Success
So, what kind of qualities or characteristics makes OD practitioners successful? In 2009/2010, the UK's Institute of Employment Studies conducted interesting research in a number of organizations, exploring what different groups (senior leaders, HR, OD practitioners) thought about OD and what their expectations were. They summarized a number of common OD characteristics: working towards organizational effectiveness; an organization‐wide systemic approach; working in partnership with others; combining humanistic and business goals; facilitating and challenging.
In my own experience, three interrelated elements are particularly significant for OD's success: person, perspective and practice (Figure 3).
Over and again I hear people comment on OD's value in terms of the personal qualities displayed by the OD practitioner, e.g. good listener, empathetic, self‐aware, insightful, diplomatic, challenging, optimistic, resilient and trustworthy. In World Vision UK as a Christian organization, we would add ethical, prayerful and discerning to this list. There's something about the person, the presence, the style and character of the OD practitioner that influences people and change. In light of this, I believe personal development is fundamental to professional development.
I also hear people comment on the value and contribution of OD practitioners' perspective, often described as an “unusual” perspective. My own perspective has been influenced by Christian spirituality, social constructionism, systems thinking and various schools of psychology including psychodynamics, social psychology and gestalt. I formally studied theology and philosophy then organizational dynamics and culture, all of which have had a profound influence on my values, my worldview, how I see organizations, what I believe is significant in OD etc.
I believe OD practitioners do well to invest in their own professional development through, for example, studies, research, journals, conferences and networks. It is about growing in awareness, broadening horizons, keeping ideas up‐to‐date, drawing on others' thinking and experience, contributing to others' learning in the field. I believe the value we bring to an organization is expanded or limited by the degree to which we tap into the wider OD arena, thereby enabling the organization to gain access to that learning in that arena too.
In one organization I worked with, I encouraged my OD team colleagues to write journal articles as a method of professional development and sharing ideas with others. I believed that crystallizing and articulating their thoughts and ideas in this way would sharpen their thinking, that receiving feedback from readers would stress test their ideas and that being published would build their professional confidence and credibility. I offered a bottle of champagne to the first team member to be published and I will never forget the bright smile on the L&D officer's face when she received it.