Conversations Worth Having : Using Appreciative Inquiry to Fuel Productive and Meaningful Engagement

A Unique Guide to Changing Our World of Conversation. Conversation is a crucial part of everything we do. It influences our well being--a good conversation can leave us ready for anything, a bad one can ruin our whole day. But most of us are unaware of the nature of our conversations, let alone how to make them consistently affirming and empowering. This book shows us how to use Appreciative Inquiry, one of the most effective and widely used approaches for fostering positive change, to dramatically improve the outcomes of our conversations. By focusing on what we want to happen instead of what we want to avoid, and asking questions to deepen understanding and increase possibilities, we expand creativity, improve productivity, and unleash potential, at work and home. "This book is for everyone, from managers striving to lead more effectively, to parents trying to cultivate better conversations with children." Lindsey Godwin, Director, David L. Cooperrider Center for Appreciative Inquiry "Wow! What a great book! I'm going to use it in my courses and with every client. It is rare to read a book that is so compelling and practical with simple guidelines anyone can use." Gervase R. Bushe, Professor, Simon Fraser University, and author of Clear Leadership "A conversation is the smallest visible unit of change, our starting point for every important change effort. This book is a gift to the world, business, schools, and families!" Jon Berghoff, President, Flourishing Leadership Institute "A must read for all leaders. Practical wisdom and relatable stories!" Robert Easton, Senior Managing Director, Accenture "This short book is a rare gem--entertaining, relevant, educational, and immensely practical.!" Maureen McKenna, Founder, Return on Energy Jackie Stavros and Cheri Torres have been internationally recognized for their work with Appreciative Inquiry. They've positively affected the lives of thousands of people and helped hundreds of organizations improve their capacity to thrive in uncertain times. They have been researching, writing, consulting, and speaking on Appreciative Inquiry since 1996 A Unique Guide to Changing Our World of Conversation.
Conversation is a crucial part of everything we do. It influences our well being—a good conversation can leave us ready for anything, a bad one can ruin our whole day. But most of us are unaware of the nature of our conversations, let alone how to make them consistently affirming and empowering. This book shows us how to use Appreciative Inquiry, one of the most effective and widely used approaches for fostering positive change, to dramatically improve the outcomes of our conversations. By focusing on what we want to happen instead of what we want to avoid, and asking questions to deepen understanding and increase possibilities, we expand creativity, improve productivity, and unleash potential, at work and home.
“This book is for everyone, from managers striving to lead more effectively, to parents trying to cultivate better conversations with children.”
Lindsey Godwin, Director, David L. Cooperrider Center for Appreciative Inquiry

“Wow!  What a great book!  I'm going to use it in my courses and with every client.  It is rare to read a book that is so compelling and practical with simple guidelines anyone can use.”
Gervase R. Bushe, Professor, Simon Fraser University, and author of Clear Leadership

“A conversation is the smallest visible unit of change, our starting point for every important change effort. This book is a gift to the world, business, schools, and families!”
Jon Berghoff, President, Flourishing Leadership Institute

“A must read for all leaders. Practical wisdom and relatable stories!”
Robert Easton, Senior Managing Director, Accenture

“This short book is a rare gem—entertaining, relevant, educational, and immensely practical.!”
Maureen McKenna, Founder, Return on Energy

Jackie Stavros and Cheri Torres have been internationally recognized for their work with Appreciative Inquiry. They've positively affected the lives of thousands of people and helped hundreds of organizations improve their capacity to thrive in uncertain times. They have been researching, writing, consulting, and speaking on Appreciative Inquiry since 1996.
Conversations are at the core of how we interact. We all know that conversations influence us, but we rarely stop to think about how much impact they have on our well-being and our ability to thrive. This book shows how Appreciative Inquiry (AI)--one of the most widely used new approaches for fostering positive change for individuals, groups, organizations, and communities--can help everyone communicate better and flourish in all areas of their lives. Stavros and Torres spell out 2 practices and 5 principles to create great conversations. Each chapter is built around real-life stories of people using these practices and principles to strengthen relationships and generate possibilities for a future that works for everyone Conversations can be critical and destructive, or they can be generative and productive. This book shows how to guarantee your conversations will help people, organizations, and communities flourish. -- Edited summary from book