ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the early representations of organisation development (OD) and its embodied humanistic values before identifying a set of key underlying assumptions. It notes a major sea change in the evolving context from the 1980s onwards which has transformed OD from an end to be pursued to a set of means towards pre-prescribed ends. An action research approach to OD involves the systematic collection of data on organisational problems and then the taking of a set of actions as a function of the analysed data. The analysis and use of the data collected to jointly diagnose the causes and effects of organisational problems. This might involve the use of diagnostic models or frameworks on which the collected data could be “hung”. There was a basic assumption that both the OD practitioner and the client system ultimately shared a set of values which were essentially democratic and about broad power equalisation between individuals and groups within and across organisations.
