ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT:
SCIENCE,
TECHNOLOGY, OR PHILOSOPHY?
Edgar H.
Schein
Sloan School of Management, MIT
August, 1989
_I___
WP# 3065-89-BPS
-Schein.1SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, OR PHILOSOPHY?*
ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT:
Edgar H.
Schein
Sloan School of Management, MIT
of
Academy
the
to
Address
Invited
Organization
Management,
Development Division, New Orleans, August 15,
1989.
It a great privilege to be asked to comment on the state
of
which
I
admit
at
The
have
I will
remarks
torical
so
research,
inaccurate,
it
are
some
if
my
personal
I must
understand
it.
observations
and
really
not
field nor done careful
my
of
but
30 years,
past
do
the
surveyed
area of activities with
an
the
still
today
make
I have not
intuitions.
I
that
outset
the
for
associated
been
is
This
organization development.
observations
strike
his-
you
as
a product of my biases and a desire to be some-
is
what provocative.
This
some
comments
These
talk
will
be
about where
comments
will
have
into
divided
we have been
a
several
and
only
what we
have become.
flavor to them because
critical
believe we have lost touch with some of our
the
First,
parts.
important roots.
I
At
same time, our present status in the organizational world can
be marvelled
at,
when
one
sees
how much
activity
occurs
today under the broad umbrella of OD.
Second,
between
science,
astray.
I
I would like
would
been dysfunctional
__1_1__111________
technology,
like
to
in that
to comment on where our
and philosophy may have
outline
they
confusion
some
of
the
forces
led us
that
have pushed OD into some
have
activi-
III
-Schein.2in my opinion, will ultimately do us a disservice.
ties that,
Finally, I would like to state where we should be going,
It was
dictability.
of
rate
the
lack of pretold
Now they
accelerating.
itself
is
change
futurists
the
enough when
bad
and
of global turbulence
given the growing evidence
us
that
have added
The
the depressing note that one cannot even safely extrapolate.
only certainty about the future,
it seems,
is that
all
accurate,
think
If
predictable.
that
and
is
at
of
process
for the
function
demands
organizations
their
and
it will not be
what
that means
and
think
what new
leaders will
place
on
planning,
us
as
helpers.
three segments of the talk I will weave
Throughout these
in
the
theme
technology,
a
from the
What
title.
or
philosophy,
some
is OD
complex
really--
a
science,
combination
of
a
these?
And what should it be?
1.
A QUIET REVOLUTION
OD:
I see
the tap root of OD to be
He was able to combine
Lewin.
the seminal work of Kurt
in a most creative way the metho-
dology of experimentation with strong theory and, most
ly,
this
a
concern
for
our
perspective,
Lewin was
around
action
roots
a brilliant scientist.
field of group dynamics was
ger, Back, Deutsch,
Bavelas,
in Alfred Marrow's
Lippitt,
Radke,
White,
clearly
and
social
in
Under his
built with
& French
leaders.
were
important
important-
issues.
and
science,
From
Kurt
influence the entire
the experiments of Festin-
Cartwright, Schachter, Thibaut, Coch
pajama
factory,
Zander
to
name
Leavitt,
some
of
Kelley,
the
early
-Schein.3-
problems
World War
pressures of
The
in the U.S.,
II,
some of
the racial
and the need to explain how Nazism devel-
oped and operated lent a strong applied focus to these same en-
had to
to explain things;
to try
not enough
It was
deavors.
try to change them.
one also
It became clear to Lewin and others
that the changing of human systems often involved variables that
could not be controlled by the traditional methods borrowed from
the physical sciences.
insights led to the concept of
These
"action research" and the powerful notion that human systems
could only be understood and changed
the
system
the
in
inquiry
process
if one
itself.
involved members of
Lewin's
dictum that
one can only understand a system by trying to change it, seems to
me more true today than ever.
ving the client
is
not
just
Notice that the purpose of involto get them
to accept change, but,
more fundamentally, to enable us to understand more fully what is
really going on.
That last point is often forgotten.
I use the concept of "inquiry process" rather than
"re-
search" because the philosophy underlying action research really
undermines
some of
the most
basic
assumptions of
science as
was defined within social psychology in the 40's, 50's,
it
and 60's.
We have given up, I hope, the notion that we are clever enough or
willing to gain sufficient experimental or statistical control of
human phenomena to test formal hypotheses in a hypthetico-deductive process.
litative
Instead, we find that the more descriptive and qua-
scientific
anthropology,
and
methods
clinical
producing more powerful
_
__
_·__m____l______lll__
deriving
work
in
from
therapy
parts
and
of
sociology,
consulting
insights than the traditional
are
laboratory
-Schein.4-
studies.
Especially relevant in the early post-Lewin days was the
confluence of ideas that had come out of:
cal
studies
of
organizations
Bridger, and Menzies;
by Moreno;
in
OD,
the
2) the
by
1) the Tavistock clini-
Jaques,
Rice,
Trist,
field of psychodrama
Bion,
as developed
and 3) the field of intergroup relations as developed
seminal
field
in my view,
was
studies of Muzapher Sherif.
the
combination
of
a new
What created
inquiry
approach
based on a willingness to gather data in the field by non-traditional methods, with the vivid concerns of a set of practitioners
who wanted to improve organizations, communities, the process of
education, and leadership.
Benne,
Bennis,
Gordon Lippitt,
In
the
Shepard,
In this context the names of Bradford,
Gibb,
McGregor,
Marrow,
Watson,
Blake,
and others become historically significant.
creation
of
the
National
Training
Laboratories
was embedded a new philosophy of how to conduct inquiry and a new
set of assumptions about how to be most helpful to the learning
process.
The concept of
experiential learning was
applied at the individual and group level,
initially
but it was soon esca-
lated by Blake and others to the notion that one should work with
larger
systems
and
The
new theme was:
own
learning."
it
will
works.
organizations
in
essentially
"Involve the client or
learner
same
way.
in his or her
Not only will this produce better learning, but
produce more valid data about how the
It
the
system really
is this philosophy of how to be helpful
to client
systems by jointly figuring out what is really going on that was,
for me, the essence of OD, and that I tried to describe original-
-Schein. 5ly
in my
1969
book
"Process
Consultation"
(Schein,
1969,
1987,
1988).
Particular techniques such as role playing, the T-group,
inter-group
exercises,
mirroring,
post
meeting
reaction
forms,
and so on were invented to give concrete expression to this philosophy, and one of the most fun parts of working in human relations workshops was the continuous stream of innovative
ideas that
came out of the training staffs to enhance learning and
to help
in the process of surfacing individual and group data.
Nowadays
around
the
concept
of
rather glibly as applying
subject
is
asked or
process, most
allowed
typically
survey feedback data.
to
"action
research"
gets
to anything where
get
involved
a client or
in
in interpreting his own
tossed
the
inquiry
interview or
It has become more of a technology of
change than a powerful conceptual tool for thinking about how to
uncover truth in such a form that one can do something about it.
What action research has meant to me, looking at it historically,
is that one
first of all picks
important problems to
work on, that one accepts the assumption that unless one attempts
to change a system one cannot really understand it,
and that one
develops an intervention mode that does justice both to the needs
of
the
client
system and
to
the
needs
of a rigorous
social
science that advances valid and useful knowledge.
Not any old survey done with any old client system qualifies as action research just because the client is
analyzing
the data and drawing
conclusions
from it.
involved in
When
this
model was first articulated in the early evolution of the Nation-
*-
_I____1___YI_____I__^_I---
-Schein. 6al Training Labs
the
commitment
method
of
in Bethel, Maine by Bradford, Benne, and Lippitt
to both
intervening
commitment
and
the
a better method
was
the
A
QUIET
philosophy
REVOLUTION
learning
main driving
that
organization development a powerful
II.
of
GONE
lay
and a better
force.
behind
It was
this
that
made
it
new approach.
ASTRAY:
THE
SUBVERSION
OF
THE
ORIGINAL VISION
Several
forces
weakened
parts of this
drive to
create
have
philosophy.
a technology
training group and all
corrupted,
subverted
The first
that
could
be
such
or
at
least
force was
applied widely.
could be learned by practitioners and
sorts of organizational
often
the
thoughtless
form of
water.
The
its accoutrements of role plays, question-
naires, games, and exercises came to be seen as a technology
all
the
that could be
settings.
experimentation
an organization
led
that
tried out
in
As we know, this glib and
to
throwing out
disasters,
usually
the baby with
in
the bath
In the drive to standardize and proliferate OD tools, we
lost touch with the
important assumptions
that lay behind action
research.
A
create
closely
salable
related
products.
corrupting
OD
worked,
generations of new OD practitioners
a living.
a
living
packages,
tial
But
on a
concepts
like
and
was
that
the
drive
spawned
to
several
for whom it was a career and
in the U.S. market environment one could not make
philosophy,
techniques
clients.
force
As
we
survey
that
one had to
could
be evaluated
successfully
feedback,
have products,
marketed
team
training
a priori by
not
building,
only
role
poten-
tools
but
mapping,
-Schein. 7intergroup exercises, and
so on, we
lost touch with why we were
doing some of these things in the first place, what the assumptions were underlying them, and what skills were necessary to use
They became
them properly and responsibly.
packaged
techniques
that could be used by virtually anyone if he or she followed the
instructions on the package.
I felt this personally around my concept of process consultation.
The whole
philosophy of helping
thrust
of
that
book was
to
articulate
a
it from an alternative
and to distinguish
philosophy that led to expert advice giving and doctoring.
Yet I
still find that the most common usage of process consultation is
as
a technique
for working with groups
that
is compared
search programs to a variety of other techniques.
What
in reis lost
is the sense that when and how a particular intervention is used
is
the essence
of OD,
and
that any given
technique like
survey
feedback could be used in many ways, some of which we would definitely not regard as OD.
For example, how many of you would use the label OD if a
President of a company ordered an employee survey to get feedback
on the morale of his several divisions, and then fired the manager of the division with the poorest survey results?
using survey feedback methods.
Yet he was
How many of you would say it was
OD if the President brought in a consultant to do team building,
and then used his observations of team member behavior to decide
whom to promote and whom to fire?
1
Yet he was using team building
How many of you would consider it OD if in
as
an intervention.
an
intergroup mirrorring exercise one group gained political ad-
_1_111-
-
III
-Schein.8vantage and
took over the other group?
by the way,
and did not feel I was being a successful or respons-
ible OD
is
not
techniques we
this happen,
Clearly, what we think of as OD
consultant when it did.
which
I have seen
them and to what
but how we use
use,
ends.
A
corrupting
third
scientific
in
terms
the
of
That meant we
model.
force
had
was
traditional
to measure
variables.
touch with
And once we
concepts that
the
to
become
more
psychological
research
that,
in turn,
things,
and
ideas and concepts to measur-
meant that we had to reduce complex
able
drive
the
had measurement devices we
lost
behind them and the assumptions
lay
that dictated when and how they would be used.
In
we
studying OD
did
body
and
We
interventions.
of
case
material
which would
actually did
did
not
from moment
re-
that built credibility
for
concentrate
from which
illustrate
enough on clinical
draw
studies
search models or ethnographic
OD
not
key
building
enough on
concepts
could
be
a
derived
in greater detail what OD consultants
We
to moment.
tried
to measure
things
before we really knew what to measure.
Finally,
American
culture
ioner with
to
the
a
fourth
to look
ready
manager
impassive
a
observer
for
package
client
who
corrupting
active
of
than
a
only
very
immediately
helpful.
But,
"Why dont you do
was
solutions.
the
tendency
The
OD practit-
activities would appeal
thoughtful,
intervened
even though the client would admit
ion was
force
actively
now
that the occasional
ironically,
that
inquiring,
a
the
lot more
much
more
relatively
and
then,
intervent-
client might
often?"
in
add
We equate
-Schein.9activity with effectiveness.
What
all
of
this meant was that OD became product and
technology driven, and
philosophy,
a
lost
paradigm
for
its own ability to see
thinking
about
the
itself
as a
complexities
of
socio-technical systems.
There is an irony in all this because,
in
"socio"
a
sense, we
lost
the
in
our own OD socio-technical
system, and over-emphasized the "technical" with the usual consequences
that a lot of things we tried did not, in the end, work
very well.
This is not to say that OD practitioners were failing in
the market place.
On
the contrary, my
guess
is
that
they were
succeeding all too well delivering all kinds of useful services.
But these services were more akin to training and development
in
the traditional mode, and had less and less to do with the original OD philosophy and action research.
good group
facilitators,
individual
counselors,
OD practitioners became
meeting designers,
interviewers,
and
seminar deliverers,
survey
administrators.
But to the extent that they paid attention to the socio in sociotechnical, they limited it to interpersonal and group issues, and
they did not develop the philosophy and concepts of how to help
organizations at the organizational level.
In a sense the technological thrust in OD made us forget
both the "organizational"
in OD, and the
"developmental" in that
we still lack clear models of what the organization of the future
needs
events
in order to be viable.
occurring
in the
organizations will
_I_
I_
___ _XII___
But we do know something about the
global
environment
have to function,
and,
in which
tomorrow's
in redefining
our
-Schein.10vision, we need to start with some of those realities.
III.
OD:
IS THERE A FUTURE AND WHERE IS IT?
In
lized
for
recent conversation with Dick Beckhard he
a
me
a
number
of
most potent
the
thoughts,
crystal-
of
which
is
What the manager of tomorrow
that OD as a label may be obsolete.
in a
needs is concepts and tools for managing
turbulent, global,
in which
the
technologically complex, multi-cultural
environment
basic unit of management may not ar'
7er be a discrete organi-
of
proliferation
zation.
The
ventures,
strategic
alliances,
basic
need
a
new
that will
concept
"virtual"
organizations
suggests that
networks,
that exist only in electronic
OD we
now
and
help
the
joint
mergers,
acquisitions,
instead of
manager
four
with
issues:
1) The management of complexity
2) The management of diversity
3) The management of
interdependence and integration
4) The management of perpetual
of
Each
undergo
concepts
of
not
is
membership.
group
will
that
concept
issues
and
boundaries,
organizational
ent"
these
will,
the
amounts
contracting,
cut
physically
Thus even
unknown
will
change
therefore,
bound
role
of
various
across
by
time
scales,
and
and
of
"cli-
organizational
transformation
projects,
a
require
client and
of
kinds
or
consultant
our
roles
tidy
may
evolve in directions that we cannot as yet even envision.
In
respect
to
order
these
organizational
to
understand
issues we
world
must
is moving
how
to
position
understand
in
this
ourselves
with
historically why
the
There
are
direction.
-Schein.llbasically
two major forces at work:
rapid technological evolution,
1) globalization,
especially
and 2)
in information techno-
logy.
Globalization has increased enormously the diversity of
human resources that have to be managed and the complexity of the
management process itself because different cultures are
volved.
gration
It has created new problems of
because
are involved.
change
that
because
larger
more
in-
interdependence and inte-
geographically dispersed
operations
And it has focused on the management of perpetual
any economic, political
occurs anywhere on the globe
or socio-cultural change
immediately affects
the whole
global system.
Technological advances have made each business function
more specialized,
thus heightening the
problems of
integration,
and have put a greater premium on the ability of organizations to
develop new products and services quickly.
In the specific case
of information technology, the low cost and increasing effectiveness of global communication systems has made it possible to consider broader scale enterprises,
joint ventures,
and virtual
organizations, thus changing both the strategic options available
to managers and the mechanisms of
integration and control suit-
able to those options.
The mass media have given instant visibility to anything
that happens anywhere on the globe,
any
organizational
order
everywhere.
and space
l-LI_-----·_--_l_-
innovation anywhere to be used
Information
to a dramatic degree,
---------
thus making it possible for
in very short
technology has shrunk
both
thus making it possible
time
to make
III
-Schein.12complex decisions and communicate them much more rapidly.
Trans-
portation technology has made it possible to build things almost
and
anywhere
where.
to deliver
things
to
customers more
quickly
any-
Biotechnology and other scientific advances are creating
products and services that are creating new industries at an unprecedented rate.
As a result of all these changes, the nature of manageis changing so
ment itself
for old style
suitable
world.
rapidly that we cannot use OD models
in
organizations
this new managerial
Perhaps the most troubling aspect of all this is that we
do not even know which of our underlying assumptions and values
will continue to have validity in the future.
If we are managing
across cultural boundaries, for example, we cannot naively assume
that
open communication
thing.
between boss
and
subordinate
is
a good
cultures where protecting the boss's face
There will be
by lying to him is more important than getting the job done effiWe cannot assume that participation and empowerment of
ciently.
workers is a good thing if we are dealing with a culture based on
traditions
cannot
of authority
assume
that OD
and
paternalism.
technologies
survey feedback worked out
all,
we
team building
or
And, most of
such as
in one culture will be applicable in
another culture.
IV.
WHAT KINDS OF INTERVENTIONS MIGHT BE SUITABLE IN THE BRAVE
NEW WORLD?
In
between some
thinking
about
the
future,
philosophical assumptions
some practical realities based
one
should
distinguish
that might guide
us,
and
on guesses as to where the world
-Schein. 13is moving.
to
the
At the philosophical level, I find myself going back
most
basic
assumption underlying
OD which
is what Warren
Bennis and others so aptly tagged "the spirit of inquiry."
Implied
in
practitioners, we
ience
this
and
the
assumption
the
as
OD
is going on and what we
inquire intelligently and without too many
prejudices
to
find
out
what
is going
our clients to understand what
processes we
observe
in
such a
precon-
on.
a clinical orientation
And
so
way
as
in
that we
is going on as well.
we begin to understand what is going on, our role
in
that,
until we are connected with the client system
process we must maintain
can help
is
And then our job is to use our knowledge and exper-
base to
ceptions
phrase
really don't know what
should do about it,
in some way.
this
As
is to intervene
to
facilitate
the
effectiveness of those processes and to help the client system to
develop its own skills in becoming more effective.
What
of
devices
toward
this means to me is that we do not bring a kit bag
and
technologies
inquiry and
a set of
to
our
skills in process
means that we identify the natural
with
them,
that,
must
as
learn
more,
but
an
attitude
interventions.
It
flow of those processes and go
that we maintain our flexibility
we
have
clients,
and objectivity,
we
can
intervene more effectively.
the observational
and
inquiry skills
of the
so
We
effective
ethnographer, and the intervention skills of the effective clinician.
Having
what
can we
facing
in
say
the
said
all
about
future.
this
the
I
about
likely
have
our
philosophical
practical
already
situations we
said
we
cannot
stance,
may be
really
-Schein.14predict, but some things seem clear enough to permit speculation.
Most
of our typologies of
intervention are predicated on tradiWe advo-
tional hierarchies and teams within those hierarchies.
cate
other kinds
of systems,
participation, power equalization,
or human empowerment, but our own technology is not really geared
to dealing with the problems of such systems were they to really
come about.
If,
as
is predicted by many, we are moving toward more
fluid, non-hierarchical networks that may not even have a physical
in
base,
the sense
of a particular group of people doing
something together, how do we intervene constructively in such a
to put
Or,
system?
the matter another way,
how do we
help an
electronic market, a virtual organization, or a non-hierarchical
network to be more effective?
Several possibilities suggest
themselves:
1) We should help in the initial design and implementatof information technology, systems, and processes.
Probably one of the most important kinds of help that we
can
provide
is to work
with
organization
designers,
especially
those who are creating the structures and processes that will be
In working with IT professionals I con-
utilized in the future.
sistently observe that they do not have a good sense of the human
consequences of various technological options, and need both
education
help
of
and
on-line
help.
IT professionals
Top managers
in order to
especially
need
the
understand the dangers of
using the power of a network for control purposes and micro- management.
-Schein.152) We should help at the supplier/vendor/customer interface.
As we see the boundaries between vendors, suppliers, and
customers becoming more
are
permitting
these
fluid,
as
and,
information
increasingly
organizations
technologies
to
work
inside
it seems likely that complex intergroup
each other's boundaries,
problems will arise, and OD professionals will be needed to help
understand and ameliorate those problems.
We will need skills in
working across cultural boundaries at the national, inter-organizational, and functional level.
3) We
summating
should help
mergers,
in the process of designing and con-
acquisitions,
joint
ventures
and
strategic
alliances.
At
least for the forseeable
future there is an obvious
trend toward what can be called "new business arrangements" which
cover mergers, acquisitions, and all the other forms of blending
the efforts of several organizations.
We must position ourselves
to get into these processes early so that even the initial decisions are more carefully sorted out in terms of cross-cultural and
human issues.
4)
We
should
help with
new kinds
of workforces
and
employment contracts.
Most
diversity
values,
of
organizations
their
career
work
anchors,
are
facing
force--ethnic
life
styles,
a
sharp
increase
diversity,
and
general
in the
diversity
in
expectations
about the normal and proper role of organizations
in our lives.
Different
in
countries
are
at
very
different
places
regard
to
-Schein.16these
value
except
that
sets,
increasing
generalizations
cannot make global
so one
diversity
to
seems
be
happening
every-
where.
Managers are having to cope with this diversity and they
our traditional theories of treating
need help badly because
fairly also
everyone
help managers
sharpen
the
to
flexibility
Self
people?
their
insight
and
work
alike.
skills
perceptual
variations, and
appropriate
identify
develop
to
imply treating everyone
so
that
how do we help
differently
insight into others
they
them to
different
with
are once again
a new version of
critical variables, so we may see
How do we
sensitivity
training with a cross-cultural emphasis coming back into vogue.
5)
We
should
help
at
inter-organizational
interfaces
both in the public and private sector.
Perhaps
help
in
the
of
greatest
management
of
importance will
As
conflict.
the
be
our
world
ability
is
to
becoming
more of a global village we are also seeing the world wide consequences of
attempt
to
and economic conflicts.
religious, political,
intervene
constructively
in
such
To
conflict situations
has always been a goal of OD so I am merely re-iterating here the
fundamental importance of this goal.
In most of the situations mentioned above,
fessional
or process consultant must work on
issues surface.
We cannot
think
the OD pro-
line with whatever
in terms of packaged
interven-
tions, surveys, team building, organizational mirroring and other
techniques that may have worked well in stable situations because
we
cannot really anticipate what kinds of troubles managers and
-Schein.17groups will run into.
around when work
The OD consultant will simply have to be
is getting done,
and
intervene as needed
expert, doctor, or process consultant role.
in an
We also have to get
better at passing on our process skills so that the managers who
are dealing with the problems can be more effective in their own
right.
V. CONCLUDING COMMENT.
I would like to conclude by answering the question posed
in the
title of this talk.
a science?
Is OD a philosophy, a technology, or
What I hope I have been able to convince you of
is
that primarily it is a philosophy, a perspective, a point of view
toward human systems and human problems.
clients and
However, in forcing our
the practitioners we influence
to focus more on the
processes by which human affairs are handled, we are also being
eminently scientific.
of
the
Not scientific
old experimental physics,
but
on the now outmoded model
scientific in the emphasis
on careful observation and careful study of the effects of one's
own actions on the human systems we deal with.
trying
to
get managers
and practitioners
In a sense we are
to be more
scientific
about their own actions, to work less from prejudice and preconception, and more from observed data.
We
scientific
violate both our philosophical presumptions
goals
when
applied routinely.
our
own
success
implementation
Let
we
prey
to
our
own
technologies
My biggest fear is that we become victims of
in selling
of
fall
those
those
technologies, and
technologies
we
that
compromise
us be good ethnographers and clinicians before we
___1·1_1
and our
in the
ourselves.
fall
prey
III
-Schein.18to
becoming
commercialized
of
implementers
obsolete OD
possibly
products and technologies.
REFERENCES
Schein,
E.
H.
development.
Schein, E. H.
Process
consultation:
Its
role
in
organization
Reading, Ma.: Addison-Wesley, 1969.
Process consultation, Vol. 2: Lessons for managers
and consultants. Reading, Ma.: Addison-Wesley, 1987.
.chein,
E.
H.
Process
zation development
W;esley, 1988.
consultation, Vol.
(Second Edition).
1:
Its
Reading,
role
Ma.:
in organiAddison-