the organization in it's environment and the environment internal in support of the organization meeting its external needs. This means that change needs to align the organization to the opportunities. This will require change of its team members and individuals' members, change can be enlightening and exciting, and it can be hurtful, stressful, and frustrating.

Perhaps the value that differentiates organization development from most other management and consulting work is its emphasis on growth, development, and learning. Think about your own beliefs, skills, and attitudes compared to what they were 5 or 10 years ago. In small or perhaps more significant ways, you are likely to be different.

Yoon, Farley, and Padilla, (2021) asked a sample of global practitioners to identify the core values that will be important to the future of OD. After several rounds of identifying themes and validating them with groups of OD practitioners, the researchers clustered the core values into nine themes:

Awareness of self and system is to be conscious of all levels of a system. It involves recognizing the self and the client from a systems perspective while treating each human system as a whole.

Continuous learning and innovation are to seek knowledge; acquire new skills; and use new approaches, methods, and techniques. It involves taking a data-driven approach.

Integrity is to align actions with ethical codes, relevant cultures, and guiding principles and theories. It involves managing conflicts of interest and encouraging justice.

Courageous leadership is to exemplify bold and effective conduct when necessary. It involves voicing truth directly to power and challenging the status quo.

Trust and respect is to create a psychologically safe environment by demonstrating empathy. It involves exhibiting deep admiration for all humans and understanding their emotions and situations.

Diversity is to accept and promote the unique presence and contributions of everyone. It involves emphasizing the importance of marginalized perspectives and identities.

Collaborative engagement is to champion the inclusion and empowerment of all stakeholders, both internal and external. It involves encouraging and fostering open participation across the system(s).

Strategic practicality is to enable clients to identify and achieve desired outcomes. It involves recognizing that identified solutions need to support the needs of the organization as well as the individuals. It also involves adapting to changing situations, identifying alternatives, and thinking strategically.

Client growth and development is to develop the capacity of our clients to maintain and continue the work on their own. It involves recognizing stages of development and fostering the ability of a human system to continually progress.

Notably absent from this list is inclusion of a value of business efficiency, effectiveness, or productivity. The authors conclude that "Perhaps the absence of these values from our study results is because they are more goals of OD, but not necessarily, core values of OD. Alternatively, the deemphasis of effectiveness as a value might be a trend in the OD community".

 

 Question

Why are values important for OD practitioners?

How do these values determine how we implement change?

How do you align regarding the values?