Organizational Development Flashcards

A coach uses the McKinsey 7-S framework with a client. Which of the following is one of the 'soft' S elements?

Answer: Shared values

Shared values, along with style, staff, and skills, are the soft elements of the 7-S framework.

An organization pilots a new workflow in one department before rolling it out company-wide. This change strategy is best described as:

Answer: Incremental or phased implementation

Phased implementation tests change on a small scale to reduce risk before full rollout.

Which indicator would BEST signal to a coach that an organization's culture change has actually taken hold?

Answer: Employees consistently demonstrate the new behaviors without management prompting

Culture change is real only when new behaviors become self-sustaining habits, not just communications.

A coach working with a nonprofit board finds members avoid difficult conversations to preserve harmony. This dynamic is known as:

Answer: Groupthink

Groupthink is the tendency to suppress dissent in favor of consensus, leading to poor decisions.

In succession planning, which practice most strengthens an organization's long-term leadership pipeline?

Answer: Identifying and developing high-potential employees for key roles years in advance

Proactive identification and development of internal talent ensures continuity in critical roles.

A client company has grown from 20 to 200 employees, and the founder still approves every purchase. Which OD concept explains the resulting bottleneck?

Answer: Failure to delegate as the organization scales through growth stages

Greiner's growth model shows founder-centralized control creates a leadership crisis as organizations scale.

Which action best demonstrates 'refreezing' in Lewin's change model after a new performance review system is adopted?

Answer: Embedding the new system into policies, training, and reward structures

Refreezing institutionalizes the change so it becomes the stable new normal.