Organization Development (OD)

OD is a relatively new field -- less over 50 years old.

For many users and for some practitioners as well, its history is a blur in time, and its application a combination of science and mystery.

Let me try to summarize its origins and conceptual definition.

Its origins have been traced to 1957 and were codified in 1969 by the publication from Addison-Wesley Publishing Company of the OD Series, with books by Beckhard, Bennis, Schein, and later by Blake and Mouton, Lawrence and Lorch, and Walton. The series, since then, has expanded by several books broadening the meaning and practice of organization development.

I received my first set of the OD Series as a gift from one of my superiors in February 1970 following my first participation in an off-site team building session, while serving as an HR Manager for a large division of Control Data Corporation in Sunnyvale, California. My superior felt, and rightfully so I might add, that OD was the missing link to effective human resources management. Later on, I came to the same realization.

As I perused these seminal books, these three things jumped out: (1) OD is a normative-reeducative process, (2) its values emerged from the behavioral science field, and (3) its collaborative nature of consultation.

I concluded, that if I was interested in the field, I needed (1) to learn about organizational norms (culture) and adult learning principles, (2) to get grounded on behavioral science principles, and (3) to learn process consultation (group dynamics and intervention theory).

Later on, as I got more and more interested in the field, I discovered that to better understand OD, I needed also to understand the assumptions that OD makes about people as individuals, groups and leadership, people in organizational systems, values of the client organization, and the value and beliefs of the behavioral scientist-change agent.

Applied behavioral scientist-change agents tend to give high priority to the needs and aspirations of human beings. They also believe that work and life can become richer and more meaningful, and organized effort more effective and rewarding, if feelings and sentiments are allowed to legitimately become part of the culture of an organization. Change agents have a bias toward action, along with research, in an effort to bring about improvement. Lastly, behavioral science practitioners place a high value on democratization or "power equalization" in the workplace through participation and involvement. The latter does not mean that employees will elect their superiors through a voting process nor that employees need to agree with everything management decides.

These values have a humanistic, developmental and optimistic foundation that supports a number of practices designed to differentiate OD from classical management consulting. In the latter, the client is defined as management, and in the former, the organizational system is the client. This difference has subtle but profound consequences with respect to confidentiality, agency (loyatly or allegiance to), and ultimately trust and confidence in the change process.

To me, to be a qualified OD practitioner requires first a baseline knowledge of and training in human behavior, process consultation, group dynamics, human resources management, and general management. This knowledge needs to be combined with on-the-job internships. I call the latter the art and science part. Secondly, an essential element for success is the practitioner's interpersonal competence, ethical dealings and leadership ability. I call the latter the professional part.

OD is not a job title that we can willy-nilly give away or take on. It has to be earned through rigorous study and painstaking application under professional supervision. It is a most rewarding profession. When combined with classical human resources management, it becomes a powerful tool for change management and institutionalization. It can have a profound impact on organizational performance and individual job satisfaction.

I encourage OD consultants to solicit feedback from the client system, not just the top dog, regarding their effectiveness and development gaps. Continuous improvement depends on our openness to seek and act on the feedback we receive.

Enjoy the trip along the learning curve. It is a lot of fun!