The system of organizations is very similar, if not the same, as the system of human beings — after all, organizations are made up of humans! Therefore, when trying to understand the field of Organizational Development, it might be useful to compare aspects of the field of Organizational Development to aspects of the field of medicine.
For example, the study of the theories and structures of organizations (often in courses called “organizational theory”) is similar to the study of anatomy and physiology of human systems. Similarly, the study of organizational behavior is similar to the study of human psychology and sociology.
In Organizational Development, practitioners might work in a manner similar to “organizational physicians” intending to improve the effectiveness of people and organizations by:
- Establishing relationships with key personnel in the organization (often called “entering” and “contracting” with the organization);
- Researching and evaluating systems in the organization to understand dysfunctions and/or goals of the systems in the organization (“diagnosing” the systems in the organization);
- Identifying approaches (or “interventions”) to improve the effectiveness of the organization and its people;
- Application of those approaches to improve effectiveness (methods of “planned change” in the organization),
- Evaluating the ongoing effectiveness of the approaches and the resulting health of the organization.
We believe that the organization can be built with the oneness of its team and the culture of working from the same “playbook” with complete understanding.