My
purpose in writing this book is to share a model that came out of my work and
studies in organization development and personality type. I was not looking for
the model; it found me. It has been written, presented, and discussed with
clients and colleagues for over ten years, and it continues to evolve, expand,
and surprise me.
I am
convinced that it needs a wider audience because it generates dialogue about
organizational dynamics in a whole new way. It has the potential to change the
way we, as change agents, understand organizations and the way we work with the
people who belong to them.
I have
worked for many years as an organization development consultant, interpersonal
skills trainer, and group facilitator. Clients have been at all levels of
government, private sector, and not-for-profit organizations. Sometimes the work
was with just one individual; sometimes with teams, project groups, business
units, whole organizations, or communities. Some interventions were about
program planning, design, delivery, and evaluation; others were about
exploratory needs assessment, performance feedback, creative problem solving,
and large systems change efforts. They have focused on outcomes as well as
relationships.
Through all of these experiences, I would find myself looking for the themes and
patterns, trying to build on previous knowledge and experience to get
perspective on the chaos and to discover some kind of order, while reassuring
the client that all was going according to plan. I would read about and try the
new and old theories and interventions, often prompted by the clients’ own
interest in what was popular thinking and practice at the time.
Over
time I began to realize that I had created a very simple model for myself to
understand the organization with which I was working, and the specific request
that a client was making. It would help me to ask clarifying questions and get
the information I needed; to position the intervention in relation to all other
intervention possibilities; to sort through the signs and symptoms, options and
consequences; to explore the client’s understanding of what was going on; and to
gain perspective on the past, present, and future.
My goal
here is to present that simple, but comprehensive, model to anyone who is
actively involved in creating positive change in an organization. That includes
internal and external organization development consultants; leaders who are
choosing the direction to take; managers who oversee the work of others; and all
those who are assigned special projects to “make things happen.” The change
agent may be anyone in the organization who seizes the opportunity to make a
difference. Because you are reading this book, it refers to you.
Organizations Alive!
can help you and your colleagues to better
understand the dynamics of the organization with which you are working so that
it can be successful. After reading the book, I expect that you will be able to
diagnose more accurately, intervene more appropriately, recognize progress more
easily, forgive mistakes more generously, and break out of the traps that
ensnare you more quickly.
In
particular, Organizations Alive! gives you:
-
A framework for understanding the theories and practices of
organizational behaviour and change.
-
A simple way of understanding the complexity of the organization with
which you are working.
-
The tools to take a snapshot of an organization’s strengths and
weaknesses.
-
A method of understanding how past and present activities of an
organization have helped and hindered its effectiveness.
-
New insight into how leaders, managers, and change agents affect the
change process – sometimes deliberately, sometimes inadvertently, sometimes for
the positive, sometimes not.
-
A way of planning for change more consciously.
-
An assessment tool and process for using
Organizations Alive!
The
Organizations Alive! model was presented at the International Type
Users’ Conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, in September 1996. This was the
beginning of the writing of the book, but it wasn’t until September 2001, when
the World Trade Towers fell, that I immersed myself in it. As the world changed
before our eyes and we had a closer look at the dark side of organizations, the
model became even richer as I wrote. In the months that followed, I moved
paragraphs around and presented it to anyone who would listen. But I didn’t
finish it. I wondered if writing was just my way of dealing with the trauma, as
it had affected me. In March 2003, when the United States started their
disarmament of Iraq, I felt the need to write again, but this time, also to
finish.
I could
continue to add and adjust what is written here in a vain attempt to perfect it,
but I know that it is time for Organizations Alive! to leave my
nest. It is time for greater understanding among people who see things
differently, and I strongly believe that Organizations Alive! can
help in that conversation.
JAN YUILL
November 2003
