Course Objectives
Over the years, we have felt a strong need for building internal leadership capacities to design organizations to achieve their purpose. This includes:- Developing the capability to diagnose organizational issues and challenges
- Design appropriate change strategies collaboratively
- Implement and sustain the change successfully;
- Ensure that employees are engaged, motivated and committed to the flourishing of the organization
- Develop wider, distributed leadership within the organization.
Course Outcomes
Organisation leadership / core team will:- Learn to create safe, inclusive spaces in their organization for dialogue, conversations and ideation.
- Learn to identify the organization’s core strengths, values and potential for growth and sustainability.
- Develop capabilities to identify organizational needs and challenges.
- Build the organization’s capacity to design organizational structures, processes and strategies to meet organizational needs.
- Participate in open online sessions of a ‘Community of Practice’ (CoP) on OD&D comprising Fellows from current and past cohorts.
- Participate in webinars and sessions on OD&D themes and questions.
- Build strong relationships with other OD&D Fellows, practitioners and other members of the CoP for continuous support and learning.
- Have access to OD case-studies, tools, frameworks, and other materials.
Pre-requisites for organizations
- Organizations should have openness to learn, experiment and collaborate to make this partnership meaningful for everyone within the organization and the OD&D CoP.
- Organizations should be able to commit to being a part of the OD&D journey for the whole year. This commitment would mean being ready to:
- Identify two (2) members in the organization who could be OD&D Fellows and support them in every way possible (including re-thinking and re-designing their job roles) to give them sufficient bandwidth to participate in the OD&D Fellowship journey.
Pre-requisites for Fellows nominated by organizations
This member should:- Have an understanding and perspective of the entire organization
- Be in leadership roles within the organization
- Have sufficient agency within the organization to undertake change processes necessary to solve organizational issues
- Be reasonably proficient in English, since the readings and the conversations are typically in English, as we cater to organizations and Fellows from across the country
- Be willing to learn and be curious to explore OD&D tools and methods
Course Details
- To support the nominated OD Fellows through this process, each organisation (two internal team members) will be paired with another buddy fellow to work with them throughout the year.
- The program will kickstart with a 3-4 days in-person workshop in Bengaluru
- The year-long OD journey broadly includes:
- Self-reflection and personal leadership development;
- Building effective and collaborative relationships among peer fellows
- Preparing the organization for change;
- Identifying organizational challenges and designing for them in collaboration with external fellow and other organizational team members;
- Reflecting on solutions and modifying them as per need.
Course Facilitator
Prof. Sujatha Rao
Prof. Sujatha Rao is a Founder-Director of Viridus Social Impact Solutions. Sujatha works in the areas of education, technology and organization development. Over the last two decades, her interest and research has been in studying how social purpose organizations can be purposefully designed in ways that empower human agency and enhance organizational impact. She has worked in and consulted widely in the areas of organizational development, leadership development and in vocational and school education across private, not-for-profit and public sectors both in India and overseas.
Sujatha has taught at University of Western Sydney, University of Sydney, Azim Premji University, and Indian School of Development Management (ISDM). She holds a Postgraduate Degree in Personnel Management and Industrial Relations from XLRI Jamshedpur, and a PhD in Organization Studies from University of Sydney.
Testimonials
Preeti Prasad, Chief Operating Officer, Catalyst for Social Action, Mumbai
“I have taken a lot from the OD&D program, over and above organization design and development principles and practices! I feel I understand human beings better now. I also realize that many of the principles existed within me and that was very validating. It built my confidence through this journey. The discoveries I made were fascinating - like how human evolution has impacted organization design, how by asking positivity inducing questions you can get so much insight on what may not be working in your organization, and how focussing on strengths eventually leads to better processes.”
Pauzagin Tonsing, Director, Centre for Community Initiative, Manipur
“Several factors have been instrumental in shaping my journey in the OD&D program. The blend of theoretical learning and practical applications provided a holistic perspective on organizational development. I could not grasp some of those theories as my education background is not well. However, I am grateful for the guidance from Sujatha and collaboration with my fellow partner (Pradyumna) and buddy (Vani) that enriched my understanding and introduced fresh approaches to tackling challenges.
Involving staff of my organization – Centre for Community Initiative (CCI) and their response acted as a strong foundation, offering real-life insights and a platform to implement ideas effectively. Balancing the program’s demands with my responsibilities at CCI taught me valuable lessons in resilience, time management, and adaptability.
Through the program, I have gained not just skills but also the confidence to approach organizational challenges with a strategic and inclusive mindset. This journey has been a testament to the power of collaboration, the importance of aligning individual and organizational goals, and the impact of thoughtful design in creating meaningful change. I am deeply grateful for this opportunity, which has not only shaped my professional trajectory but has also reinforced my dedication to sustainable community development and inclusivity.”
Ria Banerjee, Senior Manager, Vikramshila Education Resource Society, Kolkata
"The OD&D program has been a personal journey of discovering my own values and embracing the tensions, pushes and pulls, uncertainties and confusion—along with a wide array of emotions—that come with thinking about organizational change. The various tools and facilitation strategies introduced in the fellowship have given me the confidence to engage in deeper dialogues within the organization, rather than just addressing surface-level issues and quick fixes. One of the most valuable takeaways has been the importance of designing and facilitating meaningful and reflective spaces, which I have been trying to do in my organization. While it made me familiar with a body of knowledge, it was only when I started engaging with some of the concepts and tools, I had more questions.
One of the challenges I faced was translating these insights into action amidst the existing organizational 'climate', where everyone is busy, working in silos. However, experimenting with small shifts - like redesigning team discussions to be more reflective - has shown me the power of gradual change. Moving forward, I hope to deepen my practice.
The support system in the fellowship has been immensely helpful and enriching. Weekly calls with my peer partner and buddy, along with one-on-one sessions with the ODF team, have provided a safe, non-judgmental space where I felt heard and could listen to the experiences of others. This experience has brought about a paradigm shift in the way I see organizations—as complex, dynamic and living entities.”
“I have taken a lot from the OD&D program, over and above organization design and development principles and practices! I feel I understand human beings better now. I also realize that many of the principles existed within me and that was very validating. It built my confidence through this journey. The discoveries I made were fascinating - like how human evolution has impacted organization design, how by asking positivity inducing questions you can get so much insight on what may not be working in your organization, and how focussing on strengths eventually leads to better processes.”
Pauzagin Tonsing, Director, Centre for Community Initiative, Manipur
“Several factors have been instrumental in shaping my journey in the OD&D program. The blend of theoretical learning and practical applications provided a holistic perspective on organizational development. I could not grasp some of those theories as my education background is not well. However, I am grateful for the guidance from Sujatha and collaboration with my fellow partner (Pradyumna) and buddy (Vani) that enriched my understanding and introduced fresh approaches to tackling challenges.
Involving staff of my organization – Centre for Community Initiative (CCI) and their response acted as a strong foundation, offering real-life insights and a platform to implement ideas effectively. Balancing the program’s demands with my responsibilities at CCI taught me valuable lessons in resilience, time management, and adaptability.
Through the program, I have gained not just skills but also the confidence to approach organizational challenges with a strategic and inclusive mindset. This journey has been a testament to the power of collaboration, the importance of aligning individual and organizational goals, and the impact of thoughtful design in creating meaningful change. I am deeply grateful for this opportunity, which has not only shaped my professional trajectory but has also reinforced my dedication to sustainable community development and inclusivity.”
Ria Banerjee, Senior Manager, Vikramshila Education Resource Society, Kolkata
"The OD&D program has been a personal journey of discovering my own values and embracing the tensions, pushes and pulls, uncertainties and confusion—along with a wide array of emotions—that come with thinking about organizational change. The various tools and facilitation strategies introduced in the fellowship have given me the confidence to engage in deeper dialogues within the organization, rather than just addressing surface-level issues and quick fixes. One of the most valuable takeaways has been the importance of designing and facilitating meaningful and reflective spaces, which I have been trying to do in my organization. While it made me familiar with a body of knowledge, it was only when I started engaging with some of the concepts and tools, I had more questions.
One of the challenges I faced was translating these insights into action amidst the existing organizational 'climate', where everyone is busy, working in silos. However, experimenting with small shifts - like redesigning team discussions to be more reflective - has shown me the power of gradual change. Moving forward, I hope to deepen my practice.
The support system in the fellowship has been immensely helpful and enriching. Weekly calls with my peer partner and buddy, along with one-on-one sessions with the ODF team, have provided a safe, non-judgmental space where I felt heard and could listen to the experiences of others. This experience has brought about a paradigm shift in the way I see organizations—as complex, dynamic and living entities.”
