How can one use organization development skills and knowledge? Most OD practitioners work as internal or external change consultants. They work with individuals, teams, and whole organizations to help them become more effective, and to build more sane work arrangements and interactions. Others use this knowledge and skill in support of their management role. Here is what one of our recent graduates wrote about her experience:
"I'm amazed at how often I'm able to use the techniques and skills I learned in the Sonoma State OD program in my job in national account sales. I sincerely believe that any interaction that requires working with, influencing or leading people can be vastly improved by using OD methods.
The OD program not only gave me a different set of skills, it provided me with a new way of thinking about and seeing things. It has enriched both my personal and work life."
Mindi Lewis, MA (Class of 2004)
Director, National Account Sales
Carl Zeiss Vision
The Psycholog MA in OD at Sonoma State builds the leadership skills needed for successfully consulting to, or leading organizations, including:
o Powerful new tools to be a more effective manager, leader, or consultant
o Cutting-edge approaches, theories, and tools one can use now to create and sustain winning organizations and thriving communities
o A wider professional network, broadly applicable skills, and increased employment options.
Students learn through practical experience, hands-on projects, and internships. The two-year program meets two nights a week and one Saturday a month.
A good way to learn more about this program is to attend an information meeting at Sonoma State. The next one is on:
Saturday, April 8,
1:00 to 3:00 PM
In Stevenson Hall, Room 3095
Call 707/664-2682 for information, or visit us at SSU OD Program.
Being an OD Practitioner in the 21st century is becoming more challenging, and perhaps more important.
Our global and local environments are less stable and predictable: For example, there are reports that carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere continue to increase; petroleum reserves may be peaking; forests are decreasing; world energy usage is increasing; global population is increasing, though not evenly--Europe is facing a shortfall in their labor force; iPods now display video; a bird flu pandemic is predicted, with inadequate supplies of vaccine; the proportion of college educated and employed women world-wide is increasing; jobs and knowledge are being exported across national borders; undocumented workers are being imported; research and technology is improving health care but making it more expensive; project teams in multi-national corporations work across time-zones, and seldom meet face-to-face; managers make decisions, but outcomes are hard to assess because the variables are so complex--they get promoted for being decisive, rather than for making the right decisions; short-term solutions turn out to lead to unanticipated disasters. Are you confused and overwhelmed? Guess how your clients feel?
We are all increasingly aware that our world is changing, and that we need to be intentional about evolving our ways of practicing OD in the years ahead. As the global and organizational environments in which we practice continue to change, OD practitioners are called on to be clear about the core values and principles that guide us, while adapting our intervention strategies and developing the appropriate competencies to carry them out effectively.
The growing need is for ways to guide change in the present while keeping the future in mind. What changes and trends are you aware of in your own work experience, reading, media reports, travels?
Consider what you are noticing about how our world is changing. We can to put our individual perspectives together like a mosaic, and become more aware of the changing contextual patterns in which we are practicing OD.
And you may be interested in the results of a Delphi study about OD and the future that is speeding toward us.