“Our joint experience has shown us that creating events and conferences is not an end.

It is the means
to the end of deeply collaborative organizations, where high-engagement practices are the norm and
where the transformations of our organizations that seem ever evasive might be achievable.”

Collaborative Change Engagement in

a Pandemic Era & Toward Disruptive
Organization Development Practice

By Yabome Gilpin-Jackson Abstract

and Richard H. Axelrod This article chronicles the journey to initiate collaborative change in a Cana-
dian public sector organization in the midst of a global pandemic. The organiza-
tion embarked on a reorganization, a new corporate strategy, orientation of a new
executive team and a shift to a purpose-driven organization, all while 80% of its
workforce worked from home or in the field. The authors supported the organiza-
tion to utilize whole system organization development methodologies to engage
in a relaunch and reenergizing of a vision for transformation, over only a six-
month period, virtually. The results have been called a case study in the power of
high-engagement collaborative change.
Keywords: Collaborative Change, High-engagement change, Whole Systems
Change, Large-Scale Organization Development, Conference Model, Change
Engagement, Change Management, Transformation

I can honestly say that in all of my challenge if you are, we’ll ­figure it out,
years, I have never witnessed an OK?” And so, with our faith in the pro-
approach/­methodology as power- cess of figuring it out being our assur-
ful and impactful as the Conference ance, we embarked on a journey to
­Model®. In such an effective way,
facilitating collaborative change in pan-
it enabled BCLC to demonstrate a
demic ­conditions.
commitment to both its employees
and to a holistic strategy to bring all This article chronicles the journey to
divisions together in a transparent initiating whole system transformation
and genuine way. Further, it allowed in a Canadian public sector organization,
everyone to feel like equal and valued the British Columbia Lottery Corporation
participants… working together to (BCLC), in the midst of the COVID‑19
mold the future of BCLC: global pandemic. BCLC’s mandate is to
—Director Corporate
conduct and manage gambling entertain-
Services & Facilities
ment in a socially responsible manner to
generate revenue for the Province of Brit-
This is how the journey began. ish Columbia which supports healthcare,
“What do you think?” Yabome asked, education and community programs.
sounding more confident than the anxiety Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the
rolling around her gut was signalling. organization delivered $1.3 Billion in net
Richard looked into the computer cam- income to the province of British Colum-
era, his smile giving way to a low chuckle. bia. On March 16, 2020, the corporation
“I think doing what you want to do temporarily closed all Casinos and Bingo
sounds impossible. But I’m up for the halls and like much of the world, sent

Collaborative Change Engagement in a Pandemic Era & Toward Disruptive Organization Development Practice 9
80% of its workforce to work from home
(BCLC, 2020).
However, the organization had also
launched a new corporate strategic plan in
January 2020, so after the initial impact of
transitioning to work from home, a deci-
sion was made to do all that was possible to
maintain momentum and keep employees
engaged in advancing the corporate strat-
egy. The new strategy was meant to create
transformational change in the organiza-
tion. By this, we mean, transformation not
in its colloquial usage, but in the true sense
of a fundamental shift in the way people
think and work and the overall identity of
the organization (Gilpin-Jackson, 2015).
The new strategy anticipated business
model changes that would require a shift to
collaborative leadership (called a OneBCLC
approach). Achieving it would require busi- Figure 1: The Conference Model
ness process redesigns, an organization
restructure and a shift to a player-centric framework and redesigned the content 5. The end goal and solutions are
and purpose-driven organization, all while and structure to fit BCLC’s needs and a unknown.
80% of the workforce worked from home. ­virtual environment. In this case the typical 6. Processes and progress are emergent.
As a result, the authors supported the orga- 2–3 day workshops were modified to one 7. Many people are involved.
nization in a relaunch of the purpose and day conferences. 8. Everything seems chaotic.
vision for the corporate strategy and engage
the entire organization and its ecosystem, Why a High-Engagement Approach Richard along with his wife Emily have
in defining the changes required. We did to Change established through their scholarship and
this, over a six-month period, virtually, dur- Contemporary Organization Development practice that in these more complex change
ing which we introduced the Conference (OD) literature and practice, in particular situations, engagement is change man-
Model® methodology (Figure 1) to the orga- Dialogic OD, has solidified that the prob- agement. They have shown that bringing
nization as a high-engagement approach to lems we face in our increased context of people together in a structured collabora-
collabora­tive change. complexity are adaptive challenges, requir- tive change approach grounded in high-­
ing collaborative change to address (Bushe engagement is essential to success (Axelrod
What is the Conference Model? & Marshak, 2015). This is because adaptive & Axelrod 2006, Axelrod et al., 2010;
The Conference Model® involves the challenges, by definition, have no known ­Axelrod, 2011). A review of case studies has
“whole system” in transforming the orga- solutions and require multiple perspec- demonstrated that the widely cited statistic
nization in a series of 2–3 day workshop tives to make sense of. No one leader or that 75% of change efforts fail only applies
type gatherings. In the Vision Conference group in an organization can solve adaptive to situations that required collaborative
participants determine their ideal future, challenges in a world that requires under- change, led by stakeholders, but instead
in the Technical Conference participants standing of multiple existing and emerg- were addressed with traditional top-down
identify the organization’s disconnects and ing perspectives to address. As Yabome has change methods (Nagaishi & Bushe, 2018).
fundamental beliefs and behaviors, and articulated, we are in an era of Grey Zone In addition, in surfacing the needs for
in the Design Conference participants use Changes, dealing with complexity at the the change, we established that support-
the data from the previous conferences to edge of chaos, where the emerging future ing the transformation was not only about
determine their blueprint for the future. is undefined and unknowable (Gilpin-­ delivering a change. In the process, our
Recognizing that not everyone in the orga- Jackson, 2020). In this context: intentions included:
nization can attend a conference, walk- 1. Transformation is required in the way 1. Exposing leaders to the collaborative
thru presentations (walkthroughs) are people work, think and behave. and engagement mindsets required to
sessions designed to share the outcomes 2. There are plenty of questions. deliver on the OneBCLC strategy,
of each conference with people who could 3. There are no clear answers. 2. Building the capacity within the organi-
not attend the conference and gather their 4. There are new things to consider zation for sustained collaboration into
input. At BCLC, we began with this basic regularly. the future

10 ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT REVIEW Vol. 53 No. 2 2021

 Table 1: The new change management principles and practices
from Terms of Engagement, 2nd Edition

The 4 Engagement Principles The 3 Leadership Practices

the high-engagement approach and
their role in supporting it.
1. Widen the circle of involvement 1. Honesty
2. Connect people to each other 2. Transparency Communities for Action
Yabome’s team met with Richard to
3. Create communities of action 3. Trust
strategize our first steps and Richard
4. Promote fairness reinforced that:
People support what they help to create!
3. Taking a train-the-trainer approach with was a generative image of the desired High engagement methods involve stake-
the People and Culture team so that future and would mean involving the entire holders in both planning and implement-
they could support the process and sus- BCLC system and ecosystem in co-creating ing the change.
tain it into the future. the organization of the future. We would
continue to uphold the BCLC values of With his guidance, we defined several
In this way, we were valuing both the devel- respect, integrity and social responsibility nested circles of involvement for mem-
opmental process and our desired change (BCLC, 2021). We would apply procedural bers of the organization and the BCLC
outcomes, making this a true OD initiative fairness, based on the principles of fair pro- eco­system to be part of planning and
(Bushe & Marshak, 2017). cess, meaning Engagement, Explanation implementing the initial aspects of
and Expectation clarity. the change.
What We Did? Engagement meant involving indi-
viduals in the decisions that affect them by We aligned on the roles needed to be suc-
Against this background, we started by asking for their input and allowing them cessful including:
defining clear principles for the change, to refute the merits of one another’s ideas 1. Executive Leadership as sponsors
grounded both in the context of the organi- and assumptions. Explanation that every- responsible for decision-support and
zation and Axelrod’s Terms of Engagement one involved and affected should under- to manage the changes as stakeholders
Principles (Table 1) and practices, which stand why final decisions are made as design and define them.
underlie the Conference Model®. they are. An explanation allows employ- 2. A Core team—made up of People
In June 2020, this high-engagement ees to trust managers’ intentions even if and Culture/Organization Develop-
approach and principles were introduced their own ideas have been rejected. It also ment subject matter experts that pro-
to the organization on the heels of a lead- serves as a powerful feedback loop that vided guidance to the organization for
ership-level reorganization that clearly sig- enhances learning. Expectation clarity the entire process. This team included
nalled the expectation that collaboration meant that once a decision was made, lead- Richard and Yabome.
was the new norm. For example, business ers would state clearly the new rules of the 3. An Extended Core Team—made up of
lines that previously worked separately as game. To achieve fair process, it matters senior leaders in the organization who
their own entities were brought together less what the new rules and policies are held core roles in engaging the whole
under single executive leadership. How- and more that they are clearly understood. organization as the process advanced
ever, any further reorganization was to We committed as part of this to provide such as the Director of Communica-
occur following business process rede- clear decision rules along the spectrum tions. We also included leaders who
signs which employees would help define. of engagement and to be clear whether held accountability for core organiza-
That way, organization structures would be people are being engaged to inform, tional strategies and metrics that would
further aligned to business needs for the consult, co-create or delegate (Kim & be impacted by the process. This group
emerging future of the organization. Exec- Mauborgne, 2003). was the first line of contact for consul-
utive leadership assured the organization To enable the high-engagement tation on design issues and to test and
that the work was not a lay-off exercise and ­commitment, we focused on working prototype design ideas.
shared commitment to the principles and at 3 levels: 4. Change Leads who were to be involved
practices of a high-engagement approach 1. Creating and supporting communities in the facilitation of the high-engage-
to change. for action (work teams) for the Confer- ment processes and then assigned
We articulated and shared with the ence Model® Design to support executives and business
organization, based on discussions and 2. Training internal practitioners and areas to further embed the new ways
approvals from the Board and Execu- communities for action in the Confer- of working.
tive Team that we will be guided in the ence Model® and meeting engagement 5. A Design and Production Team who
next phases of the Transformation by the methodologies were responsible for designing and
­OneBCLC lens. OneBCLC was a core 3. Engaging and enrolling organization convening the conferences, conference
aspect of the corporate strategy, which leaders in the purpose and intent for logistics, conducting walk-throughs,

Collaborative Change Engagement in a Pandemic Era & Toward Disruptive Organization Development Practice 11
 communicating with the organization, internal subject matter experts (strategy The Integration Conference (a combi-
facilitation and overall guidance of the design team) who were tasked with using nation of the Conference Model®’s Design
Conference Model® design work. collaborative change methodologies such and Technical Conferences) was meant to
6. Internal Subject Matter Experts—these as design thinking to determine what explore future themes and take any dis­
were leaders and staff members who would be needed to shift the organization connects and beliefs and behaviors that
were asked to lead segments within to the player-centric approach that the new would support or impede progress to com-
the Conferences. corporate strategy aspired to. The intent bine them into design criteria for the new
7. External stakeholders—members of was that output from this team would also organization and its processes. It was about
the BCLC ecosystems, primarily play- be brought into the conferences for the bringing together integration points that
ers and partners who were engaged whole organization to discuss, provide had not yet been discussed. Service Pro-
to share their perspectives during input and continue to shape the direction viders who operated casinos and Retailers
the Conferences. of the organization. who sold lottery tickets were interviewed.
Our technology roadmap was shared, and
In total, we engaged approximately 10% Design Considerations employees were able to discuss implica-
of the organization just in the planning There were several design considerations tions for the future. Finally, a virtual open
and design processes through the work and challenges to work through. Would we space forum allowed employees to surface
of these groups. be able to engage the whole system virtu- themes and self-organize to discuss: What
ally? Would basic zoom technology accom- unquestioned beliefs and behaviours about
Training modate 1000+ people? How would we our everyday activities get in the way of us
To prepare the organization for the jour- translate collected data to make it visible being successful?
ney, Richard worked with the first five and engaging with that many people? In our final planning with the Design
groups, describing what each of their roles In the end we decided to offer each teams, these were some of the simple prin-
will require and the principles and prac- one day conference three times—a Vision ciples and takeaways we discussed for
tices of the Conference Model®. The core Conference, a Design Conference, and an translating collaborative change methodol-
teams, expanded core teams, change leads Integration Conference. Employees would ogies, designed for in-person engagement,
and design and production teams (called have the choice of registering for any of the into virtual delivery.
collectively the Design teams) spent 3 days 3 days for each Conference. 1. People are hungry for connection, build
together. They experienced and practiced The Vision Conference was modeled in plenty of opportunities for people to
the Conference Model® and learned how to after the purpose of engaging participants connect.
structure everyday engagement into meet- to develop themes of what they want for the 2. Virtual workshops take longer than in
ings using the meeting canoe as a way to future. For BCLC, this meant reengaging person workshops and require more
begin practicing (Axelrod & Axelord, 2014). the organization in the corporate strategy, detailed planning.
The neuroscience of engagement was taking employees through the journey of 3. No matter how explicit you make the
reviewed so that participants learned not the past and into the present and imagin- instructions for an activity, people
just methodologies, but also the principles ing the future together, including the social still get confused, so do not sweat the
behind them to ensure they could apply purpose journey the organization was small stuff.
them more broadly. embarking on. 4. Technology, if it can go wrong, it will go
The team got to work exploring and The Design Conference allowed par- wrong, so keep it simple.
applying the ideas and Richard worked ticipants to identify the disconnects in the 5. Planning, Preparation, and Practice
with the core team to design an early current organization and the beliefs and are critical to success—there were
draft of the first conference as well as behaviors that support organizational suc- many moving parts and team members
planning for additional training for the cess. BCLC players were interviewed, les- to coordinate virtually. Using break-
larger team. The plan was to take them sons were distilled from our customer outs rooms for the production and
through an experience of the design draft support centre and employees who worked theme teams and alternate chat groups
and work together to co-create and final- at casino sites to facilitate the signature was essential to stay connected and
ize it. This led to further refinements and BCLC player health program, shared share information emerging from var-
careful delineation of all the details that insights from the field. Our player perso- ious breakout rooms among the
needed to be attended to before day 1 of the nas and needs were shared based on the Design teams.
first conference. work of the strategy design team and all 6. Focus on the engagement and con-
were given an opportunity to contribute nection principles and not the
Engaging Leaders to empathy maps and contemplate what technicalities.
While the conference work was being would be needed to create a player expe- 7. Workshop segments should not
designed another community for action rience that exceeded expectations into last longer than 90 minutes prior
was struck. The group was made up of the future. to a break.

12 ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT REVIEW Vol. 53 No. 2 2021

 8. Activities should provide variety, polls,
quizzes, music, stretch breaks, to
ensure engagement based on neuro­
science principles.
9. Technical support is required to
respond immediately to issues so that
technology does not become a dis-
traction from the process work being
done.
10. Visual aids are essential and digital
graphic recording has just as powerful
an impact online as it did offline (see
Figure 2 which was created digitally).

We hosted all 3 Conferences between Sep-

tember and December 2020.

What Were the Results?

When BCLC announced it was embark-

ing on an organizational restructure
one of the things that crossed my mind
was that the company’s most recent
organizational restructure had not
lived up to expectations, so why would
this time be any different? Change of
this magnitude can have some real
consequences to the people and the
company if not handled with care
and attention. Most of us realize that
Figure 2: Sample Visual Summary from the final Integration Conference

without an engaged workforce that ral-

lies behind and believes in the change,
achieving success will be difficult.
Leveraging the Conference Model®
process has enabled employees to
be part of the change and given them
the space and permission to share
their views in a safe and collaborative
way. This has resulted in a unity of
the people that supports the change
because they understand “why” the
change is necessary and how they can
help ensure success is achieved.
—Director, Enterprise Risk
Management Services

At the end of the conferences we had

engaged 1030 unique employees across all
3 conferences, essentially the entire orga-
nization (headcount of 1060 at the time).
There were between 60% and 70% of
employees at each conference for a total
of 2085 which means more than half of
the employees attended more than one
conference. This level of participation
was a measure of engagement in itself

Collaborative Change Engagement in a Pandemic Era & Toward Disruptive Organization Development Practice 13
and an indicator that the organization was of the Four Rooms of Change model (The leaving the organization and employees
ready to be involved in the changes under- four rooms of change, n.d.; Weisbord, 2012). being in a state of limbo, awaiting news of
way. However, how else would we deter- Our four rooms were labelled: Reinvigo- next steps.
mine whether we were making progress in rated, Comfort, Uncertain and Opposi- We also saw the organizational impact
our interventions? tion. This model was meant to give us a of the high-engagement change approach
A primary purpose of the Conference pulse on how people were transitioning through the enterprise’s strategic risk
Model® series was to model an engage- through change as well as a proxy for adop- register. The organization’s risk regis-
ment-centered approach to organiza- tion of innovation which the psychology of ter is rigorously tracked and updated and
tion change and to track that through the the Four Rooms model is also grounded had shown high risks in the year prior to
change experience and adoption of change in. Our goal was that no more than 10% the start of the Conference Model® inter­
in the organization. As per the quote above, of the organization would be in opposi- ventions in: organizational culture, organi-
zational alignment, employee engagement
The organization’s risk register is rigorously tracked and and morale, and change management. In
the quarter following the high-engagement
updated and had shown high risks in the year prior to the start work, all four risks dropped between three
of the Conference Model® inter­ventions in: organizational and seven points on the risk register, shift-
ing them from high to low risks. The inter-
culture, organizational alignment, employee engagement and nal risk team attributes these changes to
morale, and change management. In the quarter following the the collaborative change approach we took,
calling it a case study in addressing and
high-engagement work, all four risks dropped between three transforming risks.
and seven points on the risk register, shifting them from high to A side benefit was the positive impact
on the image of the People and Culture
low risks. The internal risk team attributes these changes to the function which within the same time frame
collaborative change approach we took, calling it a case study had rebranded from Human Resources,
in part to integrate OD expertise and build
in addressing and transforming risks. the change capacity of the organization. As
noted in the quote below:
this was essential given the context and tion and to aim for no more than 20% Conferencing represented the first
history of the organization. A concern in the uncertain room at any time. Over- tangible example of how Human Re-
with evaluating organization development all, we wanted 70% in the reinvigorated sources (HR) was shifting its presence
efforts is that evaluation efforts tend to and comfort rooms to keep creating the to People and Culture (P&C) and how
stop at reaction and that “after the dance” generativity required. the organization intends to engage its
of collaborative change events, the endur- At our original survey, we had over employees in organizational change.
ing impacts of the desired organizational 50% of employees in the room of uncer- Conferencing provided a tangible ex-
changes are not assessed and may not be tainty although only 1% were in opposi- ample of the high level of engagement
realized (Eoyang & Quade, 2006). Often, tion. After the first conference, we repolled that employees should expect moving
forward. It also signaled an increase in
only reaction metrics are used and the and the number of people in the room of
valuing the voice of employees.
enduring organization impacts and busi- uncertainty reduced by half. We had also
—Director, Corporate Strategy
ness results or return on investments are increased those in the comfort and reinvig-
not tracked. However, it is clear that in orated rooms by another 25%. That meant
­contexts of complexity and emergence, that by the end of September we had 75% Additional samples of perspectives on
where something new is being designed, of the organization moving through the the impact of the change on organization
developmental evaluation is more reli- transition into the reinvigorated and com- leaders and business areas is noted in the
able and enduring (Patton, 2011). This fort rooms and opposition stayed at 1%. table below, in addition to those shared
means evaluating and collecting metrics This met our overall goals for the change throughout the article. A careful read of
and assessing holistically what the next experience and movement we wanted. A these quotes shows that this work is having
wise actions are that are required to keep subsequent poll following the last confer- impacts at all levels of the organization—
advancing towards the purpose of the inter- ence in December showed some loss of individual, team and the cultural fabric of
vention in this case. the gains made especially in the Uncer- the organization, which is the criteria for
At the start of the organization rede- tain room. However, this was attributable large-scale OD interventions to achieve
sign, we committed to track employee to factors such as the Interim CEO who transformational change impact (Gilpin-
change experience based on an adaptation had championed the process till that time Jackson, 2017).

14 ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT REVIEW Vol. 53 No. 2 2021

 Perspectives on Impact for ones, to provide input and feedback on discussing the topics that were covered
Organization Leaders some of the change happening at BCLC. in comparison to a model lacking true
The way in which each conference built engagement. My team came away ready
The impact to the organization was huge off the one before, also created a real to discuss what they learned, how they
on several fronts—COVID environment— sense of momentum, and feeling that in- contributed and where they saw BCLC
everyone working from remote locations put was being incorporated as we moved going—and they were excited by it.
and yet we created an experience where forward. From a personal perspective,
Personally, for me I greatly appreciate
everyone felt so connected, it was an participating in the conferences created
the opportunity to engage with such a
even playing field with no more silo’s a sense of pride in the work that we are
variety of people across the organiza-
by field staff or Vancouver or Kamloops doing at BCLC. While skeptical of the
tion. Respecting the individuality of how
locations (and that was typically culture model at first, I was a quick convert by
people engage with BCLC through their
challenges that we faced often with feed- the time we hit mid-way on Day 2 from
roles and experiences was both reward-
back we got from our employees in other the Vision Conference. Seeing it come
ing and eye opening.
past experiences). For me personally it to life, and how interactive it was for the
—Director, eGaming Operations
was career changing and I don’t say that participants, I truly felt that we were do-
lightly. It has so changed how I view the ing this work not as one division, or one
possibilities for all the work that People team, but rather with the enterprise as a
& Culture can do going forward in the whole. That makes me proud to continue The work continues and our greatest
organization—from CONNECTION before the work. encouragement and indication of progress
CONTENT to high engagement to creat- —Culture Transformation Partner, is the ways in which high-engagement is
ing communities of work where people People & Culture being applied across the organization.
feel included and that they are valued— The business process redesigns were
what that really looks like and feels like The conference model approach allowed completed alongside the Conference
for each of us and for all of our employ- for much more collaboration and discus- Model® work, using high-engagement
ees is so powerful. The engagement felt sion than I have seen in the past. Our ex- principles. As a result, the next phase of
by our employees (even virtually) was perience was unique as organization of the organization redesign in core business
palpable and has left such an impact on the event and execution was completely areas is underway.
our employees—it’s now a high bar that virtual. However, despite this, we were The Diversity, Inclusion and Belong-
we need to continue to reach in the work able to successfully engage in icebreak-
that we do going forward—to challenge ing Committee is in the process of design-
ers, connect and delve into how things
ourselves and our thinking to ensure we ing what they are calling a mini-conference
are and where we would like them to
put our employee’s experience and the series to deeply engage the organization
be. The feeling post-conference was ex-
opportunity to engage them at the centre tremely positive. Personally, I was able to in making sense of the present times and
of everything we do. learn more about the people I work with co-creating the organization as a place of
—Director People Rewards and able to meet a variety of staff I never belong for all.
& Recruitment would have given the virtual nature. I The Corporate Strategy team is work-
also got an overall feeling that everyone ing on our Culture Transformation process
The company-wide approach makes had the opportunity to be heard and felt to engage the organization in defining the
it possible to create a movement so their input was valuable.” culture we want. Their starting point was
people will want to come with leader- —Executive Assistant, outputs from the first conference which
ship through the change(s). With BCLC Operations a cross-functional OneBCLC team has
being a high-relationship-value organi-
zation it needed this ‘whole’ approach. been synthesizing into themes for further
First and foremost, I felt the conferences engagement.
This is supported by the many positive
were a great example of technology The quote below, shows the impact
comments after conference #1 regard-
enabling real connection. By employing on one leader which has led to work
ing the opportunity to meet with people
different technology at different points in
in breakout rooms and discuss a wide being launched for a field engagement
the conferences it allowed for a variety of
range of topics. strategy, in which the principles of high-­
different opportunities in which people
—Internal Change Consultant engagement will continue to be used to
could engage, and most importantly, it
allowed them to engage in the manner achieve collaborative change:
When I reflect back on the conference they felt most comfortable with. This
model approach, my first thought is how When I was asked to participate and
variety gave it a sense of personaliza- lead a field team panel for one of
we were able to successfully engage tion even if it was a process designed to
with such a high number of employees, the conferences, I have to be honest
engage hundreds of people concurrently. and admit I thought it was an optics
in a meaningful way. In contrast to other
employee sessions that we have held, Another strong outcome from the confer- exercise. The panel brought together
the conference model provided a plat- ences which I witnessed on my team a group of field employees across four
form for all employees, not just the vocal was a stronger sense of confidence in areas of the business. While they all

Collaborative Change Engagement in a Pandemic Era & Toward Disruptive Organization Development Practice 15
 worked in the same environments, are the norm and where the transforma- simultaneously (Bushe, 2017). This is a
the majority did not know each other tions of our organizations that seem ever concept we describe in the human systems
or very much information about each
evasive might be achievable. Embracing dynamics community as the simple rule
other’s roles. What impacted me the
most, was the consistency of their
this form of human engagement and orga- of attending to the levels of systems at the
answers across all the panel members nizing is required for all of us to survive whole, the part and the greater whole. Too
and the honesty and passion with and thrive in the face of the challenges and often, as OD practitioners, we narrow our
which they spoke. It would have been disruptions of our 21st century. Indeed, it scope to using our OD skills and practice
easy to just move on from that session was this looking past the challenges of the at one level of an organization or become
but what they said really moved me COVID-19 pandemic era to answer the fol- single methodology practitioners or focus
to try and action their inputs and lowing question that led us to step into our work in one domain of practice only
concerns. As a leader of one of these the unknown of this work, at this time (the part). This reductionist mindset is fed
teams, I thought I was doing a good in history: by the businesses and organizations we
job but realized I could do much What are the principles behind what support, who want quick, simple, time-
better. Facilitating the panel led me
we are trying to achieve and how can bound solutions, that are often imple-
to pull together resources to try and
implement some changes in three key
we achieve them despite pandemic mented independent of other areas of work
areas including increasing access to conditions? when connection is required for collective
real time information, ensuring input
and resolving their feelings of isolation. Too often, as OD practitioners, we narrow our scope to using our
Without the conferences to connect
these business units, we would not OD skills and practice at one level of an organization or become
have gotten the insights and the ability
to enable these improvements from
single methodology practitioners or focus our work in one
these critical groups. domain of practice only (the part). This reductionist mindset is
—Provincial Sales Manager,
Operations fed by the businesses and organizations we support, who want
quick, simple, time-bound solutions, that are often implemented
Now What: Beyond the Case into the independent of other areas of work when connection is required
Future of Disruptive OD Practice
for collective and developmental impact. This attempt to tame
We have described our experience cau- complexity and grey zone change is futile and an unrealistic
tiously in this article. Our intent is not to
chronicle a playbook to be seen as best attempt to reduce change anxiety.
practice to apply elsewhere, but to have
provided a thick enough description of We believe, like Heather Berthoud notes and developmental impact. This attempt to
our process and the impacts (Ponterotto, in her article in this issue, that we, OD tame complexity and grey zone change is
2006). The intent of this thick description scholars and practitioners need not worry futile and an unrealistic attempt to reduce
is so that the essence of the principles and that our work and presence will translate change anxiety.
practices of high-engagement are made through the virtual adaptations we have all Yabome has offered in an earlier
visible. That essence cannot be codified been testing out. When we focus on the issue that it is time to return to the full
because once it is, it is no longer useful in principles behind the practice, the gen- scope of our practice as a field (Gilpin-
addressing the complexities of our times erativity that happens when humans truly Jackson, 2018). We offer that we are think-
or the ability to adapt to that which is con- connect will emerge. This, we can predict ing of this as a return to our field’s core
stantly emerging. Many other articles in with certainty, from all the evidence of our tenets of organization-wide development,
this journal, elsewhere, and books in our research and practice. as well as an expansion that is possible by
field chronicle the how-to of collaborative Therefore, we believe this work points integrating the generations of evidence-
change methodologies. to the need for integration of our OD informed methodologies and practices we
Our deeper purpose in writing this practices required to affect deeper trans- have learned no matter where we find our-
article is to uncover our thinking at the formations in organizations. We agree selves. In this way, whatever domain we
level of principles of collaborative change that to return to the core of our field and are working in or feel boxed into in our
engagement. Our joint experience has become effective at developing collab- organizations will not matter, because we
shown us that creating events and con- orative organizations, we must do work will practice in a way that creates ripples
ferences is not an end. It is the means to that impacts people in the organizations at all levels. So what can OD bring? We
the end of deeply collaborative organiza- and places we serve at the individual, the believe it is time for a Disruptive Organiza-
tions, where high-engagement practices techno-structural, and the cultural levels tion Development Practice. As a client of

16 ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT REVIEW Vol. 53 No. 2 2021

Richard’s recently put it, by working across research still has its use in helping transformation work and complex-
hierarchy and across functions, they had a system see itself in a macro sense. ity cannot be measured. We offer that
shocked the system—a positive disrup- Reflection-in-action for double and tri- thinking in that way is itself linear and
tion towards needed changes. Disruptive ple loop learning still helps us develop reductionist. We invite consideration of
OD practice skillfully disrupts the status our mental models to learn individually holistic, non-traditional and complexity
quo for the sake of development and trans- and in groups. Engaging in Dialogic approaches such as sense-making, sig-
formational change impact. We are calling OD methodologies to co-create change nal tracking and good old human expe-
practitioners to SHARE Disruptive OD by and new narratives and futures collab- rience to demonstrate impact.
bringing the following in interventions of oratively is the essential difference in
all kinds and at every level: our work in organizations. Putting it We are all in for Disruptive OD practice
1. Systems Thinking: Design interven- all together makes the developmental into the future…
tions with the possibility of impact- impact of our work possible.
ing the whole, the part and the greater 4. Realism: Disruptive OD confronts real- References
whole. The tried-and-true engagement ity. This is a call to recognize we are
principles in table 1 will create that in disruptive times, where we are con- Axelrod, D., & Axelord, E. (2014). Let’s stop
ripple effect as you engage people in stantly in the white water of Grey Zone meeting like this: Tools to save time and
design and implementation and in so Change and the emerging future is get more done. Berrett Koehler.
doing teach them how to fish. undefined and unknowable. In this Axelrod, D., & Axelrod, E. (2006). Confer-
2. Humanistic Perspectives: We encour- context, an orientation to positive orga- ence model. In P. Holman, T. Devane,
age practitioners in these disruptive nizational scholarship and practice to & S. Cady (Eds.), The Change Handbook:
times to continue to model humanity the exclusion of naming and addressing The definitive resource on today’s best
and design interventions that elevate the realities of organizational traumas methods for engaging the whole systems
the ability to deeply connect with one and environmental/societal impacts (pp. 207–211). Berret-Koehler.
another. Richard has been a pioneer makes us tone deaf and irrelevant. Like- Axelrod, E., Cady, S., & Holman, P. (2010).
for connection before content in meet- wise, confronting our client systems Whole system change: what it is and
ings and whole system design for over without offering pathways to possibili- why it matters. In W. J. Rothwell, J. M.
30 years. He offers that this, more than ties breeds disengagement and disem- Stavros, R. L. Sullivan, & A. Sullivan
anything, is the secret sauce of collabor- powerment. Disruptive OD operates (Eds.), Practicing organization develop-
ative change engagement. When elevat- from the holistic orientations and ambi- ment: A guide for leading change (pp.
ing humanity is paired with the other dexterity of both confrontive and appre- 363–376). John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
principles of Disruptive OD practice, ciative inquiry and practices. Doing Axelrod, R. H. (2011). Terms of engagement:
our ripple effect in organizations can the work of reading group dynamics to New ways of leading and changing organi-
be exponential. know when to pivot to move the group, zations (2nd ed.). Berrett-Koehler Pub-
3. Architecture of Engagement: Agility in organization or system forward from lishers, Inc.
OD is about constantly sense-making reality into possibility is ours to bring. BCLC. (2020). Annual Service Plan Report.
what is needed and being able to adapt 5. Evaluation and Evidence-Informed BCLC.
to what is emerging. This requires an Practice: We must demonstrate orga- BCLC. (2021). Our vision, mission and val-
integrative mindset across the genera- nizational impact to fully practice ues. Retrieved March 19 from https://
tions of our OD methodologies and what we preach and gain the trust of corporate.bclc.com/about-us/our-vision-
technologies, from action research those we serve. Our field is an applied -mission-and-values.html
(first generation) to learning organiza- and integrative behavioural and social Bushe, G. R. (2017). Creating collaborative
tions (second generation) to Dialogic science. This makes us evidence- organizations that can persist: The part-
OD (third generation) practice. In pre- informed. We must use evidence- nership principle. OD Practitioner 49(3).
vious work, Yabome described this as informed practices and evaluate our Bushe, G. R., & Marshak, R. J. (Eds.).
moving with agility between the grey impact. Taking a developmental evalu- (2015). Dialogic organization develop-
zones of our methodologies (Gilpin- ation lens as we did in this case is one ment: The theory and practice of transfor-
Jackson, 2013). She offers now that a way to do so. We encourage OD prac- mational change. Berrett-Koehler.
better framing is the language of being titioners to work with business lead- Bushe, G. R., & Marshak, R. J. (2017). Valu-
architects of engagement (Cady, 2019). ers to understand what they want to ing both the journey and destination
This is the art of OD design that cen- achieve and use the evidence from our in Organization Development. In D.
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Collaborative Change Engagement in a Pandemic Era & Toward Disruptive Organization Development Practice 17
 Yabome Gilpin-Jackson has used the Conference Model® and various col-
laborative change methodologies for over 15 years in various organizational
settings to engage in whole systems transformation journeys. She is a multi-
Cady, S. H. (2019). Collaborative change:
Generative approaches that transform award winning scholar-practitioner in human & organization development with
organizations, revitalize communities, research awards and professional recognitions in Canada, UK and the United
and develop human potential. Organi- States including being the very first recipient of the Organization Develop-
zation Development Review, 51(2). ment Network’s Emerging Practitioner Award. She has published books,
Eoyang, G., & Quade, K. (2006). After the chapters and peer-reviewed articles in the field, including articles and chap-
dance. In B. Alban & B. Bunker (Eds.),
ters on Dialogic OD and the Grey Zone of Change. She is currently the Chief
Handbook of large-group methods: creat-
ing systemic change in organizations and People Officer at BCLC, a consultant and educator in Leadership, Organization
communities (pp. 354–372). Jossey Bass. Development and Transformative Learning in academia and across the private,
Gilpin-Jackson, Y. (2013). Practicing in the public and nonprofit sectors. Yabome holds a Ph.D. in Human and Organiza-
grey area between dialogic and diagnos- tion Systems from Fielding Graduate University where she is an Institute for
tic organization development. Organi- Social Innovation Scholar. She is the 2021 Board Chair of the Organization
zation Development Practitioner, 45(1),
Development Network. She can be reached at yabome@sldconsulting.org.
60–66.
Gilpin-Jackson, Y. (2015). Transformative Richard Axelrod is the co-author of the Conference Model®, which he
Learning during dialogic OD. In G. R.
describes as Organization Development (OD) and Change methodology for
Bushe & R. J. Marshak (Eds.), Dialogic
organization development: The theory and involving the whole system to change the whole system. He is among the
practice of transformational change (pp. world’s top OD practitioners, specializing in whole-system change. The Con-
245–268). Berrett-Koehler Publishers. ference Model® that he and his partner Emily developed is used worldwide to
Gilpin-Jackson, Y. (2017). Participant expe- engage organizations in system-wide change. A consultant, author, keynoter,
riences of transformational change and lecturer (Columbia, University of Chicago, AU MSOD), Mr. Axelrod’s writ-
in large-scale organization develop-
ing on organization change has appeared in the Harvard Business Update,
ment interventions (LODIs). Leadership
& Organization Development Journal, Leader to Leader, and the Conference Board Review. He has recently pub-
38, 419–432. https://doi.org/10.1108/ lished Let’s Stop Meeting Like This: Tools to Save Time and Get More Done.
LODJ-12-2015-0284 His consulting clients range from Boeing, British Airways, Harley-Davidson,
Gilpin-Jackson, Y. (2018). It’s time to make General Electric, Hewlett-Packard and the UK’s National Health Service. Mr.
Organization Development our client. Axelrod is the recipient of the Organization Development Network’s Lifetime
Organization Development Practitioner,
Achievement Award, and is an award-winner for teaching excellence from the
50, 7–15.
Gilpin-Jackson, Y. (2020). Living, leading University of Chicago. He can be reached at Dick@Axelrodgroup.com.
and facilitating in Grey Zone Change.
Creative Commons/SLD Consulting.
Kim, C. W., & Mauborgne, R. (2003). Fair Patton, M., Q. (2011). Developmental evalu- The four rooms of change. (n.d.). http://www.
process: Managing the knowledge econ- ation: Applying complexity concepts to fourroomsofchange.net.au/
omy. Harvard Business Review. enhance innovation and use. Guilford Weisbord, M. R. (2012). Productive work-
Nagaishi, M., & Bushe, G. (2018). Imagin- Press. places: Dignity, meaning, and community
ing the future through the past: Orga- Ponterotto, J. G. (2006). Brief note on the in the 21st century. Jossey-Bass.
nization Development isn’t (just) about origins, evolution, and meaning of the
change. Organization Development Jour- qualitative research concept “Thick
nal, 36, 23–36. Description”. The Qualitative Report,
11(3), 538–549.

18 ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT REVIEW Vol. 53 No. 2 2021

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