Business Commons^™

Leaders Fostering Dialogue Through Developmental Relationships: An Od Perspective, Rod P. Githens, Nileen Verbeten

Benerd College Faculty Books and Book Chapters

In complex and chaotic contexts, technical approaches to organizational change fail to produce desired results. This chapter explores how leaders can foster developmental relationships at the individual and group levels by using dialogue-centric methods to help individuals and groups identify emergent solutions. We integrate the literature on dialogic organization development (OD) and psychological safety to develop a perspective for developmental relationships in emergent contexts where groups cannot find clear solutions. The chapter culminates with an overview of three families of methodologies for fostering developmental relationships through dialogue at the group level: Technology of Participation (ToP), Liberating Structures, and Design Thinking. …