| Jeroo (Consultant, India) July 2006 |
I was intrigued by your website, which I think is
excellent - also it is great to experience a feminine outlook on
management of this standard.
I find that so many management students,
even those from the best institutes, are theoretically well versed, but
unable to operate in a practicality-based enviornment. I am trying to
help them understand how best they can do this. I try to be as versatile
and interesting as possible, and hope I am succeeding! For instance,
apart from Stephan Covey's original 7 habits, I also value his son's
work, 7 habits for highly effective teenagers - so many of its precepts
work for executives also!
In my self-fulfilment lectures, I quote
Pygmalion (the original Greek story), My Fair Lady (GBS's adaptation),
and the theme from Space Jam - I wish I could fly. I also quote the
instance of the bumblebee who flies (all scientifical arguments to the
contrary) simply because he thinks he can! (Incidentally, I am 62 years
young, and have a son and daughter who are professionals too - one in
the hospitality industry and the other in HR)
I would love to know how I
can expand my knowlege of OD - could you take some time to help me with
suggestions? I hope I haven't taken up too much of your time, but it was
fun writing to you.
Regards,
Jeroo, Consultant, India |
Dear Jeroo,
It was a pleasure and an honor to receive your email. I am glad you noticed that
I wanted to bring in a young, feminine perspective to the management consulting
field. In fact, I truly admire you as a teacher. One of my goals is to teach at
university if I can manage to get myself into a doctoral program in the U.S.
sometime within the next 2 years.
Your observation about students not being able to get practical success in OD is
a very common one. My opinion is that they must stand out enough to get
themselves hooked on to a mentor who is experienced as an OD consultant and
learn from them. No amount of theory is going to prepare them for practical
application. Initially it will be tough for them because they will have to work
for free in order to assist world-class consultants, but let them know that the
struggle is worth it if they can find the heart and strength to stick with it.
As a faculty member, if you could organize mentoring programs by asking
consultants to offer their guidance to high-potential students in exchange for
free or school-sponsored assistance, it will secure the next generation of
consultants. The field of OD also needs its own succession planning.
Students need to look at the world in highly realistic terms, i.e. to really
study human nature and behavior as it really is. This is what practical success
in OD boils down to. They need to be heavy into the latest research, which
unfortunately is not available as there is so little of it done in OD. But the
main issue facing the success of OD today I believe is the ability of
individuals to deal with contradictions. For e.g. an OD consultant needs to be
able to look at an issue as objectively and realistically as possible, realizing
that they should be aware of their own agenda, and stop themselves from
subconsciously promoting it, be it a social, religious, or political agenda. OD
starts with the individual. Tell your students that success lies in the
discipline of seeing situations without bias, and to determine next action steps
based on the highest standard of ethics. They must be skilled at drawing the
line between what they want and what is actually needed for the organization. So
the first step to being a consultant is for them to explore their own biases,
their inner conflicts, and to connect with their own philosophy of life. If this
sounds silly to them, then they will simply need to reconsider their career
choice. As a consultant, their goal would be to transform organizations and this
often needs to be preceded with self-transformation.
The most practical advice I could give you is that you need to model a good
consultant in your classes. So, change the way you teach. Drop the whole
classroom model. Change! You probably need to structure your classes in such a
way as to simulate actual organizational situations that they could face in the
future as consultants. By this I mean do unconventional things that would get
their attention and inspire them to look at situations beyond themselves. For
instance, have them sit in a circle instead of desks and chairs, allow a lot of
noise and chaotic discussion, and let there be analytical but fun games and
incredible energy! Let them come up with what they think leadership means
instead of you yourself quoting from Covey and others they’ve head a 100 times
before. Replace lectures with inviting their ideas to come out. This is what OD
is about because the client must realize that all the solutions lie within their
own systems and minds. The most important message of all is what my partner
tells me all the time: the consultant is no more considered an expert who comes
in and gives out a one-size fits all solution for the company’s challenge. The
consultant is now a facilitative guide responsible for creating an environment
that is safe and powerful at the same time, so that the ‘solution’ comes out
from the depths of the people in the system. Quoting the likes of Covey is very
common in the lecture format and students might not think out of the box this
way. The world is changing and teachers ought to teach by getting students to
find their own answers. Traditional lectures must make way for high-power
interaction, instinctive but critical thought, and connecting with the self.
If you’d like to expand your knowledge in Organization Development, I highly
recommend joining the Organization Development Network at
www.odnetwork.org.
Also, I suggest reading Practicing Organization Development: A Guide for
Consultants, a book edited by my business partner and associates, Mr. Roland
Sullivan and Dr. William Rothwell. You can review this book at
www.practicingod.com. In addition, I’d like to draw your attention to GODS
(Global Organization Development Summit) which is to take place from the 18th to
21st of September 2006 in Mysore. More information is available on the
conference website at www.odsummitindia.org if you and some of your students and
colleagues are keen to attend.
Please let me know how you are getting on with your students and if you would
like my feedback on structuring lessons.
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