An Anatomy of Organization Development

9 Values Driving the Future of Humanity... at Work!

When faced with prolonged uncertainty, many of us seek safety and comfort by focusing on our own small part of the world, sticking with what works best, taking the most efficient path, and continuing to partner with those we already know and trust. In dark times, it may feel "right" to draw inward like flowers at sunset. Is this reflex sustainable in the long run? This is a question well worth asking in #2020, no?

Fortunately, there is one profession that continues to master the art and science of helping employees and organizations blossom, oftentimes in the most unlikely of environments. Organization Development (OD) is a unique profession, in that its values and practices center on being fully, creatively, and engagingly human. For more on what this field is and why it's so relevant, check this post or connect with others at the OD Network.

I like to think of OD, at the very deepest level, as a form of humanity-in-action. In last month’s issue of the Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, an article titled Organization Development Values from a Future-Oriented Perspective: An International Delphi Study reveals a robust picture of what the field stands for and how it must evolve.

Through an extensive research process, which studied 42 OD practitioners who work across 58 countries, a team of researchers comprised of Dr. Hyung Joon Yoon, Sasha Farley, and Cesar Padilla, uncovered nine core values that distinguish the field of OD. The study set out to answer two questions. First, what values will define and guide OD into the future? Second, what behaviors indicate the presence of these values?

The study was conceived at a 2017 gathering of OD professionals, known fittingly as The OD Gathering, which meets yearly to discuss current and future issues concerning the field. This particular gathering focused on practical ways to help differentiate OD from other related fields such as Change Management and Human Resources. Because OD is practiced around the world, Dr. Yoon and his colleagues set forth to survey practitioners who conduct this work in Africa, Asia, Oceania, North America, South America, and Europe. One of the most impressive aspects of this study is its focus on the world of work that will emerge in the future. The researchers shared,

“We decided to explore OD values from a future-oriented perspective, instead of reflecting on historical OD values or looking at present day OD values. We hoped this future-oriented perspective would help open OD practitioners’ minds to think about OD from a different perspective and potentially allow for different ideas to emerge."

While reading through this article, which begins by tracing the evolution of OD values across several decades, I imagined how helpful this list could be – not just to OD practitioners – but to so many of my colleagues who work across diverse professions around the world. It is important that we not only understand the utility and validity of the global values revealed in this study but also intuit their importance at a very deep level; in our hearts so to speak. For that reason, I decided to interpret these nine values in a decidedly unscientific way, through selected poetry and prose that points to the universality of each value. Please do read until the end - that's where I will invite you to identify Value #10.

#1 Awareness of Self & System

“Many eyes go through the meadow, but few see the flowers in it.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

The first value identified by Dr. Yoon and his colleagues includes being “conscious of all levels of a system. It involves recognizing the self and the client from a systems perspective while treating each human system as a whole.” What does it mean to be part of versus one with an organization? What difference would it make if you could help others see the presence or absence of our most cherished values in the systems, structures, and strategies of our organizations? Lifting our heads above the fetters of everyday organizational life is in many ways a leadership competency we can all stand to practice!

#2 Continuous Learning & Innovation

“There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” ~ Ana?s Nin 

The article describes this value as a motivation to “seek knowledge, acquire new skills; and use new approaches, methods, and techniques.” Apart from typical learning and development approaches, the essence of this value includes learning to let go of our most deeply cherished assumptions regarding who we are, even if just momentarily. The best study of the self according to a great Zen master is to forget the self. Can we learn to take risks and open ourselves to possibilities that exist outside of our frame of reference? What would happen if you took five minutes every day to conduct a thought experiment, or better yet, daydream? And when you do, ask yourself, “Am I clenching my fists or opening my palms?"

#3 Integrity

“The flower that follows the sun does so even in cloudy days.” ~ Robert Leighton

What is it that orients behavior in organizations? What or who is "all of this work" really for? The value of integrity was defined by participants in this study as a motivation to “align actions with ethical codes, relevant cultures, and guiding principles and theories.” At a conceptual level, this is easy to argue, but in real-time it is easy to forget. There are many ways to talk one’s self out-of doing the right thing. Albert Bandura identified eight specific mechanisms of moral disengagement that make this all too easy! When tempted to stray, what are some ways you can remind yourself to let go of your ego needs, and hold-fast to the wellbeing of others? Can one learn to act ethically in new and creative ways? You bet. Use your moral imagination!

#4 Courageous Leadership

“The violets in the mountains have broken the rocks.” ~ Tennessee Williams

This value relates very much to integrity because, as this study contends, it involves “voicing truth directly to power and challenging the status quo.” We often jump to romanticize this process of parrhesia, as (perhaps) busting into a boardroom and letting the fat cats know how wrong they are. But there are more subtle ways to speak truth to power. The field of OD is particularly deft at planting seeds, by asking powerful questions at the right time and in the right way, which often – if we are patient enough – break the most hardened worldviews from within.

#5 Trust and Respect

“We don’t ask a flower any special reason for its existence. We just look at it and are able to accept it as being something different for ourselves.” ~ Gwendolyn Brooks

The study's participants described this as the ability “to create a psychologically safe environment” through empathy as well as “exhibiting deep admiration for all humans and understanding their emotions and situations.” What does it feel like to practice empathy without expecting anything in return? Perhaps trust and respect are meant to manifest naturally. And perhaps this is more likely to happen when we establish a caring orientation to all human beings, including annoying coworkers, who may ultimately teach us the most about ourselves.

#6 Diversity

“The world needs all its flowers, every single one, even if they bloom for the briefest of moments, we call a lifetime.” ~ Jon Kabat-Zinn

This study defines the value of diversity as a genuine desire to “accept and promote the unique presence and contributions of everyone. It involves emphasizing the importance of marginalized perspectives and identities.” What if we begin by noticing our own inner cynic, that part of us that marginalizes our own perspectives, and prevents our authentic self from showing up? We often project an intolerance for aspects of ourselves onto others. Acceptance of diversity just might be more genuine if we respect what is different with ourselves.

#7 Collaborative Engagement

“Collaboration has no hierarchy. The Sun collaborates with soil to bring flowers on the earth.” ~ Amit Ray

This study would not be complete without identifying collaborative engagement as a necessary value for OD. The article defines it as having the heart to “champion the inclusion and empowerment of all stakeholders, both internal and external. It involves encouraging and fostering open participation across system(s).” Check your calendar and see if you can’t set a firm intention to play the role of “co-creator" in your next meeting. You might even treat it like an experiment, noticing in real-time how energy changes in the room and whether the quality of ideas transform in significant ways.

#8 Strategic Practicality

“Just as a flower which seems beautiful and has color but no perfume, so are the fruitless words of the man who speaks them but does them not." ~ John Dewey

Participants defined this value as the motivation “to enable clients to identify and achieve desired outcomes. It involves recognizing that identified solutions need to support the needs of the organization as well as the individuals.” Creativity can be addictive, but without actively bending our ideas into reality through careful, planned, ethical, and strategically anchored means, we lose the point of creativity entirely. Being able to transition ideation into realization is an art form because it involves guiding the momentum of divergent thinking into convergent action. A beautiful sight to behold!

#9 Client Growth and Development

“No mud, no lotus” ~ Thích Nh?t H?nh

The article defines this value as “recognizing stages of development and fostering the ability of a human system to continually progress.” We might come to know - through careful introspection - that the degree to which a client grows depends on their ability to navigate deep levels of suffering, particularly loss: when assumptions no longer match reality, when the dark side of ego is revealed, and when the “good fight” is simply no longer sustainable. For this reason, it might be said that some of the best OD practitioners are those that have come to know and transcended deep sorrow.

#10 What do you think?

Research, particularly with human subjects, sometimes yields odd findings. Read into that as you will! But I’d like to imagine that symbolic motives were at play – a round number like 10 feels a little too complete! Organization Development is different from other forms of consulting – as it is often confused with Management Consulting - because it purposefully leaves space for employees to develop and implement their own answers. It might be said that it arranges an environment, characterized by the nine values summarized above, for employees to search inside themselves. When this takes place, buy-in germinates, but so too does a client’s capacity for risk-taking, vulnerability, and critical reflection.

What tenth value would you add to this list and why? Leave your own wisdom and poetry in the comments below!

P.S.

They’re not done yet! Dr. Yoon and his colleagues seek to further validate their results through feedback from the global OD community. If you would like to learn more about this study and the results, the full research article is available through The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science (JABS), at https://doi.org/10.1177/0021886320957351. The article contains information about the methodology, a complete list of the values and behavioral indicators, descriptions of the values, and a comparison of the nine core OD values with OD values expressed in existing literature. The article also contains practical applications for the results.