OD is best accomplished as a collaborative effort between a change agent and the people that will be affected by the changes. The change agent may be on staff at the organization or an external consultant. In either case for the relationship to work well, it must be based upon shared values, mutual trust and respect, and conceptual agreement as to business outcomes and success measures.

The OD approach typically engages the organization’s core systems including mission, values, structure, leadership style, and business strategy. It often begins with an organizational assessment and feedback process. This creates a shared reality that allows key players in the client organization to make more purposeful and elegant choices.

Successful OD projects helping people move from the status quo to a more desired position with as little wear and tear as possible. The goal always is to increase personal and professional effectiveness and to create a significant beneficial effect on the organization’s cost or revenue structure.

The Role of the External Consultant

Although it is the responsibility of leadership to define priorities and understand the full implications of moving in one direction, an external consultant can enhance the strategic planning process by providing any one or combination of the following services:

Look at the organizational culture and the key players with “fresh eyes”, ask difficult or challenging questions, and provide with relative impunity an objective view of the process.

Educate staff around planning information and processes. It is critical for everyone involved in the process to be speaking the same language and using the same planning tools.

Provide feedback that supports organizational learning and increases the capacity of people to embrace the process.

Facilitate retreats, meetings, and the planning process as a whole. The use of a consultant to serve as the “conversation traffic cop” is one method of ensuring that good ideas get a proper hearing despite the emotions of the moment or personality of the participants.

Releasing Productive Energy

Employees and managers alike are often burdened by self-limiting points of view about themselves, about others, about their work situation. These points of view can get in the way of their fully deploying themselves on the job. The problem is that most of these points of view are harbored at unconscious levels. People get locked on automatic pilot, a place where conscious control is largely a fantasy. As Peter Senge noted in his landmark book on organizational development The Fifth Discipline, “Our organizations work the way they work, ultimately, because of how we think and how we interact.”

The first step to moving beyond ineffective attitudes, beliefs, and opinions is to acknowledge that we have them. This is no small task since most of people have a large stake in being right about the way things are. Unfortunately, some people would rather be right than get what they want. This leads to their making potentially destructive choices. Staggering personal and organizational prices are paid as a result. With acknowledgment come understanding and the opportunity to develop constructive strategies. People start to make more purposeful and elegant choices that lead to improved performance and greater job satisfaction.

Developing Grass Roots Leadership

What drives most business is the work that goes on at the front lines, usually at the customer interface. As capable people move up in the organization they tend to get farther away from this critical work. By the time they get to senior management positions, they are often disconnected from what goes on at the front lines. This is an unnecessary and costly development. Warren Bennis wrote, “It is not enough for a leader to do things right; he must do the right thing.” Senior managers need to find ways to stay connected. They must stand ready to challenge and empower front-line people; to provide them with necessary resources; and to hold them accountable. Senior managers must coach, teach, and facilitate; as well plan, direct, and control.

People at the front line, indeed most employees, need all the support they can get. They need a common understanding of where the enterprise is going. They need to know what are their duties and responsibilities. They should be encouraged to think and act as though they are fully invested - as though they are “owners”. Leadership qualities naturally emerge from those holding this context. If all employees have a sense of ownership, they are more likely to act quickly, decisively, and creatively. Such initiative promotes successful execution and contributes to the future health of the organization. It also increases profit potential.