Allow  me,  dear  Readers, to  be  in  the  way  of  Margaret  Wheatley’s  frame  of  mind. Questioning.  Not  so  much because there  are  no  answers;  nor  are  there experts  who  cannot  provide  answers.  But  simply  more  because  Organization  Development  (OD) is  currently  pregnant  with  challenges.  Some  questions  raised  by  Wheatley,  and  I  quote…’What  happened  to  effectiveness,  to  creativity,  to  meaning?  What  happened  to  us?...’ …To  mores and values in  leading  organizational  life?. 

OD  has been  championing  ‘to  get  the  un-yielding  structures  and  processes  of organizations  to  change’.  This,  has  been  noted  by  Wheatley,  as  the  challenge of  our  times!

OD,  as  Planned  Change  and  Planned  Growth  discipline,  creates  situations  that  fast-forward  the  futures  and  designs  these  into  clearly  better  forms.  Relevant  to  current  times. (Supposedly!)  

The  OD  Champions  have  been  noted  to  deconstruct  and  construct  whatever  are  existing.  They  highlight  the  best  practices.  And  in  Wheatley’s  observation,  ‘they  push;  they  try.  They  collect  tools;  they  study  techniques.  They  use everything  they  know’ …  and  they  end  up  with  more  questions  and  surprises.  What  then is  happening  to  OD?

Through  this  message  I  wish  to  invite  every  SAIDI  graduate  and  Candidate  to  do  a  face-off  with  OD  and  everything  you  think  you  know  about  OD  and  its  practice. Through  this  OD  act (!),  you may  just  be  contributing  to  the  breakthroughs  OD  need  in  this  century.

Let  then   your   21st    OD-Story  begin.