O.D. Institute Newsletter

November 2005

 

The Organization Development Institute Needs You

The Organization Development Institute needs your involvement as a member and as an active force in developing the profession.  In an up-coming article in the Organization Development Journal, Orisha A. Kulick, M.A., M.S., L.C.S.W., J.D. has an excellent article on: Professionalism and OD: The Past, the Present, and Future Scenarios.  This article will be published in the spring issue of the Organization Development Journal.  Glen Varney will also have an article on developing the profession of OD in that issue.  I am excited about what I see as a new enthusiasm for developing OD into a Profession.  I especially want to salute Don Cole, RODC for his many years of tireless work to promote OD as a profession.  It has not been easy!  Don doesn’t often talk about his efforts but those of us who have worked closely with him know how much time and effort he has dedicated to the field.  Don has been instrumental in creating the O.D. Institute and been responsible for: Promoting 36 Information Exchanges and 26 World OD Congresses. He has also been the publisher and supported the Organization Development Journal for 25 years; he supported the development of an OD Code of Ethics, the accreditation of Academic OD Programs, and encouraged the development of OD world-wide by sponsoring 35 international trips to stimulate OD projects around the world.  Don can’t do everything alone – he is only one person even though he has given nearly his entire professional life to the development of the field.

At the Academy of Management meeting in Hawaii last August representatives from the OD Institute, OD Net, ASTD, OD&C Division of the Academy, and NTL met to discuss where the field is going and what we can do to get the various OD groups to work together to develop the field and the profession.  Don Cole has been working to do this since the inception of the OD Institute, but to my knowledge this is the first time such a group has gotten together to discuss such an effort.  Though this was an informal exploratory meeting I think it represents a trend felt by many of us in the field to do something significant to develop the profession of OD.  In a recent telephone conversation with Peter Sorenson we discussed the fact that while people are talking about the death of OD the field has mushroomed and that degree and certification programs are sprouting up everywhere.  Though Peter and I both support degree programs becoming certified in order for the field to become more professional we both welcome the diversity of thinking these new programs represent.  OD isn’t dead, it is just being born.  It is actually exploding with creativity and becoming ever more international and multi-cultural in its orientation.

The OD Institute and the field need you to move the field professionally forward.  First and foremost we need your membership.  If you haven’t sent in you dues yet, please do so.  We are a small organization with a big mission and a  very small budget.  The Institute also needs your stewardship.  The Organization Development Journal needs peer reviewers as well as manuscripts and we are looking for a permanent editor.  I’ll keep doing the editing until we find someone dedicate to taking on this massive task.  Please e-mail me at odtrainer@aol.com if you are interested.  The Journal also needs a director of marketing to help us promote the journal to various sectors. Bob Golembiewski spent a couple years promoting the OD Journal to University libraries to which we are still very gratefully! We could use someone to do that again so that we can spread the Journals influence. Jeannette Swift needs your help as she plans for the 36th Information Exchange.  Of course we would like to see you attend and be a presenter at the Information Exchange.  If you would like to help you can contact Jeannette at jswish@hr-arm.com.

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