ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT FROM THE VIEW OF THE EXPERTS 181 • Training and development skills • Program/project management skills • Using OD-related technology Personal Attributes (Being) • A genuine passion for what you do and concern for people and organizations • A high degree of self-awareness, eagerness to learn and grow, and ability to practice what you teach • A high level of genuineness, integrity, and believability • An uplifting and humble attitude that promotes the success of others • The courage and sense of ethics to do what is right • Good rational/emotional balance and ability to be objective • A strong sensitivity to the needs of individuals, groups, and organizations • Excellent listening abilities • Ability to level, confront, and resolve conflicts • Self-discipline, self-control, and perseverance • A good sense of humor and ability to roll with the punches • An ability to successfully handle stress and turn difficulties into opportunities The two most frequently mentioned new applications were the interest in appreciative inquiry and the application of technology to OD. Appreciative inquiry (AI) is clearly gaining momentum as a new approach to OD. However, some experts expressed concerns about AI theorists who they believe have wrongly characterized traditional OD as being deficiency and problem-focused and AI as being positive and futuristic-focused and practitioners who have embraced AI to the point of using AI exclusively while discarding traditional OD thinking and methods. Technology has also had a significant influence on OD. Technology has cre- ated new alternatives for collecting and feeding back data, for facilitating small and large groups, and for working with virtual teams and new organizational arrangements. A limited number of OD experts and, it is likely, OD practition- ers in general are familiar with the technology of OD. It will be interesting to see whether technology renders some OD practices and practitioners obsolete or if old and new approaches can exist side by side. As a general observation about the newer contributions from the view of the experts, very little has changed in terms of the fundamental theories and values of OD. What has changed is the environment in which OD is practiced, the new technology available to OD practitioners, and the new methods and practices that have evolved from adapting OD to a new organization world. 11_962384 ch06.qxd 2/3/05 12:15 AM Page 181 MAJOR ISSUES FACING OD IN THE FUTURE There is work to be done in OD. The experts identified many issues that need to be dealt with in OD (see Exhibit 6.11). However, two stand out as being critical to the future success of OD. The first is promoting the value of OD and the second is related—namely the need to provide quality training and educa- tion in OD. 182 PRACTICING ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT, 2ND EDITION Exhibit 6.10. Best of the Newer Contributions 1. Appreciative inquiry 2. The technology of OD (using technology to collect and feed back data, facilitate meetings, work with virtual teams and organizations, etc.) 3. Global OD and how OD applies to different cultures and addresses global issues 4. The multiple efforts being made to clarify OD, identify OD competencies, strengthen OD education, and increase the professionalism and ethical practices in OD 5. Learning more about the change process, the implications of concepts such as chaos theory and non-linear change on planning changes, and developing meth- ods to accelerate the change process in times of dynamic, unpredictable change 6. New forms of action research (appreciative inquiry, participative inquiry, parallel learning structures, etc.) 7. Learning more about what is involved in systematically transforming organizations 8. Better understanding of organization culture, its impact on behavior and perfor- mance, and how to change it 9. Large-group interventions (the search conference, future search, real-time strate- gic change, the conference model, whole-scale change, preferred futuring, par- ticipative design workshop, etc.) 10. The knowledge and skills required to do whole-systems and large-scale change using multiple methods 11. Learning more about the new virtual organization and virtual teams 12. Creating innovative learning organizations 13. Learning more about applying OD to implementing mergers and acquisitions 14. Applying OD to inter-organization partnerships and alliances 15. The emphasis on OD professionals having a better understanding of business 16. Application of the life sciences and non-linear complex systems theory to OD 17. Transformational leadership and training leaders to be transformational leaders 18. Efforts being made to integrate OD and HR as a united, high-impact resource in organizations 19. The extensive literature and research available on OD, and especially on change 20. Some applications of emotional intelligence are finding their way into OD 11_962384 ch06.qxd 2/3/05 12:15 AM Page 182 ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT FROM THE VIEW OF THE EXPERTS 183 Exhibit 6.11. Major Issues Facing OD 1. Promoting the value of OD and getting resources committed to OD work, espe- cially during times of scarce resources. OD professionals have to do a better job individually and collectively of providing training in OD and making OD a well- known and valued process among leaders, managers, HR professionals, and appropriate undergraduate and graduate students. 2. Protecting the integrity and value of the field. Too many people are practicing and sometimes even teaching OD without any formal training in the field and are giving OD a bad reputation. There is a need for more academic programs in OD, more academicians capable of teaching OD, more consistency in teaching the fundamentals of OD while encouraging new and innovative thinking and approaches, more professional programs designed to train skilled OD profes- sionals, and more dialogue, cooperation, and collaboration between the academic and practitioner worlds. 3. Integrating new theories and methods without seeing them as the solution for all OD efforts. 4. Training OD professionals who are skilled in global OD. 5. Learning how to integrate technology into OD and how to facilitate virtual teams using technology. 6. Learning how to better involve and utilize leaders in the change process. 7. Doing a better job of integrating OD and HR. The race is on between OD and HR as to which will adapt the quickest to changing times and become the most rel- evant to organizations. Greater efforts must be made to integrate the two fields. 8. Evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of certifying and developing a code of ethics for OD practitioners. 9. Doing a better job of defining the field. The definitions, characteristics, values, and competencies that define the field require more clarity. 10. Becoming better students of what makes organizations successful, how to lead and manage change in an environment of dynamic change, and how to sustain change and integrate change into daily practices rather than seeing change efforts as big, infrequent events that rarely achieve lasting results. 11. Maintaining the core values of OD while innovating new approaches suitable to a new organization world. 12. Learning how to apply OD to down times and to turning difficulties into oppor- tunities for change. 13. Finding ways to educate OD practitioners on business practices and issues. 14. Learning how to help organizations and their members deal with continuous, discontinuous, unfathomable, and unpredictable change. 15. Developing better methods for applying OD to newer applications, such as mergers and acquisitions, inter-organization development, and global issues. 11_962384 ch06.qxd 2/3/05 12:15 AM Page 183 In regard to the first issue, it is ironic that, while OD is a field for the times and offers alternatives to many of the challenges facing today’s organizations, it still is a field that is not well-known or understood by leaders who need to under- stand OD themselves and who will ultimately decide to use or not use OD. Part of the challenge is that OD educators and professionals have apparently not done a good enough job of clearly defining the field and the value of OD. Also, one of OD’s greatest successes has become one of its greatest weaknesses in promoting it. I am referring to how what has been learned in OD, especially regarding how to lead and manage change, has become so incorporated in change efforts with a wide variety of names that few identify the principles and processes with OD. The second issue is also an important challenge. OD still has not completely shed its “touchy feely” image and ill-prepared practitioners damage the name of OD for true professionals. The answer is not simply a quantitative issue of training more professionals and exposing more students and managers to OD. On this count, some progress is being made, as OD is included in most organi- zation behavior textbooks and other management-oriented textbooks, and change management is included in most management training and is a fre- quently featured topic in professional as well as academic journals. Aside from this, however, there has been little growth in formal academic or professional training for those who desire advanced training in OD. In fact, academic pro- grams that focus on OD are on the decline and it is very difficult to find quali- fied academicians to teach OD. However, there is also a qualitative issue of knowing what to train students, managers, and professionals in, since there is a need for more clarity about the field itself. Some efforts are being made regard- ing these issues with all of the efforts to better define the field, and a number of colleges and universities with OD programs are sharing information and will- ingly inviting their programs to be evaluated to improve their quality. With all of the challenges facing the field of OD, it was clear that, with few exceptions, the experts still see a bright though turbulent future for OD. OD is now a global phenomenon, and it has withstood the endless predictions of its demise and efforts to redefine new or modified concepts as replacements to OD rather than extensions of it. The need for OD is certain to grow as organizations struggle with what it takes to build an organization for success and what it takes to successfully adapt to and manage change. WHO WERE THE TEN MOST IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTORS TO THE FIELD? In many ways, I wish that I had not asked this question. All ninety of the experts surveyed, and others as well, have made valuable contributions to the field of OD, and the list of respondents to both my 1979 survey and the 184 PRACTICING ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT, 2ND EDITION 11_962384 ch06.qxd 2/3/05 12:15 AM Page 184 2002–2003 survey all deserve special recognition for their dedication and long- time commitment to the field of OD. Any list while honoring a few fails to mention others who have been instrumental in pioneering, shaping, and mak- ing significant contributions. Some experts felt uncomfortable answering the question, and several said that it may do a disservice to the many major contributors and the sense of community contributors have in this field. Also, the answer is dependent on many factors such as who you are most familiar with, how up-to-date you are on more recent contributors, and certainly how the results are tabulated. Inter- estingly, those mentioned the most were all first-generation founders, and most are still active in OD or related endeavors today. A number of experts noted the unique contributions of people in the field such as Robert Golembiewski for the most publications of anyone in the field; Don Cole for his pioneering efforts in internationalizing OD; David Cooperrider, Suresh Sirvastva, and Jane Magruder Watkins for their contributions to appreciative inquiry; Kathy Dannemiller for her approaches to large scale change; and Billie Alban for her insights on large group methods. Some suggested that I would be better advised to list forty or fifty contributors since so many have played such important roles in the field. However, there is still the challenge of leaving deserving people out no matter what cut-off number is chosen. In the final analysis I decided to report the findings since I asked the question and received responses, although I do so with some reluctance. In identifying the top ten, I finally resigned myself to simply recording the number of times a name was mentioned rather than other methods, as they typically produced at least twenty names that were frequently mentioned. Having said all this and realizing that all of those well-versed on OD could immediately recall many others who deserve to be identified with the top ten, here are those who were mentioned the most, listed in alphabetical order: • Chris Argyris • Richard Beckhard • Warren Bennis • Robert Blake and Jane Mouton (mentioned as one since they worked as a team) • Warner Burke • Wendell French • Edgar Schein • Herb Shepherd • Marvin Weisbord ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT FROM THE VIEW OF THE EXPERTS 185 11_962384 ch06.qxd 2/3/05 12:15 AM Page 185 CONCLUSIONS Doing this study was a very rewarding and educational experience. Having the opportunity to communicate with so many leaders in the field about important issues in OD was more than one with a passion for OD could hope for, and to see the effort that so many put into answering the questions was humbling to say the least. Clearly I could spend a great deal of time analyzing and learning from the results. What is important, however, is that this study makes at least a small contri- bution to developing a better understanding of the field of organization devel- opment. My hope is not so much that others will agree with the findings but that the findings will stimulate rich discussions and additional studies that will add clarity to the field. In evaluating the results, I have concluded that OD is alive and well, but is struggling through many important issues in adapting to the times and being rel- evant for changing organizational needs. In one sense this could be said of any field such as HR that addresses organizational issues. However, the time to adapt is shorter than in previous times and the stakes are higher, as the fields that do not adapt will be marginal players in the future if they are players at all. The sense of urgency will, I hope, awaken leaders in OD who will play key roles in articu- lating the importance of OD, adapting OD to changing times, accelerating OD processes and methods, and developing new theories, methods, and applications. Another conclusion is that there may be more agreement on the fundamen- tals and values of OD than many people think. Different experts may say things in different ways and, yes, there are areas of disagreement and different per- spectives, as you would expect in any field. However, when it comes to the essentials, OD is not as complex and confusing as we often make it. Again, this may be a challenge for leaders in OD to simplify and clarify the field and to do a better job of articulating the value of OD. Finally, having done this study, I have developed an even greater respect for the pioneers who launched a new field that has been such a valuable contrib- utor to what we know about change and how to build healthy, high perfor- mance organizations. I urge those who have carried on and added to the pioneers’ legacy to stay the course in diligently practicing and training others in OD, in hopes that they and others will be re-energized to further develop and promote this valuable field. References Beckhard, R. (1969). Organization development: Strategies and models. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. Beer, M. (1980). Organization change and development. Santa Monica, CA: Goodyear. 186 PRACTICING ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT, 2ND EDITION 11_962384 ch06.qxd 2/3/05 12:15 AM Page 186 Bennis, W. (1969). Organization development: Its nature, origins, and prospects. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. Burke, W.W. (1982). Organization development: Principles and practices. Boston, MA: Little, Brown. Cole, D. (1973). International registry of organization development professionals and organization development handbook. Chesterland, OH: Organization Development Institute. Cummings, T., & Worley, C. (2005). Organization development and change. Cincinnati, OH: South-Western. French, W.L., & Bell, C.H., Jr. (1999). Organization development: Behavioral science interventions for organization improvement. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Hultman, K. (2002). Balancing individual and organizational values. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Schein, E. (1992). Process consultation. Boston, MA: Pearson. Warrick, D.D. (1984). Organization development. In W.R. Tracey (Ed.), Human resources management and development handbook (pp. 915-925). New York: American Management Association. Warrick, D.D. (1978, Winter). Definitions of OD by the experts. Academy of Management OD Newsletter. Warrick, D.D. (1979, Spring). Upgrading the professionalism in OD. Academy of Management OD Newsletter. Warrick, D.D. (1979, Winter). OD experts comment on the payoffs of OD to clients and consultants. Academy of Management OD Newsletter. ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT FROM THE VIEW OF THE EXPERTS 187 11_962384 ch06.qxd 2/3/05 12:15 AM Page 187 CHAPTER SEVEN A Future-Responsive Perspective for Competent Practice in OD Saul Eisen, Jeanne Cherbeneau, and Christopher G. Worley T hree decades ago, Don Michael (1973) used the phrase future-responsive societal learning to denote the need to move beyond reactive problem solv- ing in response to turbulent, radically changing environments. What was needed, he suggested, was the capacity to develop purposive anticipatory per- formance appropriate to the changing situation by learning to continually scan the relevant environment and develop appropriate capacities in response to anticipated needs. Our world is changing—along predictable and unpredictable lines. These changes are affecting organizations and communities, some of which become our clients. It is thus important and useful for OD practitioners to consider the future and its possible implications for the work we do. So how is our world changing, and how, consequently, will our ways of prac- ticing OD need to evolve in the years ahead? As the global and organizational environments in which we practice continue to change, OD practitioners are called on to adapt their intervention strategies and develop appropriate compe- tence to carry them out effectively. This chapter is based on the outcomes of an exploration of these questions among most of the chapter authors in this book, plus an equal number of other participants, including external and internal con- sultants, managers, and futurists. We consider the interpretation and implica- tions of these outcomes for the present and future practice of OD and for the continuing professional development of OD practitioners. Chapter Five provided a comprehensive inventory of competencies as cur- rently required for OD practice. Building on that base, we consider competencies 188 ∂ ∂ 12_962384 ch07.qxd 2/3/05 12:18 AM Page 188 through the lens of emerging and future conditions that our client organizations will face. There is inevitable and appropriate overlap between these two chap- ters; while some competencies for future OD practice may be entirely new, many will be similar or will build upon current ones. Our future-oriented lens thus helps us to understand and prioritize OD practitioner competencies in the con- text of emerging trends and forces acting on organizations and their managers. A CHANGING GLOBAL CONTEXT Significant changes in technology, global politics, demographics, and other trends are resulting in new needs and dilemmas in organizations, communities, and nations. Some changes appear to be cyclical, gradual, and normal. Histor- ically, for example, economies have had recurring ups and downs but generally seem to grow in the long run. The global population is also growing, and the increasing demand from consumers drives a generally optimistic view of local, regional, and international markets. As part of the trend toward globalization, many trade barriers have been reduced, and populations have been shifting toward regions of higher employment. At the same time, businesses are moving jobs to regions where there is plentiful, lower-cost labor. Continuing develop- ments in science and technology support the emergence of new products and services and increases in productivity. The Internet and wireless communica- tion are creating an electronic global village, accelerating widespread availabil- ity of information and communication on a worldwide scale. Other changes seem to be less predictable, harder to comprehend, and more discontinuous. As examples, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War upended assumptions and expectations about geopolitical power bal- ances and conflicts. The September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon brought into painful focus a new threat to peace and security— decentralized, networked terrorist groups, dedicated to fighting the perceived oppression and invasion of Western values and power into Muslim lands. Similarly, the possibly catastrophic implications of global warming have only recently begun to be widely acknowledged. And the increasing levels of popu- lation are not affecting all societies in the same way. Globally, the rate of pop- ulation increase is slowing down, and some countries are expecting an actual decline. Demographically, some primarily developing nations have great pro- portions of people under twenty, while others are experiencing growing num- bers of elders. Legal and undocumented movement across borders is creating much more diverse populations in communities, schools, and organizations. Global mass communication, coupled with geopolitical power shifts, is cre- ating a pressure-cooker effect of rising aspirations and growing frustration with the glacial pace of real improvement in living standards. Regional and ethnic A FUTURE-RESPONSIVE PERSPECTIVE FOR COMPETENT PRACTICE IN OD 189 12_962384 ch07.qxd 2/3/05 12:18 AM Page 189 cultures, no longer isolated by geography or the illusion of independence, become outraged with a sense of invasion, insult, and threat from alien beliefs and behavior. Many more people feel justified in taking aggressive action in defense of their autonomy and ideals and are becoming increasingly creative and effective in punishing their perceived tormentors. Their success is fueling a mirror-image reaction from their enemies in a vicious cycle of escalation. The material in this chapter draws on the outcomes of a Delphi study we con- ducted. The purpose of this study was to develop a future-responsive perspec- tive of OD competencies that will be required in the years ahead. In the following sections we provide a brief overview of relevant literature on this subject (see Exhibit 7.1), describe the methodology of the study, present its key outcomes, and consider their possible interpretation and implications for OD practice. Our approach for this analysis is based on the premises of strategic thinking and open-systems planning (Hanna, 1988). We are thus doing what we guide our clients to do: Monitor the relevant environment—how it is changing and how it might change in the future; consider what adaptive behavior may be appropriate to maintain the best fit between our customers’ needs and our unique resources; strive for future-responsive learning to maintain our relevance and competitive advantage—as individuals and as a profession. METHODOLOGY FOR THIS DELPHI STUDY 1 The Delphi method generates responses to a sequence of questions that are put to a defined group of relevant experts. Their answers to each question are sum- marized and fed back to them, and this summary provides the context for the next question. Delphi forecasting was originally developed in the 1950s as a way to draw on the expertise of diverse resource persons in situations where “accu- rate information is unavailable or expensive to obtain, or evaluation models require subjective inputs to the point where they become the dominant param- eters” (Linstone & Turoff, 1975, p. 10). It was particularly useful in circum- stances in which participants with relevant expertise were geographically dis- persed. Whereas early projects were conducted by mailed questions and responses, computer-mediated electronic communication now makes it possi- ble to manage such projects more easily and quickly. Delphi has been increasingly applied in business settings as well as to com- plex non-profit and public sector issues such as health care. While it has become very popular, it has not always been applied well and has been passionately criticized by some. Sackman (1975, p. 74), for example, argued that it encour- aged “a shortcut social science method that is lacking in minimum standards of professional accountability.” The most useful critiques are about designs that fail to provide anonymity to protect participants from peer pressure and the lack 190 PRACTICING ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT, 2ND EDITION 12_962384 ch07.qxd 2/3/05 12:18 AM Page 190 . registry of organization development professionals and organization development handbook. Chesterland, OH: Organization Development Institute. Cummings, T., & Worley, C. (2005). Organization development. Strategies and models. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. Beer, M. (1980). Organization change and development. Santa Monica, CA: Goodyear. 186 PRACTICING ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT, 2ND EDITION 11_962384 ch06.qxd. behavior and perfor- mance, and how to change it 9. Large-group interventions (the search conference, future search, real-time strate- gic change, the conference model, whole-scale change, preferred