Recently a colleague asked, “What are the competencies required of a good Organization Development (OD) professional?”
Good? Kidding, I responded, “Now there is a value judgment. What about effective?”
Later, giving this some serious thought, I pulled out some old notes and drew on some of the wisdom of our some the seminal thinkers of the field. One thing I observe is that many of these competencies are similar to what makes an effective leader. I suppose it depends on what you are leading on which theories you use – and in this case, it’s change – in organizations, in individual and group behaviors and at a strategic level.
More than anything else, the ability to know and manage him/herself. The ability to manage oneself is foundational to effectively leading anything, and as well, foundational to all the other skills of an effective leader of change. You cannot help others change if you don’t know what’s going on with you. And as an OD professional you are responsible for keeping track of all the other competencies useful in leading change which include:
- Testing assumptions and inferences.
- Sharing all relevant information.
- Using specific examples and agree on what important word mean.
- Explaining your reasoning and intent.
- Focusing on interests, not on positions.
- Combining advocacy and inquiry.
- Working with your client on the design of next steps and ways to test disagreements.
- Discussing the un-discussables.
- Using a decision making method that generates the level of commitment needed.
That’s a lot going on at the same time. Now you need to balance those competencies with a good theory base, is so you understand why and how things are happening when they occur. Theory also helps you when you run into something unexpected. And finally, there is nothing to substitute for lots of practice in design of interventions that meet client needs, critical thinking and facilitation skills. In organization development intervention comes in many forms, workshops, meetings, retreats, coaching and so on.
Facilitation is the easiest thing to learn, and it’s not just about creating clever exercises and training methods. Being able to see yourself objectively and make appropriate choices that serve your client and the situation is a life-long practice. I have meet only a handful who are really good at all of these things, all the time, so humility and a willingness to adapt is also essential. Another good way to think about this is to ask: What qualities you want to see in the OD practitioner beyond management skills?
And when you staff your OD and learning departmetn, these are some good things to take into consideration.
photo credit: creative commons licensed by Orin Zebest
