Designing Interventions

To evaluate the appropriateness of an intervention, OD consultants consider three questions: 1. Does it fit with the current capabilities of the system (and consultant skills)? 2. Will it adequately address the problem? Some problems cannot be solved with current resources or environmental conditions, but all problems can be dealt with more effectivelyfaster, with less effort or resources and better processes (less conflict or stress involved). 3. Does it increase the system capability for handling and managing future changes? Interventions can be designed to address individual levels of changeteam, group, functional, or inter-group workingsor for total organizational and systems change. The criteria that influence effectiveness or most likely to predict success are the readiness of the organization, its capability, the cultural or context fit between organization and intervention, and the skills and capability of the change agent or OD consultant. This last factor can be expanded to include the overall leadership of the change. Contextual and Cultural Fit Interventions must also fit the issue they intend to address. This is the contextual appropriateness of the change. Activities that address the strategic issues or technology and structure problems usually do not adequately address change in the human processes and people management arena. Activities focusing on human processes or human resource systems and management processes must be supported with attention to strategy and the technostructural workings of the firm. In this manner, interventions are categorized as being process focused, technology and structure focused, strategically focused, or people and management skills focused. The cultural fit is more difficult to categorize. Taking a highly autocratic culture with a closed system of communication and decision-making and applying interventions that are too participative will likely have tremendous problems. For a cooperative and collaborative organization with highly participative culture, using interventions and change processes that depend heavily on top-down planning and individual decision making, while relying on inspirational leadership, can create radical change. However, will it last? Not likely. The Challenge of Leadership The authors of The Leadership Challenge conducted studies related to people at all levels getting extraordinary things done (Kouzes & Posner, 1995, p. 18). In early studies, they found that vision, involvement, and persistence were three general areas that needed attention. They expanded these core areas into five practices and ten

commitments. The first practice is "Challenging the Process." Its commitments are (1) search out challenging opportunities to change, grow, innovate, and improve and (2) experiment, take risks, and learn from the accompanying mistakes. The second practice is "Inspiring a Shared Vision." Its corresponding commitments are to envision an uplifting and ennobling future and to enlist others in the common vision by appealing to their values, interests, hopes, and dreams. "Enabling Others to Act" is the third practice, with the commitments to foster collaboration by promoting cooperative goals and building trust and to strengthen people by giving power away, providing choice, developing competence, assigning critical tasks, and offering visible support. Leaders commit to the practice of "Modeling the Way" by setting the example by behaving in ways that are consistent with shared values and by achieving small wins that promote consistent progress and build commitment. The fifth and final practice of "Encouraging the Heart" includes the commitments to recognize individual contributions to the success of every project and to celebrate team accomplishments regularly. Commitments 1. Search out challenging opportunities to change, grow, innovate, Challenging the and improve. Process 2. Experiment, take risks, and learn from the accompanying mistakes. 3. Envision an uplifting and ennobling future. Inspiring a 4. Enlist others in the common vision by appealing to their values, Shared Vision interests, hopes and dreams. 5. Foster collaboration by promoting cooperative goals and building trust. Enabling others 6. Strengthen people by giving power away, providing choice, to Act developing competence, assigning critical tasks, and offering visible support. 7. Set the example by behaving in ways that are consistent with Modeling the shared values. Way 8. Achieve small wins that promote consistent progress and build commitment. 9. Recognize individual contributions to the success of every Encouraging the project. Heart 10. Celebrate team accomplishments regularly. Measurement and Feedback To keep the intervention focused and moving to right goals, there must be ongoing feedback, which can only happen if measures are created to provide feedback (and provide it at all levels). There should also be an overall evaluation of the total change process near or at the end of the consulting engagement. Given the iterative nature of change, any intervention plan needs to include measures that facilitate feedback and Practices

learning during the process and evaluate the overall process for future application or learning to increase capacity and skill. Reference: Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (1995). The leadership challenge (p.18). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.