Refiguring agency: OD’s role in a new activism

James Traeger, Mayvin

Refiguring agency: OD’s role in a new activism

What does it mean to be an activist in the current times? How do we think of our agency, that is our ability to make a useful difference, in the context of the complexity of our current times? I propose that we need a radically different notion of these things, and how our practice of organisational and personal change can make a valuable contribution.

One criticism of the work of organisational development is that our work can appear to be solipsistic; that is overly focused on our individual story, and less on the impact we have on a wider set of changes. Whilst there may be some truth in this, I prefer to see this turn to the self as partly the function of the very system that we are trying to shift. The mental structures of our current society are individualistic and therefore tend to view this turn to self-awareness as a kind of individualism. The opposite can also be true: when we focus on our own make-up, we potentially liberate ourselves from the thrall of a system which reifies individualism. Rather than remaining fixed on our image like the gaze of narcissus, we see through the pool to a window on the world. 

To read more download the attached article.

James will be hosting a follow-up webinar for those interested in diving a bit deeper.