Practicing Organization Development: A Guide for Leading Change: A Third Edition

PRIOR COMPETENCY RESEARCH IN OD

Much research has been focused on the competencies required for success in OD (see, for instance, Adams & Callahan, no date; Bushe & Gibbs, 1990; Church, Wadowski, & Burke, 1996; Eubanks, O’Driscoll, Hagward, & Daniels, 1990; Lippitt & Lippitt, 1978; McDermott, 1984; Neilson, 1984; Partin, 1973; Shepard & Raia, 1981; Varney, 1980; Warrick & Donovan, 1979; Worley & Feyerherm, 2003; Worley & Varney, 1998). We draw primarily from three studies. Shepard and Raia’s (1981) OD competency study is one of the earliest reports. A Delphi study with seventy “OD experts” generated a list of eighty-three items in twelve categories. Varney and his colleagues (1998) developed a list of sixty-seven “entry level” competencies ...