Gangam Style or Memes
Brown (2011) observes many disagree
as to whether or not organizational development (OD) “will become a long-term
contribution to management and organization theory” or simple go the path of
many fads and “fade away into the dusty archives” with countless other trends
(p. 425). Being a child of the 60s and 70s, fads came and went so fast, head
literally were left spinning. As I read the question posed by Brown (2011), “Fad
or Discipline?”, the either/or element provided pause. Before developing an
answer, I pondered as to the impact fads have had on recent generations.
Watchmojo.com
(2014) compiled a video clip presentation of the ten Internet fads. Before
launching into the countdown of the top ten, an explanation about fads caught
my ear. Since the rise of the Internet, beginning in the 1990s, fads have been
a way to connect with others around the globe and spread information about
current events and trends in our respective social circles (Watchmojo.com,
2014). In that sense, organizational development could be seen as a fad. A
relatively new approach to provide organizations with “innovation and renewal”,
its sixty-year existence and the impact cannot yet be completely measured
(Brown, 2011, p. 425). One of the to ten fads is that of “Chatroulette” that
saw an increase in viewers from 500 to 50,000 within one month (Watchmojo.com,
2014). Some fads; however, bring about significant change. For example, KONY
2012 used social media to focus global media attention on the Ugandan Gorilla
leader, Joseph Kony, and his abuse of children as both sex slaves and soldiers.
Viral videos of the late 90s launched YouTube
in 2005 (Watchmojo.com, 2014). How many of us find the latest “how to”
video with just a few quick keystrokes?
Just as Yukl’s (2013) observation
regarding the study of leadership, an interest that has been in existence “since
the beginning of recorded history”, demonstrates the formal disciplines and
theories began with the last century, OD parallels much of what the study of
leadership has encountered (p. 422). Leadership began by believing a person’s
traits determined leadership. Since then, we’ve seen participative, contingency
theory, adaptive leadership, leader-member exchange, charismatic,
transformational, and servant leadership theories presented (Yukl, 2013). “Every
organization exists in a continuous state of adapting to change” (Brown, 2011,
p. 420). Leaders and leadership must maintain a sense of flexibility and ability
to change; so, it stands to reasons methods designed to provide leaders with
that sense of renewal and innovation would change overtime, too.
Warren Bennis notes “every age
adopts the organizational form” it needs, changing the climate is the only way
to change the organization, and new social awareness is needed “by people in
organizations” (as cited in Brown, 2011, p. 425). Isn’t that the very lesson of
fads? People needed to know what was taking place in Uganda and the people of
this generation took to social media and captured the attention of the media.
Videos allowed us to connect in funny, playful ways. Now, YouTube relieves everyday tension such as how to change an ink
cartridge. The number one fad is Memes, # this, # that, and photo puns; but,
its roots began in 1976 with Richard Dawkins’ book, The Selfish Gene (Watchmojo.com, 2014). Brown (2011) notes leaders
and managers may have a tendency to view OD solutions as “quick fixes” rather
than an overall approach to bring about change (p. 425). Perhaps, in that sense
some concepts like empowering employees, TQM, outdoor retreats like EcoSeagate,
or flattened hierarchies may seem like a “quick fix” or the latest fad in
bringing about change; but, if OD is viewed as a “contributing technology” that
will need to change as quickly as organizations are changing, then the fad, a
way to transmit ideas of contemporary organizational development relevance in
real time, becomes yet another layer on the disciplines still being studied and
pondered (Brown, 2011, p. 425; Watchmojo.com, 2014).
I rarely
accept an either/or premise. The truth is generally somewhere between the two
extremes. Like leadership and the many studies; changes in the types and styles
of organizational development will occur and it will be interesting to note
which ones provide much needed awareness and which ones go the way of “Gangam
Style” (Watchmojo.com, 2014).
Brown, D.R. (2011). An Experiential Approach to Organization
Development. (8th ed.). Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Watchmojo.com. (2014, Nov. 14).
Top 10 Internet Fads. [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://youtu.be/taOzl_9ewAc
Yukl, G. (2013). Leadership in Organizations. (8th
ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
No comments:
Post a Comment