ABSTRACT
Organisational Development (OD) people as well as managers can make great, inspirational Navigators. Navigators often seem to be making crazy journeys and, yet, they have very good reasons for doing what they are so earnestly set on doing. Sometimes they have to buck conventional wisdom to succeed in navigating well. It is an idiosyncratic role for an OD person or manager. An OD Navigator serves as both the radar screen for, and the guide through, unfamiliar territory. They do this in both psychological reality and business reality. Beckhard and Pritchard state competitive strategy will be a function of maximum control over its own destiny. In contrast the Navigator role is about being able to navigate the rapids, a very different concept than maximum control. In one large UK Company, one Division that held with what a business partner and the author was doing as consultants, no matter what, was the Customer Services division.
