Dialogic Organization Development (DOD)

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Dialogic Organization Development (DOD)

Dialogic OD is the next step in the evolution of organizational change theory, from thinking of organizations as organisms that adapt to their environments, to organizations as networks of meaning-making, always in a process of becoming.

According to Edgar Schein: "Dialogic Organization Development (OD) could not have arrived at a better time. The assumptions underlying it and some of the goals for social change and improvement that it articulates not only build on an important historical legacy but reinforce those aspects of OD that will be most needed in the future."

In 2015, Gervase Bushe and Robert Marshak release a publication "Dialogic Organization Development: The Theory and Practice of Transformational Change".

Table of Contents
Forward: Dialogic Organization Development: Past, Present and Future - Edgar H. Schein
Introduction and Overview - Gervase R. Bushe and Robert J. Marshak
1. Introduction to the Dialogic Organization Development Mindset - Gervase R. Bushe and Robert J. Marshak
2. Introduction to the Practice of Dialogic OD - Gervase R. Bushe and Robert J. Marshak

Theoretical Bases of Dialogic Organization Development
3. Social Constructionist Challenge to Representational Knowledge: Implications for Understanding Organization - Change Frank J. Barrett
4. Discourse and Dialogic Organization Development - Robert J. Marshak, David S. Grant, and Maurizio Floris
5. Generative Image: Sourcing Novelty - Gervase R. Bushe and Jacob Storch
6. Complexity, Self-Organization and Emergence - Peggy Holman
7. Understanding Organizations as Complex Responsive Processes of Relating - Ralph Stacey
8. Consulting as Collaborative Co-Inquiry - J. Kevin Barge

The Practice of Dialogic Organization Development
9. Enabling Change: The Skills of Dialogic OD - Jacob Storch
10. Entering, Readiness and Contracting for Dialogic Organization Development - Tova Averbuch
11. Transformative Learning During Dialogic OD - Yabome Gilpin-Jackson
12. Framing Inquiry: The Art of Engaging Great Questions - Nancy Southern
13. Hosting and Holding Containers - Chris Corrigan
14. From Them to Us: Working with Multiple Constituents in Dialogic OD - Ray Gordezky
15. Amplifying Change: A 3-Phase Approach to Model, Nurture and Embed Ideas for Change - Michael Roehrig, Joachim Schwendenwein and Gervase R. Bushe
16. Coaching From a Dialogic OD Paradigm - Chené Swart
17. Dialogic Process Consultation: Working Live - Joan Goppelt and Keith W. Ray

Commentary on Dialogic Process Consultation - Patricia Shaw
Conclusion: The Path Ahead - Gervase R. Bushe & Robert J. Marshak.

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		1 Jaap de Jonge Editor, Netherlands
	Dialogic Organization Development That looks interesting indeed, Gary…. "from thinking of organizations as organisms that adapt to their environments, to organizations as networks of meaning-making, always in a process of becoming". Could you perhaps summarize some of the main ideas of Dialogic Organization Development in simple terms?

		2 Gary Wong Consultant, Canada
	Why 'Dialogic' OD? @Jaap de Jonge: The Diagnostic OD mindset was established in the 1960s and 1970s and emanates from theories and practices of the "visionary" leader managing a stable, orderly organization. This presumption is no longer effective in an environment of multi-dimensional diversity marked by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. Gervase Bushe and Robert Marshak introduced a different leadership mindset called Dialogic OD. Relying on one person to "show the way" has become a barrier to leaders enacting the kind of emergent change processes needed in rapidly changing, complex organizations.

		6 Gary Wong Consultant, Canada
	Contrasting Diagnostic OD and Dialogic OD In the Diagnostic OD approach, organizations are viewed as living systems that need to have all of their elements in alignment and responsive to changing environmental conditions and competitive threats. Change is conceptualized as a planned process of "unfreezing" a present socio-technical equilibrium, creating "movement" to a new and more desirable future equilibrium that then needs to be "refrozen" to sustain the change. The change historically has been driven by people at the top with formal authority and egos to realize their vision. A key aspect of planned change includes "diagnosis" of the elements, factors and forces maintaining the current state. The change team, organization, and stakeholders are diagnosed to ascertain what aspects need to be changed and what means will best achieve the idealistic future. In the Dialogic OD approach, Bushe and Marshak describe several premises as differentiators. Phenomena associated with Complex Adaptive Systems are recognized. There is no single objective reality; nor a single authoritative voice or version of reality; Diversity in terms of a multiplicity of diverse voices and actors being recognized and engaged is critical. Organizations, especially their informal networks, are continuously self-organizing to create coherence and make meaning. In contrast to planned "start‐stop" thinking about change processes, social relationships, and interactions are continuously in flux. Dialogic OD practitioners may influence by nudging, accelerating, dampening, or disrupting processes, but they cannot control by unfreezing and refreezing them. Because the future is unpredictable, change is more emergent than planned. Analytical methods such as problem-solving, surveys, questionnaires are supplanted by narrative inquiry techniques. Change is not some measured goal, but monitored by how everyday conversations are altered. The table below describes the difference between the two approaches: Source: Bushe, G.R. & Marshak, R.J. (2014b). The dialogic mindset in organization development. Research in Organizational Change and Development, 22, 55‐97.

		1 Alkhaly Mohamed Tahey Conde Lecturer, Guinea
	Dialogic Organizational Development Dear Gary Wong, thank you for your very instructive contribution. I think that Diagnostic and Dialogic OD are complementary. The traditional Diagnostic OD is based on the organization itself, whereas ...