Organizational Development
Organisational Development (OD) is a planned, systematic approach to improving an organisation's capacity to change, learn, and achieve its goals. It applies behavioural science knowledge and practice to help organisations become more effective, healthy, and adaptable.
What it is
OD emerged as a distinct field in the 1950s and 1960s, drawing from social psychology, group dynamics (Kurt Lewin), and systems theory. Pioneer practitioners including Richard Beckhard, Edgar Schein, and Warren Bennis developed the field's foundations. Unlike management consulting, which often imposes external solutions, OD works through participative processes that build internal capacity.
Core OD interventions include organisational diagnosis, team development, large-scale change programmes, process consultation, survey feedback, and culture change initiatives. The field is underpinned by values: a commitment to human dignity and participation, evidence-based practice, and systemic thinking. Action research — cycles of inquiry, experiment, and reflection — is its primary methodology.
How it is used in coaching
Coaching and OD are increasingly integrated. Executive coaches work alongside OD consultants in large change programmes. OD-informed coaches understand the systemic context in which individual leaders operate — they recognise that individual behaviour is shaped and constrained by organisational systems, structures, and culture. This prevents the error of treating leadership challenges as purely individual when they are partly structural.
Key benefits & applications
Addresses root causes rather than symptoms; builds sustainable internal capacity; participative and values-driven; integrates individual, team, and system levels.
What our members have to say
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Bibliography
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