Organizational Development

 

three executives talking              executive board meeting

Today’s organizations are experiencing change like never before. Many of us as organizational development
practitioners now find that after we’ve “treated” one organizational problem, another soon surfaces. This
cycle occurs despite our efforts to diagnose the client’s problem. Some of us view our recurring interventions
as if we’re peeling off layers of an onion to get to the real cause of the client’s problem. Others view
recurring problems as inherent in the turbulent environments of today’s organizations.This ongoing dilemma
in organizational development is similar to that in medicine. Physicians rely on empirical forms of research
based heavily on the scientific method. They work from a linear model in which the practitioner analyzes a
symptom, makes a diagnosis, treats the apparent problem with an intervention of some sort and then waits to
see what difference the intervention made. When the symptom goes away, the practitioner concludes that the
problem is “fixed”. Particularly in today’s high-stress environment, the patient soon experiences other
problems with other symptoms. Too often, the patient tragically assumes that discomfort is what life is all
about and resigns to a lower quality of life than could otherwise be had.

Today, organizational development is counted on to improve organizations that are operating in a quite different
environment than that of the 1990s. The nature and forms of organizations are changing dramatically.

“Organization Development is an effort (1) planned, (2) organization-wide, and (3) managed from the top, to (4)
increase organization effectiveness and health through (5) planned interventions in the organization’s “processes,
” using behavioral-science knowledge”

For additional information on Adorian Learning organizational development advisory services please give us
a call at 702-203-6031 or e-mail us at terry@adorianlearning.com