(MHRDOD/MSOD)
C S E PUNN M O A C (C
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IN THIS (ISSUE) News from your class agent News From Your Class Agent 1 What’s New With You? 2 Alumni Spotlight: Mary Duncan 2 License Plates Now Available 2 Homecoming 2012 3 Inauguration of President Arant 3 More News From Your Agent 3 Fall Alumni Events 4 From the Desk of Lisa Tilma 4
Cathleen Palmer MHRDOD/MSOD Class Agent cat.palmer@hotmail.com
License Plate Update on Page 2
Greetings and happy summer, fellow MSOD grads! Allow me a few words to introduce myself and what OD means to me.
I work for the Greater Wichita YMCA and am proud to help change lives every day. I graduated with my undergraduate degree in Organizational Management and Leadership in 2009, and my MSOD degree in 2011, as a proud member of cohort 29 (a special shoutout to three men and lady). While many of us are active in the field – with or without OD in our job title – we are the few people in our community who value planned change and work to create positive work cultures and climates for all the stakeholders we serve. When I agreed to take on the challenge of writing for our newsletter, my first goal was to make this a living tool for our Friends OD community. While many of us use LinkedIn and other social media to learn new ideas or challenge our thoughts, this was a unique chance to pass along some new ideas, learn about what each of us are up to, and maybe even stir some discussion amongst us. When I first began thinking about writing this article, I starting thinking about planning a new intervention. Often I brainstorm and mentally go through the different planned
change processes to determine which one will best serve the question being asked. Often times, we stick to one model because we have had great success with it in the past. However, what worked once may not work again. This forces us to tap into our creative and innovative side. Creativity and innovation skills run wild with OD professionals as we are often living outside the box of “this is how we always do things.” Summer presents lots of exciting events and a chance to reflect as we all take the much needed time off. While you are enjoying your breaks or even brainstorming your future intervention, I challenge you to question your own intervention of choice. Try a different approach. Appreciative Inquiry is great, but would a World Café work better?
Pictured above: Cohort 29 participating in a World Café in Bolivia. (Continued on Page 3)