Responses to the Problem of OD Stagnation: A Tribute to Warner Burke

Abstract

As our most qualified inspector, sage, and futurist for organizational development (OD), Warner has set the standard for what great organizational change and development should be. He has recently accused the field of being stagnant and in need of new approaches to organizational change. In his view, there has been no innovation in OD since appreciative inquiry was introduced in 1987. This article takes seriously Warner’s challenge and discusses positive organizational scholarship (POS) as a step forward in innovative OD scholarship. POS highlights some phenomena that have largely been overlooked in mainline OD articles, and the article provides illustrations of successful POS interventions relying on a POS–OD approach to change. A sampling of new OD-type intervention practices is introduced.