Inform Yourself

Systems Context
Organizational Development (OD) deals with a total system — the organization as a whole, including its relevant environment —departments or work groups — in the context of the total system. Parts of systems, for example, individuals, cliques, structures, norms, values, and products are not considered in isolation; the principle of interdependency, that is, that change in one part of a system affects the other parts, is fully recognized. Thus, Organizational Development (OD) interventions focus on the total culture and cultural processes of organizations. The focus is also on groups, since the relevant behavior of individuals in organizations and groups is generally a product of group influences rather than personality. How these various parts interact and interoperate is critical to the overall system, the organization. As a result, the entire system must be the focus of the Organizational Development (OD) initiative. No single part or group should be reviewed without taking into account its interdependency with the larger system.

Improved Organizational Performance
The objective of Organizational development (OD) is to improve the organization's capacity to handle its internal and external functioning and relationships. This would include such things as improved interpersonal and group processes, more effective communication, enhanced ability to cope with organizational problems of all kinds, more effective decision processes, more appropriate leadership style, improved skill in dealing with destructive conflict, and higher levels of trust and cooperation among organizational members. These objectives stem from a value system based on an optimistic view of the nature of man — that man in a supportive environment is capable of achieving higher levels of development and accomplishment. Essential to organization development and effectiveness is the scientific method — inquiry, a rigorous search for causes, experimental testing of hypotheses, and review of results. The organization is only as effective as the sum of its parts. Each part supports itself and its interdependent parts and the larger system, the organization.

Organizational Self-Renewal
The ultimate aim of Organizational Development (O)D practitioners is to "work themselves out of a job" by leaving the client organization with a set of tools, behaviors, attitudes, and an action plan with which to monitor its own state of health and to take corrective steps toward its own renewal and development. This is consistent with the systems concept of feedback as a regulatory and corrective mechanism. The objective is to leave the organization more effective and educated on how to continuously measure, review, and correct itself so it maintains peak levels of effectiveness through continuous self-renewal.

Next, we cover six (6) steps to understanding the organization