Assignment 1-1

Organization Development

Organization or Organizational Development is a body of knowledge derived from

many disciplines focused on helping practitioners (including leaders and managers of

organizations) improve the performance of their organizations, teams, and individual

employees. Organization Development provides practitioners with models and tools to

measure, assess, design, structure, reengineer, lead, and manage “work” at individual,

group, function, and cross-functional levels.

Performance is not only related to the tangible, quantifiable objectives of the

organization. OD expanded the understanding of “effective” work to include the

quality of life of the members involved in producing results. Aligning individual needs

to those of the organization (and its “stakeholders”) is a critical component of most

efforts. Many academics and consultants also see strong ethical considerations that

drive the discipline.

Planned Change and Learning Defining what is wrong and what is working well, then planning actions that make it

better is, in essence, OD. Systematically creating quantitative and qualitative change is

one aim of OD practice. Another is moving individuals, teams, and the total system

toward “conscious” competence where their capacity for identifying needed changes

and implementing change is improved.

OD approaches organizations as dynamic, “living” entities. Systems use inputs (such

as people, ideas, and resources) to create outputs (specific products or services).

Turning inputs into outputs is the throughput of the system. Combining right inputs

with healthy (that is, effective and efficient) processes or throughput allows a company

or organization to create outputs that help it survive.

There are many models for planned change. At its simplest, it is a process of

unfreezing, changing, and refreezing the actions of an individual, a group in an

organization, or the whole organization itself. It is an attempt to direct how change

happens controlling the effort and resources used, creating positive results efficiently

and effectively. It helps the organization at all levels “do what really matters” or what

really makes a difference, and it helps make sure “it is done well” or done in a quality

fashion as best as it possibly can be done. Not only is it doing things right, it is doing

the right things.

The Practice of Organization Development While the “profession” of organization development is in its early stages, its practice

has a long history. Change agents and consulting have been around for many years.

Just as leadership is, in some ways, a young science, it has been occurring in real life

throughout human history. Managers can be OD practitioners as easily as internal or

external OD consultants. Just as any person on a team has an impact on the team’s

effectiveness and can be a leader of the team—at least informally—so too any person

working to create change in the organization can be an OD practitioner. With this said,

it is usually those individuals who hold formal roles for managing change or who lead

the consulting process who are identified as OD practitioners. The focus of this course

is on these more formal roles.

Change happens all the time. OD practitioners can start a relationship at many points of

a change process. They can be the catalyst creating the conditions for change by raising

awareness of the needs for change. More often, they start at the point when an

individual or organization identifies a problem or opportunity and requests help or

assistance in figuring out what to do. Many OD interventions and relationships start

because a change occurs and the organization has not responded or adapted well.

Whenever there is a presenting problem and a request for help occurs, the consultant

enters and the engagement begins.