Organization Development: A Process of Learning and Changing by W. Warner Burke & Debra A. Noumair

Author:W. Warner Burke & Debra A. Noumair
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Pearson Education
Published: 2015-01-12T14:00:00+00:00

Criteria for Effective Intervention

Argyris (1970) has specified similar criteria for what he considers the primary tasks of an interventionist (OD practitioner). His three criteria are (1) valid and useful information, (2) free choice, and (3) internal commitment. By valid and useful information, he means “that which describes the factors plus their interrelationships, that create the problem for the client system” (p. 17). According to Argyris, the information the OD practitioner has collected from and about the client accurately reflects what people in the organization perceive and feel, what they consider to be their primary concerns and issues, what they experience as complexities and perhaps accompanying frustrations of living within and being a part of the client system, and what they would like to see changed. Argyris goes on to specify that, if several independent diagnoses lead to the same intervention, the data the practitioner has gathered are valid.

For all practical purposes, this first task of an interventionist, obtaining valid and useful information, is similar to our first criterion for intervention, responding to an actual and felt need for change on the part of the client. If valid information is obtained by the practitioner, it will reflect a need. If the practitioner responds to that need, he or she will have done so by providing valid and useful information.

By free choice, Argyris means that “the locus of decision making [is] in the client system” (p. 19) and that the client is provided alternatives for action. No particular or specified action is automatic, preordained, or imposed.

By internal commitment, Argyris means that the client owns the choice made and feels responsible for implementing it. Organization members act on their choice because it responds to needs, both individual and on behalf of the organization.

The primary tasks of choice and internal commitment will be accomplished if the practitioner involves the client in planning and implementing the intervention. Argyris does not specify cultural change, our third criterion. He implies that, if the practitioner accomplishes the three primary tasks, the organization’s culture will be changed. This is only an implication, however; he does not specify it.

Although there are similarities between Argyris’s criteria and ours, the primary difference is that we are expressing processes or means while he is stating end states or outcomes. Either way of expressing these criteria makes sense.

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