ABSTRACT
The Superman metaphor-cum-message threatens certain convenient and generally useful features of the common wisdom with regard to Organization Development (OD) interventions. The chapter illustrates five threatened features. First, the reference to Superman may have been associated in some people's minds with the charismatic stimulators who had markedly higher casualty rates in training groups. The Wonder Woman/Superman metaphor could reasonably lead to such concerns, but the associated message should tether those concerns. Second, the metaphor-and-message run counter to most prevailing verbalisms associated with OD interventions, and especially with their T-Group-oriented predecessors. Third, much of the conceptualization about intervention suggests a facilitator-only role, and the views abstracted above add substantial content to that role. Fourth, the facilitator role places responsibility squarely with the client. Fifth, the facilitator-only role implies minimal skills and especially conceptual competencies. The Superman metaphor-with-message intends some extensions from a historic baseline, and this accounts for its energizing qualities for both proponents and opponents of the extensions.
