Conference on the New OD: March 18-21, 2010 in Silver Spring, Maryland

Summary
Agenda
Attendees
Outcomes
Presenters

A conference for scholars, practitioners, and change leaders to explore the shifts in the field of OD that have occurred and are occurring continuously. Location: National Labor College Conference Center, 10000 New Hampshire Avenue, Silver Spring, Maryland 20903
301-431-6400

NTL Institute hosted this conference and was joined by several organizations that grew out of NTL roots – i.e., the AU/NTL Master of Science in OD graduate program; Case Western Reserve’s School of Organization Behavior; The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science (JABS), and The Lewin Center. In addition, this group will be joined by The Taos Institute.

The Taos Institute was pleased to be a sponsor of the exciting event. More than 230 scholars and practitioners committed to exploring and shaping the future of OD gathered for 3 days. Given the reality in which we are living, rapid changes require that we create new ways of working together to assure the best possible outcomes for human systems, be they organizations, communities, or families, as we learn to live in a constantly changing reality. For more information visit the NTL Institute conference website: Click Here.

Summary:
The intent of the conference is to convene a mix of scholars, practitioners, and change leaders to explore the shifts in the field of Organization Development that have occurred and are occurring continuously. During the conference, we will attempt to respond to such questions as:
How has the inventory of social science premises and theories influencing the field of OD evolved so that new patterns of practice are now in place or emerging?

Are these newer premises and patterns of practice different enough from the foundations of OD to be considered different forms of OD? Or, even entirely different forms of organizational change approaches? Why or why not?

If there are differences in form(s), how would we best characterize the differences to theorists and practitioners? Or, put another way, what would we call the different forms of OD and what are the implications for theory and practice?

Given the discussions at the conference, how do the participants see the field of OD evolving?

NTL Institute will be joined by several organizations that grew out of NTL roots – i.e., the AU/NTL Master of Science in OD graduate program; Case Western Reserve’s School of Organization Behavior; The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science (JABS), and The Lewin Center. In addition, this group will be joined by The Taos Institute.

This is a gathering of scholars and practitioners committed to exploring and shaping the future of OD. Given the reality in which we are living, the rapid changes require that we create new ways of working together to assure the best possible outcomes for human systems, be they

organizations, communities, or families, as we learn to live in a constantly changing reality.

Agenda:
For a detailed agenda for the Conference on the New OD click here

Attendees:
For a complete list of attendees for the Conference on the New OD click here

Conference Outcomes: (see link) click here

Presenters:
The conference will open with a session hosted by NTL and OD pioneers, Charles and Edith Seashore on the evening of March 18th.

The Seashores will be joined by notables in the field of Applied Behavioral Science- Bailey Jackson and Barbara Bunker, among others, who remember the origins of the field of OD. These presenters have observed and written about how the field has grown and changed over the 70 years since Kurt Lewin and his colleagues began to experiment with human behavior in groups. This opening session will be an evening of stories about “roots” and the development of the field. Anyone with stories and memories will be welcome to share!

• Edith and Charles Seashore
• Barbara Bunker
• Bailey Jackson
• Robert Marshak
• Mary and Ken Gergen
• Jacqueline M. Stavros

Bob Marshak, NTL Member and a thought leader about trends in The New OD, will open the conference on the 19th with an in-depth presentation of what he sees as the major shifts and changes shaping OD today – especially changes in underlying philosophical premises or paradigms that impact both theory and practice. Following Bob’s presentation there will be a panel session with colleagues who are also writing and thinking about the changes they see taking place in the field. Among those will be Gervase Bushe of Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; Cliff Oswick of Queen Mary College, University of London, UK; and, David Grant of The University of Sydney, Australia. The panel discussion will be followed by open discussions and reactions among all the conference community.

On the afternoon of the 19th, Ken and Mary Gergen, pioneers in the articulation and spread of “social constructionist” theory, will present on the impact of that theory on human behavior in systems. As founders of The Taos Institute, the Gergens and their colleagues have created a global organization dedicated to the study and application of this theory in human systems. This is a key component of Bob Marshak’s and others’ writing about the New OD.

Jacqueline Stavros is an Associate Professor for the College of Management, Lawrence Technological University (LTU). She teaches in the master and doctorate programs: leading change, strategic management, organization development, qualitative research design, and introduction to research methods. She has been a guest lecturer at Madonna University, Illinois State University, Benedictine University, Oakland University, University of Michigan, and Michigan State University.

She has worked and traveled to over a dozen countries in Asia, Europe, and North America. Clients have included: ACCI Business System, BAE Systems, Fasteners, Inc., General Motors of Mexico, Jefferson Wells, NASA, Tendercare, United Way, Girl Scouts USA, gedas International, Orbseal Technologies, and several Tier 1 and Tier 2 automotive suppliers, nonprofit organizations, and higher education institutions.

Later in the day, we also hope to have leading proponents involved in appreciative inquiry, large group, complexity systems, strengths-based, and language-based approaches to change contribute their ideas to our collective thinking.

On the 2nd full day, participants will self-organize around topics of interest, with the history of OD as a field and the information about the shifts in both theory and practice in place. The idea is to have academics and practitioners create work groups for deep dialogue about these ideas and theories with a potential outcome being a presentation to a plenary session and, to stimulate solo or collaborative articles to be written about the question: What Is the New OD?

Rather than asking for papers written in advance to be presented, a major focus of the conference will be encouraging the exchange of ideas and the creation of potential writing partnerships among the participants for presentations/papers/books to be published after the conference.