As a field, OD emerged in the USA during the 1940’s and 50’s. In the aftermath of two world wars, a growing number of social and academic leaders were concerned and committed to rebuild the social fabric of American society, with simultaneous and parallel processes to restore not just economic prosperity, but also respect for human dignity, social justice, freedom vs restraint, especially the right to choose, be autonomous, and the importance of respect for differences.
These values were propelled forward by a number of social movements around that period of time, including the human relations movement, human potential movement, equality and diversity movement, social participation, civil liberty, and others. They all are rooted in a very high view of human dignity and worth—with the immutable conviction that every person has intrinsic value that must be respected and honoured.
The values played a key role in shaping not just the thinking, but the practice of OD, with many of the proponents of such values forming what became the founding community of OD theorists and practitioners.
There are many views about what OD values are, but for now, the core ethics and values can be summed up as minimally including:
- Democracy and participation
- Enduring respect for the human side of enterprise
- Equity and fairness for all – the worth of every individual
- The right of every individual to attain their full potential
- Informed choices based on valid information
- Life-long learning.
Besides these core values, there are further ‘practice values’ which often are the product of how individual OD practitioners translate the core values to support and guide their individual practice. This is a natural development, as from its earliest expressions OD has been ‘theory and value in action’. Thus, there exist many more practice values serving as essential guidelines for OD interventions. These practice values are hard to summarize as they can be highly individualised.
However, when these practice values are seen in action, the results often include:
- Organisations are supported to create conditions that honour the inherent need for human growth while being effective at serving their constituents. OD helps organisations to build flourishing cultures that support and enable the internal members to give their best selves to those whom they serve.
- Individuals are supported to exercise their sense of agency and choice (within boundaries) to thrive in their workplaces—unleashing their human potential, with equal rights to develop their own sense of personhood and self-expression as they become more self-aware.
- Working always to build organizations, communities and society committed to diversity, inclusion, equality and the equitable treatment of every person.
Applying OD ethics and values therefore has significant implications across the whole range of OD practice, informing and guiding every aspect of the work. Seen in this light, the ethics and values of OD are not a distinct competence, but rather an all-pervasive touchstone that steers the practice of every competence and specialism.
As you use this app to construct your own OD competence profile and complete your self-assessment, you are encouraged at each point to answer these questions:
- What are the values informing your OD practice?
- In what ways has your OD practice thus far been informed by the OD core values?
- What values and ethics do your clients and colleagues observe and experience from your practice? What can they learn from you as they watch you work?
As each practitioner embraces the core values as an integral part of their practice of OD, they will embody the following snapshot of an ethical, values-based OD consultant:
“The value-informed practitioners will be operating with clear consciousness and intentions around the values and ethical standards that guide what and how they do their OD work. These practitioners are determined to safeguard the integrity of their values within their OD practice across the range of contextual situations. They are able clearly to articulate the values and ethical standards to which they hold, as well as how those values and ethics impact every phase of their OD work—from contact to contract, diagnosis, intervention, evaluation, all the way to exit.”