Review the questions at the end of the case to help get you thinking about the different dynamics at play. Include the following:

• An introductory paragraph that includes your own definition of Organizational development (e.g. if you had 30 seconds to explain it, what would you say?)
• Analyze the potential outcomes by answering the following questions and making links to course material and the history of OD:
  • Explain the possible outcomes (pros and cons) should Kindred Todd act as the client is requesting

Kindred Todd & The Ethics of DD Cummlngs 8i Worley 8'h Editlon, pp. 62-63 Kindred Todd had just nished her master's degree in organization development and had landed her rst consulting position with a small consulting company in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The president, Larry Stepchuck, convinced Todd that his growing organization offered her a great opportunity to learn the business. He had a large number of contacts, an impressive executive career, and several years of consulting experience behind him. In fact, the rm was growing: adding new clients and projects as fast as its president could hire consultants. A few weeks after Todd was hired, Stepchuck assigned her to a new client, a small oil and gas company. "I've met with the client for several hours," he told her. "They are an important and potentially large opportunity for our rm. They're looking to us to help them address some long-range planning issues. From the way they talk, they could also use some continuous quality improvement work as well." As Todd prepared for her initial meeting with the client, she reviewed nancial data from the rm's annual report, examined trends in the client's industry, and thought about the issues that young rms face. Stepchuck indicated that Todd would first meet with the president of the rm to discuss initial issues and next steps. when Todd walked into the president's office, she was greeted by the rm's entire senior management team. Team members expressed eagerness to get to work on the important issues of how to improve the organization's key business processes. They believed that an expert in continuous quality improvement {CQI}, such as Todd, was exactly the kind of help they needed to increase efficiency and cut costs in the core business. Members began to ask direct questions about technical details of CQI, the likely timeframe within which they might expect results, how to map key processes, and how to form quality improvement teams to identify and implement process improvements. Todd was stunned and overwhelmed. Nothing that Stepchuck said about the issues facing this company was being discussed and worse, it was clear that he had sold her to the client as an "expert\" in CQI. Herimmediate response was to suggest that all oftheir questions were good ones, but that needed to be answered in the context of the long-range goals and strategies of the rm. Todd proposed that the best way to begin was for team members to provide her with some history about the organization. In doing so, she was able to avert disaster and embarrassment for herself and her company and to appear to be doing all the things necessary to begin a CQI project. The meeting ended with Todd and the management team agreeing to meet again the following week. Immediately the next day, Todd sought out the president of her rm. She reported on the results of the meeting and her surprise at being sold to this client as an expert on CQI. Todd suggested that her own competencies did not t the needs of the client and requested that another consultant one with expertise in CQI be assigned to the project. Larry Stepchuck responded to Todd's concerns: \"I've known these people for over 10 years. They don't know exactly what they need. CQI is an important buzzword. It's the flavor of the month and if that's what they want, that's what we'll give them.\" He also told her that there were no other consultants available for this project. "Besides,\" he said, "The president of the client rm just called to say how much he enjoyed meeting with you and was looking forward to getting started on the project right away.\" Kindred Todd felt that Stepchuck's response to her concerns included a strong, inferred ultimatum: If you want to stay with this company, you had better take this job. "I knew I had to sink or swim with this job and this client," she later reported. As Todd reflected on her options, she pondered the following questions: How can I be honest with this client and thus not jeopardize my values of openness and honesty? How can I be helpful to this client? How much do I know about quality improvement processes? How do | satisfy the requirements of my employer? what obligations do I have? who's going to know ifl do or don't have the credentials to perform this work? what if I fail? After thinking about those issues, Todd summarized her position in terms of three dilemmas: a dilemma of self [who is Kindred Todd?], a dilemma of competence [what can I do?}, and a dilemma of confidence {dol like who I work for?]