ABSTRACT
This chapter perhaps the stock criticism of Organization Development (OD) activities sees them as a con, with ODers serving as mere shills for management or other establishments. It sketched approaches to this stock criticism. They are, the real temptations facing ODers to become servants of those in power and the dominant emphasis will be on how to mobilize countertendencies to these temptations. The chapter reflects the impact of three massive factors on a suddenly overpopulated OD landscape. First, the demand for OD services dropped in the late 1970s, just as the supply had reached new peaks. Second, the perception grew that there was nothing new under the OD sun, in massive contrast to the limitless frontiers envisioned only a decade or so before. Third, the entry costs for "getting into OD" were escalating—some called for certification and peer review, graduate degrees in OD or related specialties become more common.
