Thought Leadership
Our thought leadership brings together the ideas, models, and practices that shape the Studio’s work. Through books, primers, and longer-form writing, we explore how organizations grow, how leadership evolves, and how workplaces can be designed to sustain both performance and possibility. You will also find selected writings from Studio leaders on appreciative evaluation and its role in learning and organizational development.
Appreciative Approaches to Learning and Evaluation
Appreciative Evaluation brings a strengths-based, inquiry-driven approach to understanding performance, learning, and impact. Rather than focusing only on gaps or deficits, it examines what is working, why it is working, and how those conditions can be strengthened and scaled.
This approach has shaped how the Studio understands growth, learning, and organizational change.
Tessie Catsambas, EnCompass co-founder and CEO, is a co-author of the foundational text on Appreciative Evaluation (see below), which has helped define and advance the field. Her work continues to inform the Studio’s approach to evaluation, learning, and practice.
To explore Tessie’s publications on Appreciative Evaluation more fully, visit EnCompass’ publications page. Two featured titles are highlighted below.
Reframing Evaluation Through Appreciative Inquiry
By: Hallie Preskill (Author), Anatasia (Tessie) Tzavaras Catsambas (Author)
Published by: Sage Publications, Inc., June 2006 | First Edition
Description: Reframing Evaluation Through Appreciative Inquiry is the first book to introduce the application of Appreciative Inquiry, an approach for organizational development and change, to the practice of evaluation. Authors Hallie Preskill and Tessie Tzavaras Catsambas lay out the theoretical foundation of Appreciative Inquiry and build a bridge between the theory and practice of applying Appreciative Inquiry to evaluation.
Evaluation Management: How to Commission and Conduct Evaluations That Matter
By: Anatasia (Tessie) Tzavaras Catsambas (Author). E. Jane Davidson (Author)
Published by: Sage Publications, Inc., March 2024 | First Edition
Description: Evaluation Management: How to Commission and Conduct Evaluations helps evaluation teams and commissioners achieve results that meet utilization and organizational learning goals and inform positive change for programs and communities. Authors Tessie Tzavaras Catsambas and E. Jane Davidson provide insights on both the tactical and strategic levels of evaluation management, using approaches and skills from project management, administration and logistics, budgeting, team management, leadership development, communication, coaching, systems thinking, and negotiation.