ABSTRACT
Circumstances make the silence even more of a curiosity. Numerous observers had over the years called for just such summary evaluations, for one thing, all the better to separate the wheat from the chaff so as to enhance the aptness and impact of organization development (OD) designs and programs of change. Native cunning urges taking advantage of the news about success rates, in short, all the better to stimulate demand and hence to help avoid the grim dynamics of "maturing markets." ODers clearly are not letting their faces light up as they refer to substantial success rates, and hence OD is less likely to be a beacon for those in collective distress. High success rates heighten expectations, and hence imply greater psychological loss when failure occurs. Beacon focuses on a single if involved point: why both OD "optimists" and "pessimists" might have given the silent treatment to the success-rate literature.
