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

ABSTRACT

This article discusses the actual and potential use of organizational development (OD) premises and practices in libraries. Several academic research libraries have adopted an OD approach in order to create and maintain a healthy organization, improve operations and culture, and anticipate and manage change. There are many reasons for this trend, including a natural resonance between library cultures and the underlying philosophy of OD. Aspects of change management are discussed, along with leadership issues. The article cites many information resources from several disciplines that may be useful as library organizations evolve.

INTRODUCTION

As we complete this issue of Library Trends on organizational development (OD) and leadership, we would like to share our observations, comments, and opinions regarding OD, leadership, change, and other library concerns. To a large extent, our commentary is based on a combined fifty years of experience exploring the applications of OD in academic, special, and national research libraries. As we developed the concept for this Library Trends issue, recruited and worked with authors and the Library Trends staff, and advised authors on content and editorial issues, we also reviewed related literature in library and information science, organizational development, and several other disciplines. Not surprisingly, we found many of our experience-based views reinforced, while others were challenged or expanded.

We share several beliefs, premises, and values that underlie our approach to organizational issues, change, and leadership:

1. Library employees are an underutilized (and often undervalued) resource. Every person working in a library has a unique contribution to make toward the success of the organization, provided that person is committed to the mission of the library and his/her values are consistent with organizational values. Many of the skills employees bring to the job are never utilized. More and more employees today (but not all) seek to be more fully engaged in the organization and its mission and to use more of their skills and knowledge in the workplace. At the same time, organizations are beginning to recognize the tremendous untapped potential within their employees. In the business literature, authors such as Drucker (2002), Meister (1998), Paton, Taylor, & Storey (2004), and Pfeffer (1998) recognize that corporations definitely need to pay attention to human capital issues.

2. Group processes in libraries can be improved. Much of the work of libraries is accomplished with two or more staff members working together, whether in work teams, committees, or task forces. Effective group processes are essential to the success of the organization, and every employee should have some familiarity with facilitation processes--whether or not that employee ever leads a meeting or supervises another employee. Some libraries routinely offer facilitation training. Schwarz (2002) is often considered the authoritative scholarly work on group facilitation. Moore (2004) discusses practical experience combining facilitation and leadership in a public library system.

3. Libraries as organizations can be structured and operated more effectively. Library organizations are often incredibly complex, sometimes with incompatible (even contradictory) internal systems that undermine the success of the organization and its staff. Organizations are not perfect, but they can be improved. OD as a discipline offers an excellent foundation and a research-based set of tools and approaches for running effective organizations of all kinds, including libraries. In the future, another discipline or approach may emerge to eclipse OD, but at the present time it is a proven and sound approach. Holloway (2004) describes the impact of OD in some academic research libraries.

4. Leadership is critical in libraries, and all employees should be seen (and developed) as leaders. There are many models for leadership, and we tend to favor those that may acknowledge that in some circumstances top-down management does work, but in most circumstances other approaches are more effective in creating a healthy work environment, utilizing human resources, engaging employees, meeting customer needs, and in other ways fulfilling the mission of the organization. In our view, libraries should actively experiment with a wide range of leadership styles. We are also intrigued by the work of several authors who view every employee as a leader (at one level or another, in various ways) and who recommend leadership training for everyone (Badaracco, 2002; Raelin, 2003). We believe that leadership skills can be improved through training, mentoring, and other experiences. Mason & Wetherbee (2004) describe current leadership development programs that focus on library employees and comment on the structure and evaluation of these programs.

5. Positive and empowering approaches to managing and leading libraries are more effective than some traditional approaches. We believe the current movement toward positive approaches to individuals and organizations has significant potential for reshaping and invigorating libraries and other organizations. Various authors have written on both the theory and application of this approach (a) in broadening our definition of human potential (for example, Buckingham & Clifton, 2001; Gardner, 1983, 1999); (b) in focusing on positive psychology and related topics (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000; Snyder & Lopez, 2002; Turner, Barling, & Zacharatos, 2002; Wright, 2003); (c) in applying appreciative inquiry, an approach to identifying what works well in an organization and how the organization can do more of the same (Sullivan, 2004); and (d) in taking action to improve often-dreaded performance appraisals so that they are more effective for both the employee and the organization (Coens & Jenkins, 2000). How can libraries further embrace the results of such research and make their cultures and environments more positive for people who work, study, and do research in their physical as well as virtual spaces?

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…