Chapter 5: The OD Practitioner & Consulting Process
OD PRACTITIONERS
OD CONSULTANTS
Models of Consulting
Doctor-Patient Model
Mechanic Model
Expert Model
Common consulting role for IT, financial consultant
Solve specific problem or implement a solution a client has chosen
Typical approach when you visit a doctor
All done by the consultants but implementing the change is the responsibility of implementing the change is on the client
Typical approach when you visit a mechanic
All is done by the consultant
Foundational Assumptions of Dialogic OD
Include a much larger group than those who hold the title of
consultant.
They include executives, managers, project managers, and others who devise and implement organizational change, no matter the role.
Hanson and Lubin (1995) - OD work is highly consistent with a manager’s work, from a manager’s role as an administrator and supervisor, to a manager’s work in promoting learning, development, problem solving, teamwork, and more.
Lippitt(1959) - A voluntary relationship between a professional consultant and a client, in which the consultant is attempting to give help to the client in the solving of some current or potential problem and the relationship is perceived as temporary by both parties.
Consultants work closely with managers and executives as change agent partners to help the organization accomplish its objectives.
OD can provide concepts, tools, theories, and techniques that help managers, executives, and other organizational members in implementing change.
Schein (1969, 1999) has described common consulting models or approaches, those of the expert and doctor–patient, that are familiar to many readers
As a result, it is important for OD practitioners to understand what expectations and assumptions the client may be bringing to the consulting relationship.
Internal vs External Consulting: Advantages and Disadvantages
Advantages
Disadvantages
Internal
External
Internal
External
Already has relationships with organizational members
Earns a regular salary
More knowledge of organizational culture, history and practices
More experience with a variety of clients
Less political involvement
May have greater "star power"
may be blind to seeing issues because of history with culture
Less variety in clients, industries and issues
May be presented with ethical challenges where it is hard to refuse
May be perceived as short term
May seek out clients to earn paycheck
may have trouble seeing the hidden meanings or subtle issues
Internal vs External Consulting
Kaarst-Brown(1999) - Internal consultants may be perceived as already taking on management’s side, and external consultants may be seen as more neutral and a positive symbol of “change to come”
External consultants may do the same to avoid angering a client who may be important to future business.
Internal consultants may be trusted with confidential information more easily, and external consultants may find it hard to draw out information from organizational members.
"Collude" with client by refusing to confront difficult issues and they are doing a disservice to themselves and the organization
Diagnosis would be seen as partial, temporary, fleeting, and influenced by the perspectives of those doing the diagnosis.
Recognize that in any organization there are going to be multiple versions of these truths and that the environment is ever changing
Bushe & Marshak(2009) - Avoid diagnosis , but instead tries to help organization members raise their own consciousness of “how social reality is being coconstructed in their system with the purpose of creating alignment and support for change”
Hutton & Liefooghe(2011) - Acknowledge that there is no real single “truth” in the organization and that “there is no way of grasping what is real in a way that somehow steps outside of our discursively shared horizon of meaning”
4 characteristics of Dialog OD
The purpose of inquiry is to surface, legitimate, and/or learn from the variety of perspectives, cultures, and/or narratives in the system.
The change process results in new images, narratives, texts, and social constructed realities that affect how people think and act.
The change process emphasizes changing the conversations that normally take place in the system.
The change process is consistent with traditional organization development values of collaboration, free and informed choice, and capacity building in the client system.
Dialog OD shares a commitment to:
"Consultants stay out of content and focus on process"
"Greater system awareness is encouraged and facilitated"
"Strong Humanistic and democratic values"
"Practitioners hold concern for capacity building and development of the system"
HRM645
Dialogic OD: A structured process
The Consulting Process
click to edit
click to edit
Skill and Competencies
Consulting Skills
Professional skills
Business and management knowledge
Interventions
Training and development
Principles of OD Consultation
Access your Ignorance
Everything you do is an intervention
Always try to be helpful
Everthing is data
Dialog OD vs Diagnostic OD
"Dialog OD" reflects a growing belief in the effectiveness of a social construction approach to change
Growing controversy about diagnosis
“Diagnosis” reflects too much of a “doctor-patient” mentality and reflects systems theory approaches to change