From its inception more than 50 years ago, OD has promoted democratic and
humanistic values by developing leaders and combining individual development
processes with organization development efforts (Pasmore and Fagans, 1992;
Beckhard, 2006; Burke, 2008). However, basic philosophical assumptions with
regard to the organizational reality that is the subject of OD interventions are
less clear. Marshak and Grant (2008) and Bushe and Marshak (2009) recently contrasted
‘classical OD’ with ‘new OD’ (see also the recent reflections and commentary
on this distinction by Oswick, 2009 and Wolfram Cox, 2009). ‘Classical OD’
is characterized as inherently modern, assuming there is a knowledgeable reality
out there that has to be approached using rational and analytical methods. ‘New
OD’ is more postmodern and takes the truth as being contextual and socially constructed.
However, traces of social constructionist thought were apparent in the
early days as well. For example, Chin and Benne (1976) assume that ‘human intelligence
is social rather than individual and that human growth arises in a process of
shaping organism –environmental relations toward a more adequate fit’ (p. 31).
Another early assumption is that individuals are believed to be guided in their
actions by socially founded and communicated meanings, norms, and institutions
in which the total social setting is nothing more than the whole system of which we
perceive ourselves and others to be part. Lewin and Grabbe’s (1948, p. 57)
premise ‘that what exists as a reality for the individual is, to a high degree, determined
by what is socially accepted as a reality within the total social setting’ is
believed to have influenced the founding fathers of OD (Marrow, 1969; French
and Bell, 1999; Coghlan and Jacobs, 2005). It makes clear that only by anchoring
a person’s own conduct in something as large, substantial, and super-individual as
the whole social system can individuals stabilize new beliefs sufficiently to keep
them immune from the day-by-day fluctuations of moods and influences to which
they are subjected. These general assumptions and premises stress the importance
of participation, trust, emergent processes, dialogue, and win–win negotiations
(Quinn and Sonenshein, 2008), and have served as a foundation or departing
point for traditional OD practices.