My take on the book Tell-Tale brain by VS Ramachandran

Living in Groups: Saluting the Brain : Ramachandran VS (2010) The Te...: "When babies are born, we’re happy if the weight of the infant is about 4 to 6 pounds. Adult brains that r..."

History of OD in India

History of OD in India

(Source:  Organization Development: Interventions and Strategies by S. Ramnaryan, T. V. Rao and Kuldeep Singh; New Delhi: Sage India)

OD is a process for planned change. It aims at building internal competencies in individuals and teams in the organizational context, and at taking organizations to higher levels of performance by building individual-, group-, system- and process related compe­tencies. It focuses on behaviour and uses various behavioural tools. It has a specialized body of knowledge and therefore needs special­ists to handle it Its focus on people, processes, systems, structure, etc., can extend from individual-based interventions to structural changes and system revamps.

In India, OD and planned change started in the early 1960s. A group of Indian professionals trained at the National Training Laboratories (NTL) at Bethel, Maine, USA, brought a good deal of OD technology to India. Grid programmes were initiated in the early 1960s in Larsen & Toubro. The T-group was initiated and widely used at the Small Industries Extension Training (SIET) Institute, Hyderabad, State Bank of India and in the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) programmes in the mid-1960s. Unfortunately, these remained isolated efforts and did not take OD to its logical conclusions.

In the mid-1970s, OD was first introduced in India in Larsen & Toubro as a formal and structured part of the HRD department. It was expected that the change process would get institutionalized and more OD specialists would be developed. Unfortunately, this did not happen as the corporate sector in the country had a very protected and secure environment and there were few compulsions to change. Hence OD remained mostly in academic institutions— the forte of a few specialists and largely limited to T-group training and other training-based interventions. That it has had a slow growth is indicated by the fact that even after 40 years of existence, the Indian Society for Applied Behavioural Science (ISABS), an associate of NTL, produced less than a 200 process specialists in this vast country.

There have been several efforts to apply the OD approach and associated techniques in India but it has not created the desired impact. According to Srinivas (1994), one plausible explanation for this is that OD as it has emerged to date is culture specific, that it simply cannot be applied to locations outside the US. The issue of non-transferability of OD technology to cultures such as India has arisen because of the 'fear' or 'distrust' of its techniques of confrontation. The general (American)-practitioner or changeagent style of informality and an attitude of openness is also not suited to the Indian context. However, a deeper examination of values embed­ded in Indian religion and psycho-philosophy suggests that the cultural values are indeed largely supportive of organizational re­newal and change. The rich cultural heritage also contains a para­digm of change, based on which new approaches and designs of OD interventions may be possible. And such designs are likely to be accepted more readily in the country.

The scenario has changed thanks to an increasing number of applied behavioural scientists and T-group trainers, the HRD movement and establishment of HRD departments, contributions of multinationals in India, and the influence of Western education. Professional bodies such as the Indian Society for Applied Behavioural Sciences (ISABS), Indian Society for Individual and Social Development (ISISD) and its off-shoot Sumedhas, Indian Society for Training and Develop­ment (ISTD) and the National HRD Network, and academic institutions such as the IIMs have further facilitated this. In the post-liberalization period, every one has been forced to seek change. As a result, the application of OD technology has increased.

LESSONS LEARNT

OD has been practised in India for the last 45 years, with mixed results. However, a few lessons drawn can be useful to the practitioners, consultants and academicians. Similar lessons have also been learnt in other countries.

♦   OD is basically a strategy for planned change. A change pro­cess is always messy and is never as clear as is made out in books and papers. However, the delineation of phases of creating readiness for change, implementing and stabilizing change, and of what needs to be done in each of these phases can prove useful. This requires clarity about the ultimate change goal and identification with where the organization is going. The 'pull' effect of future aspirations works much bet­ter than 'pushing' people through changes. Also, it is impor­tant to sustain the enthusiasm of those involved even after the excitement associated with initiation and the accomplishment of some early wins. This can be done by continuing to keep people informed, celebrating achievements and linking rewards to the achievement of change goals (Burke 1995).

♦   OD is based on the human-processes approach, focusing on interpersonal relationships during the course of interventions. Such an approach may not be feasible in the Indian context. A directive approach soliciting participation may be more effective and suitable.

♦   OD interventions should take into consideration the extraneous factors, such as caste, religion and relationships, that in­fluence the people working in the organization. Therefore, any change effort needs to be realistic.

♦   In India, the role of the government in regulating the activities of an organization is considerable, particularly in the pub­lic sector and to some extent in the private sector as well. While initiating any OD effort, the influencing role of the gov­ernment cannot be ignored.^l

♦   As Indian culture is strongly hierarchy based, an OD facilitator must first explain the need for change, what is to be changed and how it is going to benefit the target group. Such persuasion on the part of the change agent is bound to yield positive results.

♦   Another important theme concerns the role of leadership, particularly the visioning process and sharing vision; establishing and articulating purpose; developing change initiatives and programmes to guide implementation; communicating with and listening to people, dealing with questions and frustrations; and generating feelings of empowerment in organizational members during times of significant change (Burke 1995).

♦   Another issue of concern is the structure and processes, particularly making the functioning flexible and less bureau­cratic; decentralizing, but at the same time strengthening accountability; building bridges among different groups, functions and divisions; reorienting people and roles to make them more adaptive; and creating a small-group atmosphere within a large organization (Burke 1995).

♦   Also, since training is a widely used intervention, it is important to link it in terms of learning how to work together better, solve problems more effectively and improve the learning processes in organizations, much more strongly to solving of actual problems in real time in organizations (Burke 1995).

♦   In any OD-based change effort in the Indian context, it is sine qua non to take into consideration the prevailing cultural values, norms, attitudes, beliefs, etc., and leverage the functionalnes for making the change effort a success.

Keeping in view the current volatile and competitive Indian environment, managers cannot preoccupy themselves with basic business issues of organizations and ignore other such vital dimensions of strategy, change and social process. The manager who believes that for managing an organization 'all you have to do is make a good product and sell it hard' is becoming a virtual dinosaur. To meet the demands of business in the future, managers must be­come better informed, think more broadly and comprehensively, and undertake problem-solving processes in all the dimensions of their organizations and not only in their familiar 'production' or 'marketing' aspects.

There is a critical need at this point for a practical and straight forward approach to develop organizations. What is needed is a workable perspective that can help managers to look at their organizations in a comprehensive and systematic manner, as also a process for making organizations adapt to change—internal as well as external. OD offers one such perspective and process for developing the adaptive and coping capabilities of an organization.

The scope of OD is growing rapidly and the approaches to it are becoming more and more diversified. The practitioners of OD often disagree substantially on how to do it and hence there is a need for a general understanding of the concepts and ideas of OD, to be able to judge the relative merits of its various methods and techniques. There is no one 'best' approach, no one 'right' technique and no one 'correct' method. The subsequent chapters of this volume discuss a range of approaches and interventions.

References:

Burke, Warner W. (1995), 'Organizational Charige: What We Know, What We Need to Know", Journal of Management Inquiry, 4 (2): 158-71.

Lindsay, William M. and Joseph A. Petrick (1997), Total Quality and Organization Development, Florida: St Lucie Press.

Srinivas, Kalburgi M. (1994), 'Organization Development: Maya or Moksha', in Rabindra N. Kanungo and Manuel Mendonca (eds). Work Motivation: Models for Developing Countries, New Delhi: Sage.

Vaartalaap of Bangalore OD Retreat April 9 2011

The Wordle image above captures the essence of notes taken during the OD retreat of April 9 2011 at WIPRO Bangalore.

What a fantastic tribute to our time spent together.

Proceedings at the OD Retreat

9^th April, 2011

(WIPRO, Sarjapur Road, Bangalore)

                                                                                          Prepared By:

                                                                                           Deboleena Roy, and Vijayalakshmi,

                                                                                          IBS Bangalore

Edited by :  Dr. Vivekanand (IBS) ; Dr. Joseph George A; Vishy Shankara (WIPRO)

Purpose of the meeting: To converse amongst those interested in OD in India, the potential and possibilities of associating with each other in a group in face to face mode so as to get first impressions of its core values, identity and purpose.

Venue:  WIPRO, Leadership Centre, Sarjapur Road, Bangalore.

Participants*:

Name	Organisation
1.      Aparna Devagiri	3M
2.      Suvas Mahapatra	TCS
3.      Dr. Harald Patrick	Christ University
4.      Glady Jacob	Christ University
5.      Dr. Pallab B	Citrix
6.      Naga Siddharth	Citrix
7.      Dr. Kalpana Sampath	EFIL Educational Services
8.      Dr. JM Sampath	Arpitha Associates
9.      Dr. Randhir Pushpa	Unisys
10.  Dr. Mary Mathew	IISc
11.  Archana Arcot	Infosys BPO
12.  Sushma Sharma	Resonate Consulting
13.  Nisha Ninan	Nokia
14.  Vishwanath G	O&A
15.  Dr. Gopal Mahapatra	Oracle
16.  Dr. Rupande Padaki	P&P
17.  Dr. Vijai Padaki	P&P
18.  Bikramjit Maitra	Independent Consultant
19.  Sudheesh Venkatesh	Azim Premji Foundation
20.  Rev. Dr. James Kannanthanam	St. Claret
21.  Rev. Dr. Thomas T	St. Claret
22.  Dr. C Balaji	Symphony
23.  Dr. T.V Rao	T.V. Rao Learning Systems
24.  Mrs. Nandini Chawla	T.V. Rao Learning Systems
25.  Kartikeyan V	Vistas Consulting
26.  Dr. Joseph George	Wipro
27.  Hrishi Mohan	Wipro
28.  Vishy Shankara	Wipro
29.  Rev. Fr. Abraham E, SJ	XLRI
30.  Kushal Ghosh	Azim Premji Foundation
31.  Dr. Vivekanand	IBS Bangalore
32.  Deboleena Roy	IBS Bangalore
33.  B. Vijayalakhsmi	IBS Bangalore

*Briefly present – Abhijit Bhaduri, Chief Learning Officer, WIPRO; Nayana Prabhu and Dr. Vishal Shah, members of Corporate HRD, WIPRO.

The gathering paid tribute to all the great souls who had contributed to the research and practice of OD in India, by observing a 2 minute silence at the start of deliberations. This request was especially in memory of Ranjan Acharya, Senior Vice President Corporate Human Resources Development, WIPRO and Dr. Udai Pareek, the legendary OD and HRD proponent in India.

Rev. Dr. Tom T CMF, welcomed the gathering, explained the context and set the ball rolling. In his inaugural address, he stated that HRD is a function and OD is a process, as had been stated by Dr. TV Rao recently. He shared with the group  Dr. T.V Rao’s support for the setting up of an OD Network for India, suited to the country’s conditions and useful for its development.

 Dr. Tom T requested everyone to focus on:

·         Building a relationship

·         Some task with the understanding that our common values  would help in creating an identity for the group.

Dr. Tom quoted St. Francis of Assissi “Start with what is necessary, do what is essential and then the impossible will happen.”

Subsequently, Dr. Joseph shared with the group good wishes from a few eminent practitioners of OD who were not able to travel to the gathering and requested the assembly to introduce themselves, their work and also state what brought them to the meeting.

While some views of this nature are not attended to exhaustively in this report, suffice it to say, that the outpouring around reasons for being present included the following:

1.     What one could ‘get’ from the group to apply to one’s situation- whether from line HR, Consulting or the world of publishing – academic or practitioner variety

2.     The history of OD in India and its contemporariness. ATIRA-Michigan Western continental and Tavistock traditions – the Calico Mills experiment, AK Rice, Stanley Seashore and Ravi Mathai’s work of building institutions around people, in the Western regions of India; the faith of Kasturbhai Lalbhai the business leader in humanistic approaches to institution building

3.     The weaving from history into the roots of the group’s identity – e.g. Mohan Nadkarni, Suresh Srivastva, Udai Pareek

4.     The need or desire to overcome personal barriers in collaboration

5.     The transition in OD from conceptual rigor of a Systems perspective to a bag of tricks and tools that had partial and localised impact

6.     The amorphous boundary of effectiveness – from single unit organisations to networks of organisations in institutional form

7.     Theory Building for the Indian context

8.     Technology and it’s impact to the meaning of work itself in what may be called Organisation 3.0, and early fatigue from such pilot projects implying the need to question fundamentals in organisational science

9.     The evolving and transitory shared understanding of the OD professional’s job description

10.  Science, Productivity and the role of the human being in the tension between adoption and generation of processes and knowledge

11.  Emergence, generativist perspectives, and the thriving on chaos of complex adaptive systems of perpetual learning in the inter-cultural space of the global world

12.  Clarity in the foundation of organisational concepts, so as to foster a symbol of excellence as the lasting images of NTL or Tavistock grounded in India

13.  Self as instrument of Change as the core of the organisation is the person

14.  The space of Science as from ‘God’ or a spiritual base on which OD can work

15.  OD as ART form – Applied Learning, Research and Theorisation as also an adventure as such

Such being the variety in outpouring, the ground was set to explore the potential that the group so unleashed for itself.

The rest of the meeting veered around two dominant themes. – Who are WE? And WHAT should we do? It appeared that the apparition of a label for the group or nomencalture for what the group represents would be immediate confirmation of WHO we are, and yet, by some chaotic miracle, and the love for exploration, the name eluded the group.

The conversational nature of the Open Space was the first symptom in which ‘change’ was experienced. The first intervention was that of the many ‘interveners’ as attendees opening up to a space that they wished to hold together, tenuously holding a peace within themselves. They held their own to accommodate the wisdom and perspective others from diverse backgrounds could influence the proceedings with. The recording below, will we hope rekindle that value as the group reflects its next actionables, dutifully recorded by the youngest members in this gathering.

As a building block of a rapport that was yet to be fully realised, the group was a mixture of maturity and child-like eagerness, potent as it is in combination to engage each other in a commitment that outdoes the personal space that each could envisage at this moment of engagement and exploration. The first change welcomed by the self-styled community was that of breaking from the published agenda to work in a circle of open space conversations. 

Hence the report below is more of a recall of the themes that emerged than ‘who’ held the view. The idea is to register the WHAT over the WHO. In this process, if any issues got left out, the fault is entirely that of the authors of this record. They take refuge in the inclusiveness of the internet as they welcome other attendees to add in comment form or direct into blog-space to complement this effort. 

Hence, the notes are a mixture of notations, bullet-points and notions, than a declarative set of propositions that people alluded to. Thus a note of caution is in order. AND a note of HOPE. 


First the CAUTION : Terms used here may not be intelligible to all who attended, given the varying experiences and backgrounds from which the dreamers, realists and philosophers arrived to this conversation. 

The HOPE – One of the main unifiers in the group seems to be the value for sharing and learning. The incompleteness of this report is but a reflection of the group’s emerging identity. We’re work- in-process, as much as work in progress. 

The group had the benefit of a Mind-Map in which inputs from 13 people were arranged under two maps. One was for WHAT THE GROUP SHOULD BE LIKE; and the other on WHAT THE GROUP SHOULD NOT BE LIKE. The inputs were shown to the gathering through a projector onto a screen. The gathering split into small groups to assemble again around themes that they thought aligned with expressions they read.

WHAT THE GROUP SHOULD BE LIKE included

1. Research Publications – Advocate Theory; opportunities for research; arrive at a balance between research and action
2. Network – A spirit of inclusion, Support and Encourage, Connect and reconnect,
3. Education – Platform for learning, Internship for OD, Educational Workshops on OD
4. Values – Integrative values, Spiritual explorations; Metaphoric expressions – Indianness; based on actualities (empiricism?) and eclectic
5. Nature of membership – of individuals, and not of Organisations / Institutions

WHAT THE GROUP SHOULD NOT BE LIKE included

1. Not too structured, non-hierarchical;
2. Not a consulting body; Not overly a profiteering body with an excess of commercialism;
3. Not Exclusive to the point of being elitist, Not to be on a membership drive
4. Not region oriented or affiliated to strangulating holds of other associations
5. Not to over-design the nature of the association

This summary facilitation from Kartik and Vishwanath gave the group an opportunity to opine further from the depth of their experiences and the desires they came to the moments with. Some of them are mentioned below. 

1. Polarities of Formality and Informality lingered through the day, where formality resembled need for control of a functional nature; whereas informality resembled a desire to escape the tyranny of the reminders of previous associations with groups that had a similar notion.
2. The issues of Scale of the group’s efforts and the source of satiation and fulfilment recursively crept back at turning points in the group’s exploration. All the same, effective collaboration to achieve purposes to be understood mutually by members came in as a desired intervention of statement and intent.
3. When a suggestion was made on an area of ‘First’ focus – e.g. employee contract between the disillusioned and cynical employee and the distant and formal employer; a suggestion on scale of effort was offered.  
4. Need for groups and dysfunctions of previous groups; burden of past perceptions – whether ISISD, NHRDN or otherwise. What can association keep as ‘excitable’ or ‘connection’ with? The heterogeneity of membership and homogeneity of purpose or need fulfillment seemed a paradoxical union to be embraced for the acceptance of the group.
5. The Language for hope shone through the ambiguous messy space of content – e.g. a Space – in which like-minded people of multi-faceted needs to embrace the multi-dimensionality of organisation. Space allows conversation, as a natural, human art; rather than the burden of being assessed and held to restricted charters. Space – for answers, and to frame the right questions. Yearning for a kind of liberation from restricting frames of the mind in the Indian context seemed a hidden desire that spoke like a Collective Unconscious of the group. e.g. Resourcefulness for Collaboration, Togetherness for networking
6. Mental models of – organizations, role-taking – some of which is colluded with in the past by members in the group – connotations that we created….the danger of a new Utopia
7. Volunteering for the happiness principle – or fun of participating or joy of participating (akin to ‘flow’ that Mihaly C writes about?)
8. Space has a boundary – a structure; and to check the non-boundedness of a non-physical world  that gives rise to escapist notions, a realist grounding was required.
9. Core – of walking the talk – a life-space to build and live with – deal with that was not dealt with so as not to recreate failed structures or unfulfilled spaces
10. The dissipative potential of initial energy is the metaphor from Physics that reminds us of how we may calibrate the pace and energy that we carry along.
11. Metaphor – of aangan, a courtyard seemed apt for the Indian context.
12. Space for search – for novelty, new discovery or to uncover something
13. 'Converse as you organize and organize as you converse' as a canon for our work
14. Title can emerge. The undercurrent of identity – shadow of unformed personal identities?
15. The antecedent of experience for judgments in history – the dangers of collusions in that identity Who are we to judge the past?
16. What energy attracts all of or some of us?  The book of presence –  Host as structure –and commonality of change
17. Members’ expressed need and felt need – the utility of a space or network or association
18. The role of content in the group in defining identity seemed just as inviting and unexplored in dynamics.
19. There are multiple ways of connecting, perhaps not all are formally addressed or capable of being so addressed. Yet, the yearning for it being present is a reason for this group to converse about it.
20. The expectation of flow- as a hidden agenda of great potential – for the sheer delight of experiencing flow.
21. What brought us together apart from the host’s  email invitation? What are we there for?
22. Basis of need – a lot happening in different sectors in the country – efforts and results – as lessons that we could use
23. To pass on lessons on education e.g. why OD did not work in NGOs – the language of shared-renewal – need to share and need to learn – the completion that OD lends to the largeness and comprehensiveness of organisational life.
24. OD is larger in definition – compared to HRD; for it is more comprehensive in its techniques and richer in it’s processes.
25. An immediate activity that can fulfill the needs of a larger community could perhaps relieve the tension of unformed identity.
26. Needs of those present and those with whom we are connected – articulate the need around which an activity can be arranged
27. Give and Get Value as a re-affirmation of the Polarity of breath in life – Inhale and Exhale
28. Don’t be in a hurry to formalize – breathe awhile.
29. The sentient organization and the relative power of the individual
30. Presuppositions in the WHYs of existence. Simon Sinek’s work of recent times. Learn share, evolve as a work ethic for the group? The Newtonic space of a Ladder of inference based on different pre-suppositions of logic; as against the latticework of the HOWs of process.
31. Potential of Individual and Group – the power of a forum or group – that allows learning that formalizes knowledge – validation, supplementation – being more than a mere conglomerate
32. People disseminate meaning relevant to its time
33. Synergy through knowledge can satisfy search for meaning
34. Self as the unit of change – and organization as an abstract or removed entity from individual
35. Philosophical change form mechanistic to humanistic – respecting another's point of view – as the prompt for OD in the West
36. Is it possible that OD has served its purpose and we need another way of looking at organization wellness? Would that be a frontier exploration? Or do we restrict ourselves only to intervention experiences?
37. Seeking movement forward in units of social systems at different levels – individual, group, organizations, country – what are we moving forward? OD / change Management?
38. The freedom from singularity – singularity and co-existence – as polarities of another kind
39. Globalization has precipitated the need for Indianness
40. The specificity of who we are versus the space in which to relate to this identity. E.g. a Westerner coming from his/her space entering an Indian space
41. The Need for expansion of opportunities, capacities requires support groups
42. The restrictiveness of a project group – how can that thinking include non-project thinking?
43. India - The Superpower that has not actualized its potential as a binding force for this group as well?
44. Restlessness of non- action – the restlessness of the elusive ground on what we stand? And the paradox of apparent hope
45. The giving and receiving of strokes to edify the purpose of a group – support and encourage as drivers of a body of people like this
46. Self as instrument of Change – as a founding principle for membership behaviors in the group of OD affiliates.
47. Balance-sheet of successes and failures – change at slower rate than could have been. Corporates score over government led or government supported systems. E.g. Survey feedback – where has it worked? How did it relate to OD? Reduction of survey to a public relations tool. What conditions lead to such outcomes? Which OD principles were not used or neglected? So also for Transactional analysis as intervention techniques. LSIP, as visited by proponents from the WEST and practitioners in India
48. Facilitating the coming together of minds.  A documentation is required for validation of efforts
49. MDI brought out a directory of OD practitioners around 10-15 years ago. Groundwork as this requires a forum, for there is work that individuals cannot accomplish alone
50. What is with the nature of commitment in an interest group? What will hold it together?
51. 6 or 7 points of connection, said in different ways – enough for closure. Over and Done – OD
52. Distance from the ideal – a general good feel – to where do we go from here? The role of our favorite whys may come into the picture.
53. Go back to a 1 or 2 small doable agenda. Make a success of 1 doable agenda and let the larger forum
54. Sharing and receiving – core to the process. A deepening of the space necessary – essentially for getting to know each other through one’s work
55. Knowledge Managers meet on a monthly basis – would it be practical for a hosting of the forum on similar lines?
56. Proposals of listing down of all OD interventions in the last 10-15 years; 3 months
57. Step 1 - List just 2 opportunities – 1. Success – 1 – failure – where you got your fingers burnt
58. Step 2 – a forum, rather than an individual compiles e.g. XLRI can volunteer and some of us can volunteer; OR owned by this forum with resources from XLRI. Gopal, Mary to create a template for the group on qualification of cases / caselets
59. Anchor for full nation OR commence with experiences of those currently stationed in Bangalore although experiences could have been in say NOIDA
60. Qualification of Cases or caselets – building on a bibliography of what is already there from secondary sources – Archana, Balaji – technology – copyrights, annotation
61. To be or not to be – to the OD Rose – as by any other name – it smells as sweet
62. The sensitivity to observe and state the silence of the listeners. Goodness of the group as the reason for silence?
63. Need for rapport through sharing and getting beyond strangers in diversity; need for practicality through manageable small groups around expertise areas
64. Definitions of OD? Speed, scope, boundaries of OD. The regularity with which a Back to Basics session is taken up at the ODN’s Annual Conferences in USA. To meet the tensions of the field through what we bring through in cases and caselets.
65. Professional Practice Guidelines through ethical dimensions
66. Intervention as ethical responsibility in intervening in a living system
67. Work towards Core Values – imbibe in competency outwardly and subject it to a larger interpersonal space than in one-on-one alone
68. Being in the right profession vs practicing the profession right. What do we owe ourselves? how do we support each other in this journey of ethical dimensions?
69. As long as our good soul is alive – this community – how do we take it forward?
70. Professionals versus Practitioners - the nascent stage of the OD profession in India
71.  Maybe the neutralization of OD itself is taking place – e.g. OD for accent training – a call for standards or guidelines that differentiate or legitimize the field
72. Tools in unfreezing abound, tools of refreezing are rarer. Hence the job-hopping that follows such a trend and a vicious cycle of ethics. Going back to process rather than technique is required Also, to learn from social symptoms as the Hippocrates oath in the medical profession. Or the politician who takes oath under the constitution. The generation of a discussion is itself indication of the significance of the need for dialogue and conformance to ethics.
73. Look at the flux in the field as opportunity to create something for India in OD
74. ODIN – Norse God – threshold – myth and symbolism of purpose
75. Space deriving from Open Space

The initiatives identified by the group:

     I.        Rev. Dr. Tom T took the responsibility of circulating a set of workable Core Values for the group on OD practice

   II.        Dr. JM Sampath took the responsibility for organizing a 3 day retreat. Kartikeyan will work with Dr. JM Sampath on this.

  III.        Fr. Abraham SJ suggested creating websites, blogs and asked all the 30 members present in the meeting to contribute 2 cases each towards the blogs and websites. The idea of submitting two cases (one success and one failure) was initially put forth by Dr. Vijai Padaki.

 IV.        Dr. Mary Mathew, Dr. Gopal Mahapatra  took the responsibility of compiling a caselet history for learning more deeply about our work and to know each toher better through our work and experience.

  V.        Dr. Rupa Padaki and Dr. Sampath took the initiative for creating a database of OD Practitioners.

  VI.        Vishy and Nag took the responsibility of forming a  blog / group  as a space for communication and exchange of views

 VII.        Dr. C Balaji and Dr. Archana Arcot took the initiative of compiling a bibliography on OD.

           

As  a fitting finale for the day long conclave, P.S .Narayan who is part of  Eco-Eye – Wipro’s Sustainability initiative – gave a thought stimulating and wonderful presentation on   ‘Sustainability and  Business Strategy’ and the agenda of the presentation was:

• Defining the sustainability problem
• Business and Sustainability
• Wipro’s vision and approach
• Some burning questions

Some of the key point of the presenation  were Exponential economic progress growth after the industrial revolution

a.     Number of planets needed to sustain the whole world at the existing level of different national consumption. For example, if the world’s consumption level equaled that of the US, we would need 5 planets.

b.    Presented the world ecologist debt day calendar

c.     Humanity’s conundrum

d.    What does business owe to society and the planet

e.     The spectrum of approaches by WIPRO

f.     People and wealth creation

g.    Relationship of business and sustainability is no longer a troubled relationship

h.     The connection between competitive advantage and social issues by Michael Porter

i.      WIPRO’s journey towards being a responsible Global Corporation,

j.      WIPRO’s Sustainability framework

k.     Initiatives for good citizenship at WIPRO

l.      GHG reductions Goals vs targets, water efficiency at WIPRO,

m.   Biodiversity in WIPRO Campuses,

n.     Employees: agents of positive change,

o.    Lifecycle responsibility: the Wipro PC case.

Most importantly, the neurological import from Daniel Goleman’s book Ecological Intelligence indicated that mankind is ill-prepared to tackle the humongous size of the ecological imbalance. We are likely to take a short-term flight syndrome than grapple with the problem in a collaborative, problem solving manner – typical of OD future challenges. 

JG  the  host of the day,  thanked the gathering. The meeting was adjourned by Fr. Tom at 5:50 pm on 9th April, 2011.

The members departed with the hope of meeting each other in the next meet .  They left taking away memories in their heart of that beautiful day which they had devoted towards the beginning of a great idea that needed to be transformed into reality by its implementation. Contributing towards the development of OD and to fulfill the individual needs as well as the need of the nation is an idea larger than the individual - or so it seemed.