Appreciative Inquiry Handbook : For Leaders of Change

In this thoroughly revised and updated edition of one of the most popular change methods in the world, Cooperrider et al. track the recent changes in the field and explain how AI can contribute to sustainability and the triple bottom line.

One of today’s most popular change methods, Appreciative Inquiry (AI) has been used to undertake transformational initiatives in dozens of organizations, ranging from McDonalds to the U.S. Navy to Save the Children. 

The assumption of AI is simple. Every organization has things that work right—things that give it life when it is vital, effective, and successful. AI begins by identifying this positive core and connecting organizational visions, plans, and structures to it in ways that heighten energy and inspire action for change. 

This book presents all of the concepts, examples, and aids necessary to engage groups of all sizes in Appreciative Inquiry. The authors provide background information on what AI is and how it works and offer sample project plans, designs, agendas, course outlines, interview guidelines, participant worksheets, a list of resources, and more. 

This second edition has been extensively revised, updated, and expanded, including new case studies, new tools and supplemental articles, an expanded bibliography and resource list, and an entirely new chapter on case applications. And throughout, the authors focus on how AI can support an organizational focus on sustainability and the “triple bottom line” of people, prosperity, and planet.

David L. Cooperrider is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Organizational Behavior at the Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University. He is the author or coauthor of nine books. His 1987 article Appreciative Inquiry Into Organizational Life (with Suresh Srivastva) introduced the concept of Appreciative Inquiry.
Jacqueline M. Stavros, EDM is associate professor at the Graduate College of Management at Lawrence Technological University, a principal in the Corporation for Positive Change, and Associate of the Positive Change Corps and Taos Institute.
Diana K. Whitney, Ph.D. is president of Corporation for Positive Change and cofounder of the Taos Institute and a Distinguished Consulting Faculty at Saybrook Graduate School. She is the author of five books on AI, including The Power of Appreciative Inquiry.