Briefly compare and contrast Leavitt’s model, the McKinsey 7-S Model, and the congruence model. Then, propose a model that you want to use for OD efforts and explain why.

The Mckinsey 7-S model and Leavitt’s Model are closed system models; they don’t take into account any outside forces. They look at the inner workings of an organization. McKinsey 7-S model is typically applied through a change management approach (a doctor diagnosing a patient) however, it can be used in organization development when the consultant is acting as a facilitator.

Neither the 7-S nor Leavitt’s Model considers external forces. The Nadler-Tushman Congruence Model does consider both the way external forces impact the organization, the way the organization affects the external environment.

Rothwell, Stopper, & Myers (2016) compare the two Leavitt’s Model and the 7-S model. I added the last column, Nadler – Tushman Model, to show how much more the Nadler – Tushman Congruence Model considers. A couple of things to note in the below chart; People in Leavitt’s Model are broken up into Staff and Skill in the 7-S model and individual in the Nadler-Tushman Model; I. Shared values is unique to the S-7 model. The chart below has grouped similar items across.

Rothwell, Stopper, & Myers (2017) p. 34

Of the three models presented, I prefer the Nadler- Tushman Congruence model because so much of what drives an organization is based on either a reaction to something in the environment or the delivery of something out to the environment.

Reference
Rothwell, W. J., Stopper, A. L., & Myers, J. L. (Eds.). (2017). Assessment and diagnosis for organization development : Powerful tools and perspectives for the od practitioner. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com

What is the most important thing you have learned in this course? How do you feel about it?

I’ve learned so much in this course- I don’t even know where to start! I’ll bullet out some major takeaways, and then see if I can hone in on one…

• I have found my calling! All of my strengths collide in OD (futuristic, strategic, responsibility, self- assurance, and learner).
• How do you work in a group, remotely, across multiple time zones, against competing priorities? I don’t know if that will ever be perfectly solved, but it has been a wonderful experiment!
• How to find the time to dive into this subject between balancing life, a full-time job, being a mother, wife, sister, friend, daughter, athlete… If it’s truly important, time will be found.
• Implementing change is no small feat. It takes courage, vision, support, trial, and error, more support, more attempts…
• There are so many changes that can be made, from small to large, but the impact of the change can be much farther reaching than one may think.
• ARM, AI, Change Management – you name it, models are great! They’re like a roadmap to your destination.
• I’ve enjoyed reading both the theory behind how OD works and the way one implements it. I look forward to learning more and more as my work in the program progresses.
• Dr. Rothwell stated either on the first conference call, or in one of the first modules, that this course is more like a survey course- he’ll present a bunch of theories, models, and applications, but that we’re just scratching the surface of all that there is to know. It’s true! I don’t remember the last time that I’ve finished a course with more questions than when I started and felt excited and energized by it. I already have a reading list for the break (polarity management, Zeigarnik effect, the cycle of experience, and systems thinking… to name a few).

The very first ethical challenge I remember facing, on my own, was when I was in college. It was my senior year and my coach had said something that disturbed me. It shook me to my core and I knew that my silence would tell my team that what he had said to us was ok to say again and again. 

I left practice that day feeling defeated and like an outsider to the team of which I had become an integral part. I knew that if I didn’t say anything that I wouldn’t be able to trust myself in the future to stand up to my convictions and beliefs. So, after breakfast, I returned back to talk to my coach. It was one of the most uncomfortable conversations I’ve ever had. There I was a young woman talking to a male authority figure about something he had said, and the way it had made me feel.

I was visibly shaking as I spoke, he could see and hear how upset I was. He immediately said that he was wrong and he should never have said it and that he would never say it again. He apologized. 

I left feeling with so much more confidence than I’d ever had. I told how the words of a male authority figure made me feel, the concern I had for the way they would be taken by the team, and that as our coach he needs to be more sensitive to the impact his words have on each of us.

Whenever I need to find a bit more strength in my day or to confront a situation that I feel is wrong, I always think back to that conversation and draw from the strength it continues to provide me.

I think I’m a great connector of people. I love to learn about people and then connect them with others. I like to tell stories and I’ve been told that I’m very quick-witted. I also love to talk to large groups, I feed off of the energy and nerves that show up before I’m about to present. I love thinking about the future and how what’s happening now or has happened in the past can impact what’s to come. 

I love to run and to compete against myself, to see if I can run a bit faster than last time (it’s gotten tot he point that if I want a relaxing workout, I need to leave my watch and phone at home so I’m not aware of the time). I also ride my bike to work and like to see if I can ride faster than the cars around me or other bikers.

I love to write and tell stories. I first dreamed of being a writer when I was in second grade and wrote my first book, “Big Blog and Little Blob”.

So many of my strengths have had a chance to shine in this course and in my other course. I’ve been able to take what we’re learning, the foundations and theories and see how they play out in real life. I also love the fact that so much of OD is based on the stories that people tell, whether to themselves, to others, or about the organization. It plays right into my storytelling strength.

Yesterday we had a Gallup Strengths Coach facilitate a training on discovering our top five strengths and how they impact our team. The prep work for the meeting was to complete the Gallup Strengths Finder survey (which I’d done about a year ago). My top five strengths are:

1. 1. 1. 1. Responsibility
         2. Strategic
         3. Learner
         4. Self-Assured
         5. Futuristic

It was so interesting to see how these skills overlap with the things that I’ve thought are my strengths – while also highlighting things that I never before thought of as a strength – such as learning. 

I’ve always loved learning – it makes no difference to me if I’m learning something new or teaching something. Either way, I love it. 

I also enjoy thinking about the future and imagining the way things may play out. What I’ve enjoyed most about this course is the different models we’ve learned about and how they can be implemented at work today and the impact they could have on the future. 

When I work with others I tend to be more extraverted. I enjoy meeting new people and working through problems together. I enjoy looking for connections between people and finding commonalities so that people can feel more comfortable in new situations. If you were to ask one of my teammates about my group work, they would say that I’m good at providing a different perspective. I’m able to put these qualities to use daily when I interact with my team and the public. I enjoy risk-taking. I think there’s nothing more refreshing then trying something completely new and different, just to see how it goes. Although I find that difficult to do in my current environment where we tend to defer to what’s been done before is safe to do again. 

When I worked in retail, I learned that the mood of the store is set by the manager. If I was in a good mood, then the store did well, people had fun working and shopping. If I was in a bad mood, or just wanted to work in the back, the store didn’t do as well. I don’t think it was because of my booming personality (I don’t have one of those) but more because the staff was young, many were students working a second job, and the store wasn’t their priority. So, I learned to become good at “reading the room”. I learned to check in with people, see how they were doing, gauge their energy levels, and get a sense of how they showed up at work that day. Once I had a sense of that, I was able to assign tasks that were better aligned to what they needed that day in order to bring out their best selves. It wasn’t easy, but it taught me how to ask questions and developed within me the importance of understanding that people bring different moods, expectations, ideas, experiences, and perspectives to each setting.

If you were to ask someone about my personal strengths I think they’d say that I’m good at communicating, I can draw parallels from seemingly different ideas. My colleagues would also say that I’m good at making people feel comfortable. People say that I’m organized and am good at coming up with processes. They also say I can tell a good story and keep people engaged when I’m talking. People come to me often to bounce ideas off of me, or to help with creating a tag line or finding parallels between different thoughts.