History of Organizational Development

Organizational Development
A collection of planned interventions, built on humanistic-democratic values, that seeks to improve organizational effectiveness and employee well-being. OD Values:
1. Respect for people 2. Trust and support 3. Power equalization 4. Confrontation

5. Participation

History of OD

Relatively new field of study 50s & 60s No unifying theory just models of practice Emerged from study of group dynamics & planned change. Late 40s T-groups training groups, behavioral skills and individual insight into problem solving Kurt Lewin at MIT RCGD, Teachers College/Columbia

Four Trunk Stems of OD

Laboratory Training

Survey research and Feedback

Action Research

Sociotechnical Approaches

How does OD Work?

Lewins 3 Phase OD Model

UNFREEZING

Resistance to change lessened, need for change created (Equilibrium disturbed)

MOVING

From old behaviour to the new (Changes)

REFREEZING

Change made permanent

Laboratory Training

NTL Natl Training Laboratory T-Group L-Group RCGD Other universities set up training labs Invention of flip chart Next 10 years were tough frustration at inability to transfer NTL to real world began to train teams. Major Contributors Kurt Lewin (T-Group) Kenneth Benne, Leland Bradford and Ronald Lippitt.(L-Group)

Chris Argyris 1957, Yale, First to conduct team building sessions with CEOs. Douglas McGregor 1957, MIT Started program in org studies Union Carbide transfer t-groups to complex organizations Theory X and Y The Human side of Enterprise. Robert Blake WWII served in Psych unit of Army Airforce Looked at systems rather than individuals in system on oneon-one basis Link of systems process to OD Managerial Grid win/lose dynamics

Warren Bennis Only T-grouper to actually try to reshape an organization from the top. Led to his study of leadership The Term OD Emerged from Baton Rouge T-groups called Development Groups

At that time we wanted to put a label on the program at General Mills. We didnt want to call it management development because it was total organization-wide, nor was it human relations training. We didnt want to call it organization improvement because that is a static term, so we labeled the program organization Development meaning system-wide change efforts. Richard Beckhard

Survey research/feedback and OD

Rensis

Likert and Lewin RCGD Detroit Edison studies of feeding back data Attitude surveys Interlocking chain of conferences

Action Research process

Key executive perception of problems Consultation with behavioural scientist consultant Data gathering and diagnosis by consultant Further data gathering Feedback to key client or client group Joint action planning (objectives of OD programme and means of attaining goals, eg team building

Action (new behaviours)

Action planning (determine objectives and how to get there) Discussion and work on data feedback and data by client group Feedback to client group Data gathering

Data gathering (reassessment of state of system)

Feedback Discussion and work on feedback and emerging data Action planning Action Etc

Sociotechnical & Socioclinical OD

Travistock England
Initial focus was group work with families Moved to organizations and communities Experiments with soldiers in group work Formed theories of group behavior

Eric

Trist

Coal mines leaderless groups 1947 Industrial democracy, open systems

 Organizations

are open sociotechnical systems

Organize around process not tasks Flatten the hierarchy Use teams to manage everything Let customers drive performance Reward team performance
Open

to interact with its environment

Five Components

the context of the past in organizations first generation OD Consider the future
Consider

Turbulent times speed of change Globalization Mergers/acquisitions Private business in autocratic societies

2nd Generation OD

Interest in Organizational Transformation

Multi level, qualitative, radical, discontinuous change involving a paradigmatic shift, Levy & Merry. Schein Norms values artifacts assumptions Argyris, Schon, Senge Condition under which individuals, team and organizations learn

Organizational Culture

Learning organization

Learning Organization

Agyris Defensive routines

1.
2. 3. 4.

Bypass embarrassment and threat when possible Act as though you are not bypassing them Dont discuss steps 1 and 2 while they are happening Dont discuss the undiscussability of the undiscussable.

 Senge

Systems thinking

Learning disabilities in organizations Different ways to think about complex problems. The origin of the vision is much less important than how it is shared

 TQM

Deming, Juran, Feigenbaum

.a particular set of values about the individual and the individuals role in the organization. Total quality efforts in the companies encourage true employee involvement, demand teamwork, seek to push decision making power to lower levels in the company, and reduce barriers between people. . . These values are at the core of OD as well. - Ciampa

Thank you Wake up Time