NTL’s “Conference on the New OD”: Turning Thought into Action

Katherine Farquhar, Ph.D.Director, AU/NTL MSOD Program

CBODNApril 30, 2010

A watershed:

“an event marking a unique or important historical change of course or one on which important developments depend”

(online Free Dictionary).

The Conference Description

“The Conference on the New OD is a gathering of scholars, practitioners and organizational leaders who are committed to exploring the rapid and continuous shifts in the field of Organization Development. As a result of this exploration, participants will discover, identify and articulate emerging and new theory and practices that will shape the future of the field.”

Background: “Conference on the New OD”

The recent NTL “Conference on the New OD” (March 18-21 2010) drew over 200 participants from academia, practice, corporate, nonprofit and government settings.

Sessions on OD history and evolution, social construction, appreciative inquiry, dialogic vs. diagnostic OD, diversity, social justice, etc.

Interweaving of presentations, panels, ad hoc discussions in diverse groups, reportouts

SAMPLE: Diagnostic/Dialogic OD: Why the delineation?

Cliff Oswick

OLD OD:

Current state Diagnostic (the problem) Convergent & Reflective Focus on past/present Concrete (knowable and

tangible) Realist/Positivist orientation Univocal (fixing on a clear

problem)

NEW OD:

Desired state Dialogic (the solution) Divergent & Projective Focus on future/present Abstract (uncertain and

intangible) Constructivist/Postmodern

orientation Plurivocal (embracing multiple

solutions)

SAMPLE: Bob Marshak Sr. Scholar in Residence, AU/NTL

OD Morphogenesis: New Premises, Permutations, and Possibilities

1. Broader Focal Systems: sectors, communities, global 2. More Issues: profitability, efficiency, performance,

sustainability, social justice, global health, climate, etc. 3. Additional Interventions: innovations to established

types of interventions, and new interventions 4. Changing Contexts: speed, globalization, virtual

world, multicultural, information technology 5. Questions about our values: traditional, pragmatic 6. Additional underlying theories & premises

Bob challenged us by asking:

What would happen if we stopped trying to fit everything into the foundational models and terminology; and instead legitimated new premises and approaches in their own right?

SAMPLE: Carol Pierce: Flatter Structures

The following principles and description of the nature of flatter structures are given in the context of the philosophy and interventions allied with Dialogic OD: Appreciative Inquiry, Social Construction theory, Complexity theory, Open Space, World Café, Future Search, and the Power Equity Group.

The Goal is to create a container where the energy is as loose as possible in order to release the greatest creativity for self-organizing in a space lightly held for ‘the work’.

SAMPLE: Report of Open Space Discussion GroupOD Principles and ValuesOD Principles and Values

March 20, 2010

1. The name “OD” puts the focus on organizations. Does the field need to be renamed?

2. The values of OD can expand, but the core is stable. 3. A principle of practicing OD is that we commit to our

personal growth and we help each other be better: --generosity and mutual support --know why we do what we do – ground our work in theory 4. As OD practitioners we acknowledge the multi-disciplinary

and multi-cultural sources of OD --ancient origins and multiple roots, not just Western 5. As a field we need to increase our capability to work on the

world stage 6. Our OD work is always anchored in some level of system –

always thinking of the widest level of system.

Participants: Anne Litwin (convenor), Fred Nader, Peter Norlin, Cecile Betit, Susan Domoter, Kate Cowie, Joyce Bader, Ann-Marie Regan, Karen Powell, Doug Hickok

Are we at a watershed, a paradigm shift? If so – how do we make the most of the opportunity?

What would happen if we stopped What would happen if we stopped trying to fit everything into the trying to fit everything into the foundational models and foundational models and terminology; and instead terminology; and instead legitimated new premises and legitimated new premises and approaches in their own right?approaches in their own right?

Engaging the Process:

Who are we, here today, and in what ways might we re-write or re-structure the principles of OD theory and practice to reflect current context and needs?

Our suggestions?

for more information, visit www.ntl.org website