Released on = January 10, 2007, 8:57 am

Press Release Author = Putting Hope To Work

Industry = Management

Press Release Summary = Putting Hope to Work authors Hutson and Perry focus on
building organizational
health, not diagnosing dysfunction; new workshops train executives in culture
management


Press Release Body = BOSTON - January 10, 2007 - Harry Hutson and Barbara Perry,
authors of the briskly-selling change management title Putting Hope to Work: Five
Principles to Activate Your Organization's Most Powerful Resource, today announced
that they have launched a website devoted to the principles of the book and are
preparing workshops, speaking engagements, and events to explain how hope is
nurtured in winning organizations, plays a role in transforming culture, and helps
companies generate bottom-line results.

"Hope is a positive force of action that engages people to work for a better
future," said Harry Hutson. "It's present in individual lives, social institutions,
and increasingly, as a differentiating factor in winning organizations."

Hutson notes that hope is a concept gaining momentum and inspiring tremendous
interest in our larger culture. Barack Obama's current bestseller is titled The
Audacity of Hope. In the medical community, The Anatomy of Hope: How People Prevail
in the Face of Illness was introduced in 2004 to acclaim by Harvard Medical School
professor Jerome Groopman. Oprah recently devoted an issue of "O" magazine to hope.
Deval Patrick, the newly elected governor of Massachusetts, chose "the politics of
hope" as the theme of his campaign.

According to Hutson and Perry, hope is important because it:
. Gives us energy
. Moves us to take action
. Makes us feel part of something purposeful

Traditional research into organizational health largely is modeled on how physicians
view individual physical health, and focuses on 'The three D's': disease, deficit,
and dysfunction. But in working with many of their clients, Hutson and Perry found
that focusing on health, rather than disease, provided a new and powerful lens
through which to understand the condition and strength of an organization.

"We found that one of the most intriguing and powerful forces for change in an
organization exists when leaders do things that help employees be hopeful," explains
Barbara Perry. "Our desire was to describe, in real life terms, what that force is,
how it works, and how organizations can nurture it and intentionally apply it."

Hutson and Perry's book and forthcoming presentations describe the five distinct
characteristics of hope and explore a number of related topics, including who
hopeful leaders are; what hopeful leaders do; how leaders keep their own hope alive;
how hope can be built on a grassroots level in local, adaptive ways that shift
culture day to day; how hope can be observed and assessed; and how some companies in
recent years have built cultures of hope.

For more information about the book, its authors, and principles that can help
transform organizations and lives, visit www.puttinghopetowork.com.

About Harry Hutson:
Harry Hutson, Ph.D., is a business advisor and executive coach specializing in
change management, communication, conflict resolution, and career development. He
consults to a wide variety of corporations, nonprofits, and educational
institutions. He is the Vice Chairman of the New England Center for Children, and
for over 20 years he was a leader in human resource management at Cummins, Avery
Dennison, and Global Knowledge.

About Barbara Perry:
Barbara Perry, Ph.D., is a cultural anthropologist, management consultant, and
teacher. In her 25 years of consulting to Fortune 500 companies, her emphasis has
been on facilitating development of customer-focused, innovative cultures. She
pioneered the use of team-based ethnographic methods both internally (for managing
change) and externally (to develop customer-relevant product and marketing
strategies). She is a frequent speaker at trend, market research, innovation, and
product development conferences and also runs a leadership workshop for women.

Web Site = http://www.PuttingHopeToWork.com

Contact Details = MEDIA CONTACT:
Dave Dix
512.257.1605
dave@melberg.com