Organizational development, leadership, change, and the future of libraries

6. Change in libraries can be anticipated, planned, and implemented in better ways. The library community is well aware of the impacts of rapidly changing information technology, evolving user expectations and information-seeking behaviors, and changes in information publishing and dissemination. It is unclear, however, whether awareness of these driving environmental issues equals understanding and whether the knowledge of these issues is applied to planning and implementation of change in library organizations. Hiller and Self (2004) note the methodology of systematic assessment in several libraries' planning efforts. Deiss (2004) ventures into rarely trod territory to discuss the organizational choices (presented as dichotomies) and risks faced by libraries seeking to implement meaningful change. Each library organization is unique. Nevertheless, generalized documentation and study of effective library change efforts across various library types remains a much-needed area of research.

7. Ideas and tools for improving libraries as organizations usually originate from disciplines outside library and information science. We concur with Joel Barker's suggestion that anyone who wants to have a better idea of what is happening and what is about to happen needs to read widely in a number of sources one normally might consider exotic or tangential (Barker, 1993, pp. 213-218). While he developed this concept to help himself and others anticipate coming and future paradigm shifts, Barker's technique is equally useful for scanning the environment for other purposes. Libraries are not the only organizations on the planet, and most OD applications are first developed in corporations or other organizations. Our reference list documents the range of sources we find useful.

ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The discipline of OD has evolved over the past fifty years or so. Both French & Bell (1999) and Grieves (2000) describe the historical development of the field. Broader perspectives on the nature of the discipline are contained in Carnevale (2003), French & Bell (1999), and Wheatley, Tannenbaum, Griffin, & Quade (2003). But what is OD? Perhaps the most comprehensive definition is the one provided by French and Bell, who describe OD as

   a long-term effort, led and supported by top management, to
   improve an organization's visioning, empowerment, learning, and
   problem-solving processes, through an ongoing, collaborative
   management of organization culture--with special emphasis on the
   culture of intact work teams and other team configurations--using
   the consultant-facilitator role and the theory and technology of
   applied behavioral science, including action research. (French &
   Bell, 1999, pp. 25-26)

The authors then devote several pages to explain the meaning of each part of the definition (French & Bell, pp. 26-29).

On a practical day-to-day level, we think of OD as an ongoing, thoughtfully planned effort by all members of an organization to improve how that organization operates, serves its stakeholders, fulfills its mission, and approaches its vision. What are more compelling than the definition of OD are the underlying and continuously evolving philosophy and values of the discipline.