On Thursday 10 November 2011, Thought Partners hosted the NZ Organisation Development (OD) Forum at the Rydges Hotel, Wellington.

The OD Forum has become an annual event for many practitioners and leaders. Of particular note is the large number of groups attending who plan to continue the discussion back in their work place. The format for the Forum changed this year as we offered a wider range of opportunities for learning and engagement on organisation development. Our change in venue was very successful and worked well with the size of the group. We'll use the Rydges again.

The programme offered two key note addresses by Jim Mather CEO of Maori Television and Russ Gaskin from Washington DC; two big picture case studies; two deep dives; two learning from others through case studies; and two intimate sessions with CEOs. This way of organising the day worked well with participants being able to attend the workshops of their choice.

Feedback on content and focus in 2010 included the challenge to step it up a notch and provide increased challenge for experienced practitioners. We did this in 2011 through the CE dialogue, deep dives and the afternoon Polarity Management session delivered by our US guest. The polarities session led by Russ Gaskin was rich, thought provoking, and readily applicable. Feedback from many highlighted how good it was to have this type of session as it provided the stretch and up-skilling they were looking for. Others found it too academic and hard to focus on later in the afternoon. Getting the final session right remains a challenge for us!

The deep dives, delivered by Thought Partners consultants, were designed to include input along with practical application and group work. The time allocated made this a tight fit, with feedback focusing on the need for more time to have the in-depth input and discussion the topics warranted.

This year we had three CEOs on the programme. Jim Mather from Maori Television provided an inspiring story of what a small organisation can achieve when they fully understand the ‘why'. His story focused on the Rugby World Cup and the central role Maori TV played in the provision of free to air games. For those who were enthralled with the RWC it provided us with another opportunity to live the excitement of it all. The two small group CEO sessions were very successful with both Mike Houlihan (Te Papa Tongarewa) and Mike Bennetts (Z Energy) providing inspiring overviews of what drives their leadership and organisational development. What's become clearer to us is how rewarding it is for participants to engage with senior leaders and understand more about the differences and similarities in their approach. One of the themes from the CEO's became ‘if you get the ‘why' right, the ‘how' will follow.'

Our thanks to the case study presenters who shared their experience with leadership development (NZTA), change (HNZC), introducing and implementing sustainability practices (URS) and social entrepreneurship (Gael Surgenor). They were rich and varied and demonstrated courage, commitment and were good examples of how to approach an organisation development challenge systemically.

Workshop materials and summaries are available here.

We have tentatively booked 8 November 2012 for our next OD Forum - so put the date in your diaries. A number of attendees have offered to run workshops at the next Forum which is exciting. From the feedback we've received, participants would like stronger links to OD, techniques for translating theory into practice, more on lessons learned i.e. the failures or challenges faced and an engaging final session. They're also suggesting closing with drinks.

We'll be back in touch with you via our newsletter. Please feel free to pass it on to others who may be interested. If you have any good ideas for the Forum please let us know - we're always open to suggestions and ideas.

The Thought Partners Team