Vous êtes sur la page 1sur 16

Foundations of OD:

(i) Kurt Lewin’s Model


(ii) Action Research Approach
(iii) Appreciative Inquiry

Jayendra Rimal
MBA, BE
Kurt Lewin’s Model
• Kurt Lewin introduced two ideas of change.
• What is occurring at any point is the resultant of two
opposing forces ensuing in a status quo. This creates an
equilibrium point in a field of opposing forces.
• One force, called the “pushing force”, strives for change
while the other force, called the “restraining force”,
tries to maintain the status quo (opposes change).
When both forces are equal a status called “quasi-
state equilibrium” is maintained. To change, the
pushing forces need to increase while the restraining
forces decrease or use a combination of both.
• Lewin suggested that modifying the restraining forces
may produce less tension and resistance (more
effective change strategy) than increasing forces for
Kurt Lewin’s Model, contd…
• Lewin also viewed change process as consisting of three
stages.
– Unfreezing: Creating motivation and readiness to change
the behavior through (a) psychological disconfirmation (b)
creation of guilt or anxiety and (c) Provision of
psychological safety.
– Moving: Changing through cognitive restructuring. This is
done by helping people to see things, judge things, feel
things and react to things differently based on new point
of view obtained through (a) identifying with a new role
model/mentor and (b) scanning the environment for new
relevant information. This helps in shifting behavior to
new levels by developing new behaviors, values or
attitudes.
– Refreezing: Helping people to integrate the new point of
Action Research
• Action research attempts to meet the dual goals of
making action more effective and building a body of
scientific knowledge around that action.

• It is also a sequence of events and activities within each


iteration (data collection, feedback and taking action
based on the data) and it is a cycle of iterations of
these activities, sometimes treating the same problem
several times then moving to a different problem.

• Action research is the application of the scientific


method of fact-finding and experimentation to
practical problems requiring action solutions and
involving the collaboration and co-operation of
scientists, practitioners and laypersons.
Action Research & OD
It is a cyclic and iterative process and a problem solving

approach that attempts to make action more effective and


building a body of scientific knowledge around that action.
Research about organization provides information to guide
subsequent action. These are then assessed to provide
further information to guide further action and so on
through collaborative action between client and consultant
• Perception of problem
• Consultation with OD practitioner
• Data gathering and preliminary diagnosis
• Feedback to client system
• Joint diagnosis of the problem
• Joint action planning (e.g. team building)
As a Process and Approach

• Action research is characterized by (1) problem driven (2)


client-centered (3) challenging the status quo and
simultaneously concerned with (4) producing empirically
disconfirmable propositions that (5) could be
systematically interrelated into a theory designed to be
(6) usable in everyday life.

• Action research tends to be:
– Cyclic and iterative: similar steps tend to occur in
similar sequence
– Participative: the client is involved as active
participant in the research process
– Reflective: critical reflection upon the process and
outcomes are the important parts of the cycle
Varieties of Action Research
• Diagnostic action research – OD practitioner enters the
problem situation –diagnoses it – makes recommendation
for remedial treatment – usually intuitively derived based
on the knowledge and experience of the practitioner.
• Participative action research – The people who are to take
action are involved in the entire research and action
process from the beginning. Higher chances that actions
decided upon are carried out.
• Empirical action research – Systematic and extensive
records of events and their effects are maintained.
Limitations are that situations may be too divergent for
comparison, may not permit generalization , employees
may lack objectivity in evaluating own performance.
• Experimental action research – Controlled research on the
Appreciative Inquiry
• Appreciative Inquiry (AI) was developed by David Cooperrider in
the 1980s. When he was doing his PhD, he interviewed leading
clinicians at the Cleveland Clinic about their greatest successes
and failures. He found himself drawn to the stories of success
and focused exclusively on them.
• AI views the entire organizational system as a “miracle to be
embraced” and not as a problem to be solved. AI is based on
the assertion that "problems" are often the result of our own
perspectives and perceptions of phenomena, e.g. if we look at a
certain priority as a "problem," then we tend to constrain our
ability to effectively address the priority.
• For example, one AI-based approach to strategic planning
includes identification of our best times during the best
situations in the past in an organization, wishing and thinking
about what worked best then, visioning what we want in the
future, and building from what worked best in order to work
Appreciative Inquiry, Contd…
Cooperrider says inquiry into organizational life should have four

characteristics. It should be:


• Appreciative—AI looks for the ‘positive core’ of the organization and
seeks to use it as a foundation for future growth.
• Applicable—AI is grounded in stories of what has actually taken place
in the past and is therefore essentially practical. It is not a ‘pie in
the sky’ approach but instead seeks the best of ‘what is’ in order to
build the best of ‘what might be’.
• Provocative—AI invites people to take some risks in the way they
imagine the future and redesign their organization to bring it about.
With the security and energy gained from the exploration of the
best in the organization, people feel able to respond with ‘provocative
propositions’ about the future.
• Collaborative—AI is a form of collaborative inquiry. It always involves
the whole organization or a representative cross-section of the whole
organization. In this way all voices can be heard and everyone’s
contribution valued.
The 4 – D Model of Appreciative Inquiry
The 4 – D Model, contd…
Discover:

• People talk to one another, usually via structured


interviews, to discover the times when the
organization is at its best. These stories are told as
richly as possible and from them people start to
discover the ‘positive core’ of the organization, what
gives life to it when it is at its best. People start to
appreciate themselves and their colleagues and some
quite significant transformations start to occur.

The 4 – D Model, contd…
Dream:

• The dream phase is often run as a large group conference


where a cross-section of the organization is encouraged
to imagine and co-create the future. They are
encouraged to envision the organization as if the peak
moments discovered in the ‘discover’ phase were the
norm rather than the exception. “What would things be
like if…?” Working in small groups, they try to put as
much ‘flesh’ as possible on their visions as possible.
These are then ‘creatively presented’ to the rest of the
group and worked on further.

The 4 – D Model, contd…

Design:
• In the early days of Appreciative Inquiry the design phase was
delegated to a small team which was empowered to go away and
design ways of creating the organization dreamed in the dream
conference(s). Although this still happens, it was found that
transformational change is more likely to occur if the design
phase is undertaken by as wide a group as possible. In this
collaborative design approach the group first derive a design
possibilities map, which contains, in three concentric circles, the
dream for the organization, the key relationships which have an
impact on the dream, and key organizational design elements
which will be needed to deliver the dream.

• In small groups participants then ‘sign up’ to explore particular


design elements which they have energy for and these groups
craft ‘provocative propositions’ which challenge the organization
to adopt a new and healthier future. These are shared with the
The 4 – D Model, contd…
Deliver/Destiny:

• The final phase is to deliver the dream and the new


design. Because the term ‘deliver’ has a rather
mechanical feel to it, the term ‘Destiny’ which continues
the future-facing theme, is also used. The final phase is
one of experimentation and improvisation, sometimes
described as ‘organizational jazz’. Small implementation
teams will be formed to follow up on the design
elements and to continue the appreciative process. The
deliver phase may itself contain more small-scale
Appreciative Inquiries into specific aspects of
organizational life.

The 4 – I Model

The 4-D cycle is not the only way of thinking about the process of
Appreciative Inquiry. Some writers have offered another way of
looking at the process, the 4-I model, which involves:
• Initiate: In this phase the principles of AI are introduced;
project teams are formed; the overall project focus is decided;
preliminary project details are decided.
• Inquire: Generic interviews are used; customized interview
protocols developed; interviewers trained; appreciative
interviews conducted as widely as possible throughout the
organization.
• Imagine: The key themes from the interviews are collated and
shared ; provocative propositions which give a grounded vision
of the desired future are developed; propositions with as many
people in the organization as possible are validated.
• Innovate: the maximum number of people are involved in
Other Theories of Planned Change
• Systems Theory – Views organizations as open systems in
active exchange with their environments.

• Participation and empowerment – Involve all those who


are part of the problem or part of the solution.

• Teams and teamwork – Work teams are the building


blocks of organizations.

• Parallel learning structure – Vehicle for learning how to


change the system and then leading the change
process in large bureaucratic organizations.

• Applied behavioral science – How behavioral science


knowledge becomes applied behavioral science

Vous aimerez peut-être aussi