Appreciative Management and Leadership: The Power of Positive Thought and Action in Organization (Revised Edition, 1999) (Paperback)

~ (Author), David L. Cooperrider (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Shows how executives can introduce, nurture, and develop human values in organizational life. Explores modes of thought and processes of... -- From Book News, Inc.

Shows how executives can introduce, nurture, and develop human values in organizational life. Explores modes of thought and processes of... --From Book News, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Description

Organizations in the twenty-first century will look very different from those we know today. Faced with an environment of unpredictable demands and a workforce of great cultural and ethnic diversity, organizations will have to find new ways to engage their members in a spirit of common purpose.

This book offers a new perspective on organizational management that will enable executives to unlock an organization's potential for creativity, innovation, and collaboration. In sixteen original essays the authors demonstrate how appreciation - the act of recognizing and valuing all kinds of diversity, whether cultural, ethnic, or simply different and unusual styles of management - is the key to forging unity and purpose among individuals in an organization. They show, for example, how consensus and cooperation grow from members' understanding that their personal integrity and abilities are valued and will be integrated into the organization's culture. They describe the specific communication practices that can be used to forge a common sense of purpose from conflicting points of view and different personal goals. And theey identify the special personal and leadership skills needed to cultivate an environment where managers work with and build on differences, rather than den! ying their expression.

Product Details

• Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: Williams Custom Publishing; Revised edition (May 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1893435059
• ISBN-13: 978-1893435056
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,857,137 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars the culmination of a symposium held in October 1988, June 15, 2001

By	Patrick Merlevede (Lembeke, Vlaanderen (Belgium, Europe)) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Managers call "People issues" the biggest problem when it comes to change in organisations. I believe Appreciative Inquiry may be one of the most important "discoveries" of the end of last century. For me, it seems it offers the answer to many work-related problems that persons in my workshops on emotional intelligence experience, problems to which I can only teach them on how to handle those problems for themselves, by developping their emotional intelligence.

Appreciative Inguiry and related methods offers ways to obtain real, systemic change in an organization. Still, this is maybe not the book you're looking for. If you want a more modern publication, I recommend the books entitled "Appreciative Inquiry: Rethinking Human Organiation Toward a Posotive theory of Change (Cooperrider et al, 2000) as a more "serious" sourcebook (containing papers) or "Appreciative Inquiry: Change at the speed of imagination" (Watkins & Mohr, 2001) as a more practical "how-to" book.

I felt a bit "cheated" by the mention "revised edition". As far as I can see, the only "new" thing is (maybe?) the addition of 2 of the original papers on the topic (from 1986 and 1987) at the end of the book, adter a title reading "expanded edition". There isn't even a new foreword from 1999. Also, checking the references, I couldn't find anything that indicated more recent stuff than the materials from 1988. If I had known that on forehand, I wouln't have purchased this volume.

Patrick Merlevede Author of "7 Steps to Emotional Intelligence"