Why do so many OD efforts fall by the wayside? It’s hard to understand isn’t it? After all the effort that the leadership team have gone to in order to define the strategy and with the OD team tasked with identifying and delivering the change required in order to deliver the strategy, what can go wrong!

While there are lots things that can go wrong, but one of the most common reasons for OD failure arises when it is conceived and delivered solely at the leadership level. This failing isn’t unique to OD; it also applies to other change management programmes. Quite simply, you are not going to bring about change unless you engage hearts and minds in the idea of change at every level throughout the organisation.

It is in some ways an easy trap to fall into. When the leadership team have put so much effort into defining strategy and identifying the way in which it is to be delivered through OD, it is easy to assume that no further action need be taken. But if you are to engage people in the change then you have to take them on the change journey, in effect building a culture of development throughout the organisation.

This approach has several benefits, not the least of which is the fact that your people assimilate the need to review and develop into their thoughts and behaviours. Yes, you might well have an OD leader but they should only be leading change rather than taking sole responsibility for designing, developing and implementing change.

The change journey

So you take people on the change journey, helping them to understand not only the strategy but the drivers behind the strategy. And once you have their energy and enthusiasm and engagement you switch the program around, moving organisational development away from something which is imposed and towards something which is driven by the employees themselves. In the same way in which self managed engagement programmes deliver improvements in employee engagement levels, so too does making employees responsible for defining and delivering organisational change lead to proactive development.

This has strong parallels with the way in which organisations are building a culture of innovation in order to deliver game changing solutions. In fact, building OD awareness at employee level can be one of the key elements of opening up the organisation to the creation of innovative solutions. And let’s face it, who knows the organisation’s processes and procedures best, the leadership or those who work with those processes on a daily basis.

OD may be defined by the leadership but success comes when it belongs to everyone. If your culture still sees development as the preserve of the few then it may be time to have a rethink and engage your people in your future success.