Revisioning organization development: Diagnostic and dialogic premises and patterns of practice

Abstract

This article identifies a bifurcation in the practice of organization development (OD) that is not fully acknowledged or discussed in OD textbooks or journal articles. Forms of OD practice exist that do not adhere to key assumptions and prescriptions of the founders of OD. Some of these dialogical forms of organization development practice are described and contrasts and similarities with the original, diagnostic, form of OD are analyzed. Practices that define dialogical forms of OD are identified with a call for increased acknowledgment of this bifurcation in OD research, practice, and teaching. © 2009 NTL Institute.