NTL Member Journal Articles

Dr. Prakash Ranjan

Economics Nobel 2024 and Its Ramifications on Institutions, Leadership

The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences, 2024 (Nobel Prize in Economics) got awarded to Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson "for their pioneering studies of how institutions are formed and affect prosperity". This is a very special year and very special subject making the 2024 Economics Nobel a matter of great discussion. It has generated new interest in understanding the criticality and importance of Institutions and working through an Institutional approach.

Building OD Education for the Infinite World of Tomorrow

What type of developmental experiences will prepare us to be grounded enough to
be able to support our clients (not to mention ourselves) in working in such complex
change environments—not just conceptually but in practice?”

The Classic T-Group®

“Oh, man, are we gonna sit here all day? In this silly circle? I wonder what the agenda is? Why won’t they just tell us what we’re going to do? If someone doesn’t speak up soon, I’m gonna go nuts . . . And why don’t the leaders just lead?”

The inner monologue of a typical T-group® participant on the first day.

OD: Sixty Years Down, and the Future to Go

“As the field approaches 60 years, there are many things to be proud of, some things we could have
done better, a number of assumptions we have about who we are, and some hard choices ahead
about who we want to be in the world, if we chose to rouse ourselves from our history of slumber.”

Working With Groups In Organizations

The history of human endeavor is full of huge accomplishments that far exceed the capacity of any one person or group. They are often our most complex and demanding tasks, requiring interdependence among people and groups, leadership, communications, constructive norms, differentiated functions and roles, and, perhaps most importantly, the ability to understand and mobilize human behavior toward a common goal.

Preparing for High Impact Organizational Change

From both sides to all sides: Creating common ground where there has been none before.

OD and HR

Do We Want the Lady or the Tiger?

“We are witnessing and participating in an unprecedented dissolution of the boundaries of the field of organization development. In organizations around the world, the HR function is monopolizing the OD function at an unprecedented pace, which is limiting our reach, blunting our effectiveness, and compromising our role.”

Moving The OD Field Forward

Our ask of you . . .

We hope to receive your support for the frameworks we have created so we all can stand on common ground as we teach and practice Organization Development (OD). Our request is that you read through what follows, consider how it might impact you and the work you do in the world, and respond to us with your feedback as follows:

Change Our Name, Change Our Game

“Unless we wake ourselves from this reverie, the field as we know it now will be irrelevant in 10 years and extinct in 20. We can’t afford to be people of the stars without the serious grounding in business and operations that the real world demands today.”

‘Preparation’ and ‘Readiness’: The Education Paradigm for the Organisation Development Certificate Programme

Abstract

The organisation development certificate programme (ODCP) offered by the Indian Society for Applied Behavioural Science—ISABS (www.isabs.org) is a unique blend of learning about organisations, the process of OD with deep awareness about self as an instrument of change.

ISABS as an institution has been engaged with T-groups® for the past 50 years, having learnt the same from National Training Laboratories (NTL) Institute for Applied Behavioural Science (www.ntl.org). The focus of ISABS has been on discovering oneself through the process of engagement in small groups. ISABS pedagogy has evolved over years after initial learning from NTL This pedagogy distinguishes itself from any typical university education by stressing on experiencing and reflection of the learning process held together by a process facilitator. The expectation is that the participants will conceptualise and apply their learning through their own volition. However, this needed to change for the ODCP programme. This article unfolds the process for the reader.

The process of OD is based on the quality of the interaction/engagement between the client system and the OD practitioner. Hence, the quality of the ‘preparedness’ and ‘readiness’ of the OD practitioner plays a big role in the ‘process of OD’.

ISABS addresses the twin issues of ‘preparedness’ and ‘readiness’ of participants to enter the field of OD through a pedagogy that is a combination of experiential, cognitive, reflective and peer learning. In addition, OD competencies and values are internalised through a learner-centred approach to teaching, classroom as organisation simulations and support systems provided through coaching and learning facilitation.

Cultures Collide

Embedding OD Culture in Indian Patriarchal Organizations

Organization Development (OD) as a practice in India is more than 40 years old. It was initially imported from the NTL Institute for Applied Behavioral Science. OD later developed homegrown models and practices based on contributions from many academics and consultants. There have been several efforts to apply OD approaches and associated techniques in India but it has not created the desired impact. One plausible explanation for this is that OD as it has emerged to date is culture specific, that it simply cannot be applied to locations outside the US. (Ramnarayan & Rao, 2011)

Drench – Living the Dream Before Action

A Crucial Stage in the Practice of Appreciative Inquiry

Appreciative Inquiry was born as a doctoral dissertation by David Cooperrider working under his guide, Suresh Srivastava, at the Case Western Reserve University in the 1980s. The impetus for Appreciative Inquiry to become a popular change management and organization development model and practice came from the development of the 4-D model, followed by the 5-D model.

We propose that between the expansive and possibility infused phase of discovery and dream, and the action oriented phase of design and destiny/delivery, there needs to be a pause, a time of inaction before the action, a sixth D. There is a need to completely Drench in the dream to let the new imagined world soak into the system, embody the same, and then move into action to generate ways to live the dream. This phase of inaction is an important determinant to the quality of the actions in the design and delivery phases that ensue.

SKILL DEFICIENCIES IN DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION IN ORGANIZATIONS: DEVELOPING AN INCLUSION SKILLS MEASUREMENT

ABSTRACT

Managing a diverse workforce is a business imperative yet challenges exist. Organizational members might neither recognize the impact they have on others nor how to build their toolkit of inter-cultural competence. If the organizational goal of embedding an inclusive environment is at odds with the values, behaviors, and attitudes of its employees, then inclusion will not be fully achieved and organizational performance will be impacted.

THE INCLUSION SKILLS MEASUREMENT PROFILE: VALIDATING AN ASSESSMENT FOR IDENTIFICATION OF SKILL DEFICIENCIES IN DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

ABSTRACT

The first phase of an instrument to measure diversity and inclusion at the individual, group, and organizational levels is described. The Inclusion Skills Measurement (ISM) Profile was designed to assist in recognizing the skills gaps that exist in organizational members; such gaps must be recognized and addressed if inclusion is to be successfully embedded within organizations. Phase 1 involved the validation of the self-assessment tool which is designed to help individuals explore their values, beliefs and behaviors around diversity and inclusion. One hundred and ten working adults were surveyed using the ISM Profile and the data was analyzed, indicating concern with some items. Revision of the instrument based on the analysis is discussed. The dimensions of inclusion are described and future research is proposed.

Forward, Reverse or Neutral: Which Gear Are We Operating in With Our 21st Century Approach to Global Diversity and Inclusion?

ABSTRACT

The article explores Diversity & Inclusion and the effectiveness of interventions through the eyes of an internal and an external consultant. The vehicle used for this reflection is an unconscious bias intervention within the client system, which includes education, assessment, skills development and embedding inclusion activities. It is also a reflective exploration of the parallel process experienced in the working relationship between the consultant and the client. Both the consultant and the client have different social identity groups and the article explores how these differing frames of reference and shared experiences on how diversity and inclusion work was done came into play in the working relationship. The project was designed to provide leaders with insights into their patterns of bias, and to engage the hearts and minds of leaders to generate commitment allowing the organization to more fully embrace diversity and inclusion.

From Under the Veil: The Coaching Process and The Change Process of Professional Coaching

The International Coaching Federation (ICF) provides a definition and a list of core competencies for professional coaching. The coaching process for professional coaching is implied but not described. As a professional coach and organization-development practitioner, one thing stands out for me about professional coaching – Change happens as a result of the coaching process! This realization set me on a quest to understand how change happens in the coaching process. This article describes the coaching process implied in the ICF’s definition and core competencies for professional coaching and suggests a theory of how change happens through coaching.

Organization Change Theories and Models

Change is inherent to organizations -- change desired by organization leaders to satisfy goals and accomplish organization visions; change that results from changes in the worldview of organization members; and change that is a response to what is happening in an organization’s external environment. This chapter is a review of organization change theories and models. Organization change theories are the lenses that are used to understand, explain, and predict organization change. Organization change models are based in change theories. They are used to guide change initiatives and organization responses to change.

Deep Diversity, Social Justice, and Organization Development

This article provides an overview of diversity and social justice concepts, explores how and where diversity and social justice show up in OD theory and practice, and identifies opportunities for deepening and expanding OD theory and practice to consider diversity and social justice. It is a report-in-progress of my ongoing questions and learning about how diversity, social justice, and organization development fit together. In this sense it is practice theory from more than twenty-five years’ work as an OD and diversity/social justice practitioner who is a white, heterosexual man and US national.

Diversity and Social Justice Practices for OD Practitioners

As OD practitioners we can be uncomfortable with diversity issues when they come up in our OD practice and we seek ways to address organizational issues without having to directly take on diversity aspects. This is true of the OD profession as a whole. This article examines ten diversity and social justice practices that support addressing diversity and social justice issues and dynamics as an integral part of OD practice.

Diversity Conflict and Diversity Conflict Management

While the literature on conflict and conflict management has grown rapidly in recent years, little is included in the literature about conflict that results from diversity. This chapter describes diversity conflict and diversity conflict management. The definition, patterns, impacts, and measures of diversity conflict are explored in the following section on diversity conflict. Two sides of diversity conflict are considered: (1) diversity conflict based in human differences and (2) diversity conflict based in oppression. The section on diversity conflict management examines a range of conflict management approaches for specific diversity-conflict situations and for systemic diversity conflict based in oppression.

Historical and Theoretical Roots of Diversity Management

Diversity management is an emerging field of theory, research, teaching, and practice. The purpose of the diversity management field is to improve the health and effectiveness of organizations. It is a field that uses applied behavioral science methods, research, and theory. It is focused on change and stability processes involving diversity and social justice in organizations. Diversity management is a values-based field and values are an integral part of the definition and how practitioners conduct their work. Diversity management is rooted in the social protest, civil rights, and liberation movements of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s; judicial rulings and federal civil rights and equal opportunity legislation in the 1950s and 1960s; and demographic and economic changes in the 1980s and 90s.