Dialogic OD and Beyond: Towards New

Forms of Organizational Change

www.cass.city.ac.uk
 Influences on Change Approaches (based on Marshak, 2010)

Change Mechanical Biological Interpretive Complexity

Source Sciences Sciences Sciences Sciences
(1900s to (1960s to (1980s to (1990s to
Present) Present) Present) Present)
Perspective of Determinate, Contingent, Generative, Complex adaptive
Organizations closed systems open systems meaning making systems
systems
Intervention Efficiency, plans, Alignment, Discourse, Chaos, self-
Focus structure, IT, congruence, meaning making, organization,
productivity strategic plans culture, norms emergent design

Change Fix & Re- Adapt & Re- Reframe & Flux & Emergent
Emphasis engineer position Rename Facilitation

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 Old (Diagnostic) OD Approaches
Change Mechanical Biological Interpretive Complexity
Source Sciences Sciences Sciences Sciences
(1900s to (1960s to (1980s to (1990s to
Present) Present) Present) Present)
Perspective of Determinate, Contingent, Generative, Complex adaptive
Organizations closed systems open systems meaning making systems
systems
Intervention Efficiency, plans, Alignment, Discourse, Chaos, self-
Focus structure, IT, congruence, meaning making, organization,
productivity strategic plans culture, norms emergent design

Change Fix & Re- Adapt & Re- Reframe & Flux & Emergent
Emphasis engineer position Rename Facilitation

www.cass.city.ac.uk
 New (Dialogic) OD Approaches
Change Mechanical Biological Interpretive Complexity
Source Sciences Sciences Sciences Sciences
(1900s to (1960s to (1980s to (1990s to
Present) Present) Present) Present)
Perspective of Determinate, Contingent, Generative, Complex adaptive
Organizations closed systems open systems meaning making systems
systems
Intervention Efficiency, plans, Alignment, Discourse, Chaos, self-
Focus structure, IT, congruence, meaning making, organization,
productivity strategic plans culture, norms emergent design

Change Fix & Re- Adapt & Re- Reframe & Flux & Emergent
Emphasis engineer position Rename Facilitation

www.cass.city.ac.uk
 Even Newer (Dispersed) OD Approaches
Change Mechanical Biological Interpretive Complexity
Source Sciences Sciences Sciences Sciences
(1900s to (1960s to (1980s to (1990s to
Present) Present) Present) Present)
Perspective of Determinate, Contingent, Generative, Complex adaptive
Organizations closed systems open systems meaning making systems
systems
Intervention Efficiency, plans, Alignment, Discourse, Chaos, self-
Focus structure, IT, congruence, meaning making, organization,
productivity strategic plans culture, norms emergent design

Change Fix & Re- Adapt & Re- Reframe & Flux & Emergent
Emphasis engineer position Rename Facilitation

www.cass.city.ac.uk
 Traditional OD Contemporary OD Emerging OD
General Approach Change as a scientific Change as a Change as a political
to Change process discursive process process

Disciplinary Area Socio-psychological - Socio-linguistic Socio-political -

& Epistemology positivist constructivist critical realist

Focus of Change Negative - Emphasis on Positive - Emphasis on Neutral - Emphasis on

problems improvement possibilities
Process Reactive, linear and Proactive, recursive Emergent, rhizomatic
Characteristics punctuated and fluid and spontaneous

Temporal Focus on the past to act Focus on the future to Focus on the present
Orientation in the present act in the present to act in the present

Environmental Relatively stable and Competitive and Turbulent and socially

Imperatives predictable world rapidly changing world connected world

Hierarchical Top-down (mgt instigate Top-down & sideways Bottom-up (emp

Ordering & execute) (mgt/emp execution) instigated)

Employee Focus Employee performance Employee involvement Employee engagement

and job enrichment and empowerment and emancipation
Change Logic Change of/for Change with Change by
employees employees employees
Examples Job Design, Teamwork, AI, Future Search, & Employee Activism &
& Structural Intervention World Cafe Constructive Deviance
 Why Now?

Generational shifts

Digital Transformation and Connectedness

Managing Millennials and Generation Z
Andrew Davidson observes:
For traditional employers, Millennials pose new
problems. Command-and-control is out. Having
grown up with constant feedback from parents and
teachers, they want dialogue, not orders, and a
world of work that offers more opportunity and less
hierarchy, and always new ways of doing things.
Davidson, A. (2014) How millennial are you?, Business Life, May,
pp.18-21.

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 So, what can we do?
Open Space Technology
Appreciative Inquiry
World Caf
Future Search
Corporate Hackathons
Collaboration Platforms
Hotspot Engagement
Internal Crowdsourcing
Employee Activism
Reciprocity Rings
Continuous & Fluid Dialogic Activity
 And, wheres the evidence?
Towards Ritualised Autonomy Atlassian
Beyond 360 Feedback and Appraisals - BetterWorks
The Creation of Flatland Valve
Doing Holacracy Zappos
Arrivals Hacking British Airways
Blurred Crowdsourcing Agora
Reciprocity Rings Headhunters Inc.
New Horizon Radicals NHS
 BetterWorks

Transparent and interwoven goals:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxODhdOTneE
 NHS Example
The Horizons Group is a small team operating at the
edge of current thinking and practice of change and
transformation in health and care. Its remit is about
sharing the disruptive power of connecting to influence
change, leading edge knowledge, transformation and
innovation. The aim is to support colleagues in health
and care to think differently about the rules of change
and make sense of it in their own context, leading to
effective change practice and better outcomes for
patients (Bevan & Fairman, 2014:36).
 Innovation, Management and Change

Dominant Approach Emerging Direction

Power through hierarchy Power through connection
Mission and vision Shared purpose
Making sense through Making sense through
rationale argument emotional connection
Leadership-driven (top Viral (grass-roots
down) innovation driven) creativity
Tried and tested, based Open approaches, sharing ideas
on experience and data, co-creating change
Transactions Relationships
 The Toyota Experience
Globally known for their systematic processes, Toyota might
be the last company where you'd expect to find autonomy at
play among factory workers. Instead, Toyota's leaders created a
system that gives frontline workers the autonomy to solve
problems, design their own tools, and create or revise
processes. Supervisors are there to provide support, not
answers (Ludema, 2016).
Toyota is a lot like jazz musicians: the players are taught to
improvise. A framework is provided, but the sheet music
is not (Barratt, 2015).
Barratt (2015) suggests: Creating a company where
improvisation can happen is not easy. It requires a unique tool
set that includes capacity for experimentation, rapid
information processing, disrupting routines, and maximizing
autonomy.
Thank You