Organisation Development Books
“The Global Organisation Development: A Model for Africa and the World” book comprises seven sections. Section one discusses the introduction of Organisation Development to the African continent, the nature of Organisations, the basics of OD, and the OD process. Section two addresses the change process in OD and the OD cycle. Section three talks about the concept of “self as an instrument of change,” learning to facilitate, and coaching. Section four highlights basic organisation development interventions such as organizational assessment, dynamic team building, work process design, and strategic planning. Section five discusses issues such as organisation development (OD) ethics and the consultancy contract outline. Section six shares practical case studies of the authors’ consulting experiences in Ghana, the Philippines, Holland, Germany, the USA, and other parts of the world. Section seven provides the OD tool kit, such as force field analysis, change process roadmap, six-box model, star model, team charter, and group effectiveness assessment instrument.
This book dishes a rich, mixed delicacy of African storytelling and the Western textbook style of writing. It illustrates Noble’s personal and professional experiences, his life, and his practice of OD. Noble uses his experiences in life, starting out as the boy from Abayikor with only a gleam of hope for the future, to express the struggles that have led to his rise to the top as Africa’s father of OD.
At the point he almost gave up on education, this statement from his sister changed his life: “You know, in our father’s house, we are many. If they share the coconut trees today as inheritance, how many do you think you would get? For your academic qualifications, nobody can inherit or share that with you. They are yours forever”. And since then his pursuit to achieve more academically took him out of the valleys of poverty and illiteracy to the cliffs of a celebrated life in the profession in Africa. The book has good life lessons for those who are battling the odds in life.
For new practitioners, this book will provide a useful information source that will help them navigate and survive in the “consultancy jungle.” The practitioner will find it useful, through the stories of Noble’s life, the need for flexibility, hard work, authenticity, and the importance of relationships in the practice of OD. And especially for African practitioners, it drums home the perception that OD is indeed the “fourth leg”of the “elephant” Africa , and OD, is the solution for many of Africa’s problems.
Not many authors give it all out the way Noble has done in this book. A good read for both professionals in the field of OD and non-professionals.
