When Change Management Isn’t OD

In this episode, we dive into the provocative assertion by W. Warner Burke that much of today’s change management work is not truly Organizational Development.

That may sound surprising. After all, many OD practitioners spend much of their time helping organizations navigate change. So how could change management not be OD?
As we explore Burke’s perspective, we find ourselves agreeing that his argument has more merit than many might initially think.

At the center of the debate is the idea that much of modern change management — particularly as practiced by large consulting firms such as Deloitte and McKinsey & Company — tends to focus heavily on implementation, project plans, communications strategies, training rollouts, and adoption metrics. While these approaches may improve execution, Burke argues they often lack the deeper human and systemic foundations that have traditionally defined OD.

Joyce and Bob reflect on examples from their own consulting work where change efforts were grounded in core OD principles. Rather than rushing to implementation, they describe the importance of first diagnosing what is really happening in the organization — understanding the culture, relationships, dynamics, and underlying patterns driving behavior.

They also explore how effective OD-based change relies on collaboration, co-creation, participation, and leveraging an understanding of human behavior to build solutions with people rather than imposing solutions on them. In their experience, sustainable change happens not simply through execution discipline, but through engaging the organization in meaningful ways that create ownership, trust, learning, and commitment.

Whether you are an OD practitioner, consultant, leader, or someone trying to help organizations change effectively, this episode challenges us to rethink what meaningful organizational change really requires.