Resource Assignment

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future action. The more important component of action learning is the reflective piece, the consid- eration of past actions and their impacts on future actions. Action learning is as focused on the learn- ing a s it is on the action. The final step of the action-learning program is really the first step in the next action-learning program—a classic itera- tive systems process.

Acfion Learning in Action emphasizes tech- niques rather than theoretical constructs. It was written for consultants and working managers. As a result, it is highly accessible to the average reader. Important concepts are presented in lists, in bulleted inventories, in short paragraphs, in pithy quotations from literary sources ("We had the experience but missed the meaning, T.S. Eliot" p. 33), in dark type, in columns, in figures and in diagrams. Some of the lists are truly interesting: "Questions that facilitate work and reflection" (p. 203); "Summary of cultural differences" (p. 157); "How action learning develops leaders to be ser- vants and stewards" (p. 116). But we've seen them before, in their original locations.

Each identified concept is illustrated by a "case- let" about an orga;nization that employed that idea, to great success. Many of these anecdotes are about large American organizations, such a s the U.S. Army, Generdl Electric, General Motors, and George Washington University. This surprised me, as the Preface clearly states "action learning, a s publicized in the U.S., barely resembles the classic action learning a s developed by Reg Revans and others earlier in this century. Thus, when the wa- tered-down version leads to poor results, we dis- card it . . . " (p. xi).

It is inconsistencies such a s these that make Acfion Learning in Action less valuable than it could be. America-bashing irritates me. Lack of awareness about American management theorists irritates me—R. Kanter should not be referred to a s "he" by any credible business writer (p. 112), most particularly when trying to sell to an American market.

I had difficulty finding two pages in a row that contained uninterrupted text. My personal bias is that books are meant to provide some narrative continuity. This one is more a book of lists than anything else. As such, it serves a valuable pur- pose—to simplify the process of introducing and implementing an action-learning program within an organization by providing word-bites. But the book offers nothing new, nothing that the educated reader h a s not already seen. Acfion Learning in Action is old wine in new bottles. Yes, there can be too many books on one topic, even one as impor- tant and useful a s action learning.

REFERENCES

Argyris, C. 1993. Knowledge for action: A guide for overcoming the barriers to organizational change. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Argyris, C , & Schon, D. A. 1978. Organizational learning: A theory of action perspective. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

Senge, P. M. 1990. The fifth discipline: The art and science of the learning organization. New York, NY: Doubleday/Currency.

Senge, P. M.. et al. 1994. The fifth discipline fieldbook: Strategies and tools for building a learning organization. New York, NY: Doubleday.

Weisbord, M. R. 1987. Productive workplaces; Organizing and managing for dignity, meaning, and community. San Fran- cisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Appreciative Inquiry: Change at tbe Speed of Imagination, by Jane Magruder Watkins and Bernard J. Mohr. San Fran- cisco, CA: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer, 2001. 241 pages, soft cover.

Reviewed by Ram Subramanian, Grand Valley State University.

What do McDonald's Corporation, Winston Churchill, and NASA have in common? All three in this eclectic group have used a new concept in organizational development, called appreciative inquiry, to improve organizational processes, and, in the case of Churchill, even spur a country toward victory in World War II! Appreciative in- quiry or AI, which had its genesis in the early 1980s, centers organizational change on evoking past positive experiences in the organization, to spur action toward achieving goals. This is in sharp contrast to the traditional problem-solving approach to change. Developed by David Cooper- rider and his colleagues at Case Western Reserve University, AI's current reach extends beyond the business world to community development and philanthropy.

Grounded in the theory of social construction- ism, the AI model described in Appreciative In- quiry: Change at the Speed of Imagination centers on five core principles and five core processes. These intertwining building blocks form what the authors refer to as the "DNA" (p. 36) of AI. The core principles of constructionism, simultaneity, antici- pation, poetic interpretation, and positive rein- forcement form the theoretical underpinnings of the practical core processes. The "constructionist" principle states that "knowledge about an organi- zation and the destiny of that organization are interwoven" (p. 37). "Simultaneity" refers to the fact

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that inquiry and change are not linear processes; rather, they are inextricably linked. When the in- terventionists ask questions about the organiza- tion, they are simultaneously sowing the seeds of change. The "anticipatory" principle emphasizes the importance of collective imagination about the future. The vision of where an organization wants to go in the future is what sustains the organiza- tion, and the key is to leverage that anticipation to foster change. The "poetic" principle refers to the possibility of interpreting human organizations in myriad ways, akin to the possibility of interpreting a good poem in many ways. Finally, the "positive" principle reiterates the necessity of dwelling on the positive as opposed to identifying and attempt- ing to solve "problems" in the organization. As an example, the authors suggest the use of the term empowerment, rather than talk about improving "low morale."

The five core principles when translated to ac- tion become AI's five generic processes. Choosing the positive a s the focus of inquiry is the first process. In making this the first process, Al imme- diately follows an alternative path to change. In traditional change management, identification of the problem spurs the subsequent intervention phases. By framing the intervention objective in positive, rather than problem-solving, terms, Al takes a different path. The vignette of McDonald's Corporation described in the book explains this shift in emphasis succinctly. Rather than change its people-related problems (increasing recruit- ment and training costs, and turnover), McDonald's Al consultants framed the question a s "What should McDonald's do to be the best employer in each community around the world?" This question was used to develop several positive future-state scenarios involving the company's human re- source function.

Interviewing is the second generic process. But an Al interview is unlike any other interview. The Al interviewer encourages the interviewee to talk about the organization in terms of stories. The ra- tionale for using stories in the change process is best captured in the words of Laura Simms, an author and storyteller quoted in the book: "Story- telling is acultural. As an art form, storytelling is not a solo performance of one person telling a story and someone else hearing their words. It is a very subtle transformative event that always takes place in the present and is reciprocal" (p. 77). The second difference between Al interviews and tra- ditional interviews is that, in the case of Al, both the interviewer and the interviewee are employees of the client organization. These employees are paired together and asked to tell each other stories

about best experiences, personal values, organiza- tional values, and finally, to express three wishes.

In the third generic process, the interview data from the previous step are parsed for common themes. Avon Products sought AI's help to increase the number of women in senior management posi- tions in their Mexican subsidiary, Avon Mexico. The Al consultants succeeded in developing a number of stories from the participants through the interview process. A team of Avon Mexico employ- ees and the Al consultants selected some of the most interesting and inspirational stories that re- flected several common themes and used these stories to build practical models to spur the devel- opment of women executives.

AI's fourth generic process pulls together the common themes from the stories to get the organi- zation to articulate a vision of the future. As the book states, the objective of this step is to invite the participants to "imagine an organization in which those special moments of exceptional vitality found in the stories become the norm rather than the exception" (p. 133). British Airways used the Al process to develop a vision of "excellence in cus- tomer service," which was then used to create more specific principles and practices to catalyze organizational action toward the goal.

The first four steps lead to the articulation of a preferred future state. In the strategic manage- ment literature, these steps would comprise the analysis and formulation phases. As in the case of organizational strategy where steps to implement the strategy have to be developed, AI's final ge- neric process involves finding innovative ways to create the preferred future. To their credit, practi- tioners of Al eschew equifinality and embrace the possibility that there are several ways to imple- ment ideas in an organization. The book discusses several of these ways, ranging from individual ac- tion to a holistic approach.

Appieciative Inquiry is an informative and prac- tical primer on an important method of organiza- tional development. It differs from the typical cook- book-oriented text in that Watkins and Mohr make every effort to relate Al and its processes to theory. It is best described by the term, practical philoso- phy, which, for many people, is an oxymoron. AI's approach to change, right from the step of framing the objective to using participant-generated sto- ries to offer solutions, is a philosophical about turn from the traditional problem-solving approach to change. But, by distilling AI's essence in terms of practical steps, this work makes a plausible leap from theory to practice.

The book's usefulness to practitioners can be enhanced by adding more meat to the case vi-

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gnettes at the end of each chapter. Although the cases describe Al interventions in broad detail, a suggestion would be to increase the level of spec- ificity in the cases that would help in strongly reinforcing the chapter contents. For example, al- though the Avon Mexico vignette exemplifies the importance of parsing stories for common themes, it would benefit the reader to know of at least one story that led to a specific theme.

Okay, so how does Winston Churchill get credit for Al when he predates it by 40 or so years? It turns out that in the dark days of 1940 when Britain did not believe that it could win the war, Churchill turned the beleaguered country around by stress- ing the positive and dissociating from the people's minds all thoughts of shortcomings and impossi- ble odds (www.appreciative-inquiry.org). Even if lacking the charismatic personality of the great leader, organizational development consultants can use AI's philosophy to successfully orchestrate change.

REFERENCES

Anonymous. Churchill: Providing leadership by seeing the unseen; http://www.appreciative-inquiry.org./AI-Churchill.htm.

Team-Based Learning, by Howard Hills. Aldershot, Hampshire, England: Gower Publishing, Ltd., 2001.

Reviewed by Ken Friedman, Norwegian School of Man- agement.

This book addresses the important theme of team- based learning. Three powerful forces in organiza- tions today make team-based learning a vital fac- tor in organizational success.

First, effective organizations require organiza- tional learning. As increasingly horizontal struc- tures distribute executive agency through an or- ganization, learning becomes a central factor in performance. Even when organizations retain a vertical hierarchy, a wide and deep learning cul- ture is one key to success. Learning is more than the mere mastery of facts. It involves understand- ing facts and applying judgment to specific prob- lems. In the organizational context, learning involves groups as well a s individuals, and it in- volves meta-leaxning—learning about learning— through reason and reflective dialogue. This means that organizational learning is, in many dimensions, team-based learning.

Second, teams are an increasingly prominent

aspect of organizational life. This has implications that transcend the general challenge of organiza- tional learning. Teams are an increasingly com- mon way of managing the flow of work in short- term projects and in routine functions. From the freewheeling companies of Silicon Valley to such strictly hierarchical organizations a s the United States Navy (O'Leary, 1996), teams have come to be a standard unit for productive work. These teams are more than task forces executing responsibili- ties delegated to them under the control of a man- ager. A team is effective to the degree that it can take responsibility. Teams are effective precisely because contemporary organizations operate in a swiftly changing environment in which effective employees move from delegated tasks to empow- ered roles. Executive agency is the hallmark of effective teams and learning is required for effec- tive agency. Logic and experience both demon- strate that team-based learning is, therefore, an important aspect of organizational life.

The third factor that makes team-based learning so important is the growth of the virtual organiza- tion (Hedberg, Dahlgren, Hansson, & Nils-Goeran, 1997). Virtual organizations permit companies or government agencies to address immediate and long-term challenges by working in teams across the boundaries of the business unit, and even across the boundaries of separate and sometimes competing firms. A team may consist of many kinds of people from many kinds of firms within an industry or be gathered from several kinds of in- dustries to address a common challenge. Like the concept of teams, the concept of the virtual or- ganization has spread from software companies and successful retailing firms to the United States Army and the German General Staff (Fukuyama & Shulsky, 1997). Almost by definition, the virtual or- ganization functions through teams. If teams are to work, they must learn. If they are to work across the boundaries of different organizations and cultures, team-based learning is imperative.

The goal of Hills's book is to demonstrate how teams learn in a way that enables team leaders and team members to practice the lessons of team- based learning. The introduction makes several valuable promises. Hills places team-based learn- ing in the context of Kolb's (1984) concept of indi- vidual learning styles. Hills (2001: ix) promises to develop an exemplative pedagogical structure in which he will use a systematic approach in each chapter. This system, he states, means that the four different kinds of learners will be able to put the concepts of this book into practice. (Hills labels the four different kinds of learners as pragmatist, ac- tivist, reflector, and theorist, adding a fifth cate-