Organisational Development

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In the meantime here are some things about organisational development that you might find useful:

Organisational Development is often defined as a planned, top-down, organization-wide effort to increase the organisation's effectiveness and health. Organisational development is a complex strategy intended to change the beliefs, attitudes, values, and structure of organisations so that they can better adapt to new technologies, markets, and challenges.

Organisational development is neither "anything done to better an organisation" nor is it "the training function of the organisation"; it is a particular kind of change process designed to bring about a particular kind of end result. Organisational development can involve interventions in the organisation's "processes," using behavioural science knowledge as well as organisational reflection, system improvement, planning, and self-analysis.

Kurt Lewin (1898 - 1947) is widely recognized as the founding father of organisational development, although he died before the concept became current in the mid-1950s. From Lewin came the ideas of group dynamics, and action research which underpin the basic organisational development process as well as providing its collaborative consultant and client ethos. Institutionally, Lewin founded the "Research Center for Group Dynamics" at MIT, which moved to Michigan after his death. RCGD colleagues were among those who founded the National Training Laboratories, from which the T-group and group-based organisational development emerged. In the UK, working as close as was possible with Lewin and his colleagues, the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations was important in developing systems theories. Important too was the joint TIHR journal Human Relations, although nowadays the Journal of Applied Behavioral Sciences is seen as the leading organisational development journal.

The term "Organisation Development" is often used interchangeably with Organisational effectiveness, especially when used as the name of a department within an organisation. Organisation Development is a growing field that is responsive to many new approaches including Positive Adult Development.