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Practicing in the grey area between dialogic and diagnostic organization development. Lessons from Another healthcare case study.

by Gilpin-Jackson, Y. & Crump, M. (2018)

In 2013, the Practicing in the Grey Zone article was published outlining how Organization Development’s third generation methodologies, that are anchored in social constructivist thinking and respond to our current complex systems, ushered in the era of Dialogic OD. Since then, the literature and exploration of Dialogic OD has expanded, most notably with the book Dialogic Organization Development: The Theory and Practice of Transformational Change of which I was a contributing author. In that volume and in their other writings, Marshak and Bushe generally define Dialogic OD as a mindset and practice of Organization Development through which practitioners design and facilitate inquiry-based processes that rely on shared meaning-making to result in transformational change. The transformational change unfolds due to the occurrence of core processes of disruptive emergence, generativity, and change in core narrative(s) underlying the dialogic processes (Bushe & Marshak, 2015).

Practicing in the Grey Zone discussed the implications of working from a Dialogic OD mindset, along the continuum of diagnostic to dialogic methodologies used in the field. This sequel presents another case study in which working in the grey zone was successfully addressed to achieve positive outcomes. We (lead consultants, Melissa Crump and I), describe our navigating and balancing of practice in the grey zone via the Dialogic OD consulting stages of initiating the inquiry, facilitating the journey, and sustaining the transformation (Gilpin-Jackson, 2015).

We start by reprinting an excerpt from the overview of the 2013 article, outlining the evolution and maturity of OD methodologies, leading to the delineation of the grey zone continuum. We then include a summary of the takeaways from the 2013 article before introducing the current case.

Unleashing the Positive Deviants at the Frontline: More than Just Sparking Change. Presented at APIC 39th Annual Educational Conference & International Meeting. San Antonio, Texas.

by Crump, M. et al. (2012)

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