Values, Assumptions and

Beliefs in OD
A Belief
A belief is a proposition about how the
world works that the individual
accepts as true: it is a cognitive fact
for the person.

Values
They are also beliefs and are defined as:
Beliefs about what is desirable or
good and what is undesirable or bad
Assumptions
Assumptions are beliefs that are
regarded as so valuable and
obviously correct that they are taken
for granted and rarely examined or
questioned.
Three types of OD Values
Humanistic
Optimistic
Democratic

Humanistic values
They proclaim the importance of the
individual.
Respect the whole person.
Treat people with respect and dignity.
Assume that every one has intrinsic
worth.
View all people as having the
potential for growth and
development.
Optimistic values
They post that people are basically
good.
Progress is possible and desirable.
Rationality, reason, and goodwill are
the tools for making progress.
Democratic values
They assert the sanctity of the
individual.
The right of people to be free from
misuse of power.
Use of fair and equitable treatment
for all.
Need for justice through rule of law.
Early statements of OD values
Warren Bennis 1969
Richard Beckhard 1969
Robert Tannenbaum 1969
Warren Bennis
Improvement in interpersonal
competence.
Shift in values so that human factors
and feelings come to be considered
legitimate.
Development of increased
understanding between and within
working groups in order to reduce
tensions.

Development of more effective team
management
Development of better methods of
conflict resolution.
Development of organic rather than
mechanical systems.

Mechanical V/S Organic systems
Authority-obedience relations v/s
mutual confidence and trust.
Strict division of labour and
hierarchical super vision v/s multi-
group membership and responsibility.
Centralized decision making v/s wide
sharing of responsibility and control.

Richard Beckhard
The basic building blocks of an
organization are groups, therefore the
basic units of change are groups, not
individuals.
Goal is the reduction of competition
between parts of the organization and
the development of a more
collaborative condition.

Decision making in a healthy
organization is located where the
information sources are, rather than in
a particular role or level of hierarchy.
Organizations, subunits of
organizations and individuals
continuously manage their affairs
against goals. Controls are interim
measurements, not the basis of
managerial strategy.
One goal of a healthy organization is to
develop generally open
communication, mutual trust, and
confidence between and across levels.
people support what they create.
People affected by a change must be
allowed active participation and a
sense of ownership in the planning and
conduct of the change.
Robert Tannenbaums values in
transition
People as essentially bad to basically
good.
Avoidance of negative evaluation of
individuals to confirming them as
human beings.
Individuals as fixed to seeing them as
being in process.
Resisting and fearing individual
differences to accepting and utilizing
them.


Utilizing an individual primarily with
reference to his job to viewing an
individual as a whole person.
Walling off the expression of feelings
to appropriate expression and
effective use.
Maskmanship and game playing to
authentic behaviour.



Use of status for maintaining power
and personal prestige to use of status
for organizationally relevant
purposes.
From distrusting people to trusting
them.
From avoidance to confrontation.
Avoidance of risk taking to
willingness to risk.
View of process work as unproductive
to seeing it as essential to effective
task accomplishment.
From primary emphasis on
competition to greater emphasis on
collaboration.
Implication of OD values
Implications for dealing with
individuals.
Implications for dealing with groups.
Implications for designing and
running organizations.
Individuals
1. Most individuals are naturally driven
towards personal growth and development
if provided with environment.
2. Most people desire and are capable of
making greater contribution towards
attaining organization goals.
3. Ask-listen-support-challenge-
encourage risk taking-permit failure-
remove obstacles-give autonomy and
responsibility-set high standards-
reward success.
Groups
What occurs at the formal and informal
levels, greatly influences feelings of
satisfaction and competence.
People wish to be accepted and interact co-
operatively at least with one reference
group.
People are capable of making great
contributions to a groups effectiveness.
Let teams flourish-leaders should
invest in groups-adopt a team
leadership style.
Designing and running
organizations
Developmental outlook and opportunities in
which people can experience personal and
professional growth.
Create organizations that on one hand are
humane, developmental, and empowering
and on the other hand are high performing
in terms of productivity, quality of out-put
and profitability.
Putting people first.
Thank You