Organizational Diagnosis: Diagnostic Strengths for Effectiveness

This seminar introduces participants to multiple approaches to diagnosing organizations to understand the complex ways issues show up and how to work through them. When organizations find themselves in trouble, i.e., rumblings about lack of leadership, cultural challenges, poor communication, diminished productivity, low morale, etc., they tend to frame the problem(s) simplistically or locate blame in a few difficult individuals or groups. On closer examination, problematic issues are often found to be symptomatic of multiple systemic or cultural issues within the organization. Change can only be successful when it starts from a clear evidence-based assessment.   

The course provides students with tools, frameworks, and theories to understand these organizational challenges and opportunities, focusing on systems thinking, culture/ethnography, and group dynamics, as well as application skills necessary for identifying and framing problem areas, collecting data, and organizing feedback to the client system. Real-time examples, case simulations, enactments and diagnostic project work will inform our discussions as we consider the relationships between diagnosis, organizational reflection and appropriate action.