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Review
In an attempt to compile the vast amount of information available on the appreciative inquiry philosophy, Hammond wrote The Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry as a review that can be easily applied to any organization. Hammond begins by stating that the appreciative inquiry philosophy is simply the act of focusing on what is working within the organization and managing change from that perspective. Many organizations innately do the opposite by focusing on what is not working and stall in the process of developing solutions. Hammond advocates that appreciative inquiry is a generative process and constantly takes on a different form by the people who use it.
The end result is that organizations that consistently practice appreciative inquiry strive to repeat positive experiences and can more easily achieve future goals based on past experience. In essence, people know how to repeat success.

Hammond cautions that appreciative inquiry may be perceived as “mindless, happy talk” by some and appear as a naïve approach. Hammond challenges organizations to take the first step by asking team members at an upcoming meeting what went well at the meeting. Since it is a new way of thinking, many responses may be guarded as team members attempt to be politically correct, or there may actually be an absence of responses, if the team has not been trained to focus on successes.

Readers are then walked through the following process of appreciative inquiry implementation:

1. Identify the role of assumptions relating to change within the organization
2. Perform a comparison of standard problem solving assumptions to appreciative inquiry assumptions
3. Develop and implement appreciative inquiry interviews
4. Develop a provocative proposition

Throughout this section of the book, Hammond shares personal experiences and examples to assist the reader in better grasping the intention of each step. Hammond closes by reminding readers that appreciative inquiry is transforming and unique for each organization that uses it. Since people from within the organization are encouraged to respond and contribute, an organizational synergy continues to build from the successes experienced. The end result is that the organizational environment is transformed to one in which all can contribute to the positive spirit.

Summary of Main Points

* Organizations in the past have stalled in the change process due to focusing on what is not working. Appreciative inquiry focuses on what is working and builds from this foundation.

* Assumptions are statements or rules that explain what a group believes. Assumptions explain behavior, and are usually not visible or verbalized. To understand what a group believes, assumptions must first be discussed to understand perceptions.

* When choosing a topic for the appreciative inquiry process, a series of questions phrased in the positive must be developed for the interview process of the group and/or individuals. The information is shared to uncover common themes.

* Once reviewed, the lists of common themes are then written into provocative proposition(s) or statements that are innovative, affirmative, yet acceptable by the group and grounded by examples.

Call To Action
After reading this book, the following three points are needed to begin the appreciative inquiry process:

* Successful implementation of the appreciative inquiry philosophy is hindered without buy-in from top management. Since people within the organization are being asked to share freely, support of individual opinions is needed by all levels of the workforce. The role of management is to communicate and support this initiative from the top down.

* As was mentioned earlier, assumptions explain behavior. In other words, each individual has a different perception of reality based on their experiences and, as a result, react differently to different situations. It is crucial that an environment where differences are valued is promoted to increase interaction and stimulate innovation.
* Once the appreciative inquiry foundation is laid, it will be important to keep the momentum going, so that successful experiences can build on successful experiences. To move the organization to this higher level, there must be a constant effort of creating opportunities where people from all levels of the organization can join in the synergy.