, managing knowledge will no longer be an issue. The authors expand on the concept of appreciation and illustrate how systems can be created to institutionalize knowledge sharing. In addition, they give examples of organizations that have planted the seeds for the exchange to happen. Academics and practitioners in the fields of knowledge management and organizational behavior and development will find this innovative study of great value. The findings will also be of great practical use for managers and executives in a variety of firms.