Our storyteller, Komal Srivastava, sits down with Soumya from Growth & Excellence at Glow Worm to talk about the world and work of OD.
Komal describes observing Soumya’s energy shift dramatically when discussing her work at Glow Worm. After three years at the organization, Soumya displays genuine enthusiasm about her multi-faceted roles as coach, consultant, facilitator, and program manager.
Learning Experience Design
Soumya emphasizes that people prioritize understanding “why” before “how” and “what.” She applies Kolb’s learning framework — incorporating feeling, watching, thinking, and doing — to accommodate diverse learning preferences through discussions, simulations, case studies, and interactive activities.
“As both a facilitator and a designer, part of my role is to uncover the learning styles and preferences of the participants.”
Multiple Professional Roles
Soumya discusses her evolving relationship with consulting work, describing initial uncertainty that transformed into energized engagement. She expresses equal enjoyment between program management (offering tangible completion satisfaction) and facilitation (creating meaningful human connections despite demanding energy).
“What particularly stands out for me, something I always try to remember, is the impact you can have with people even when you are not necessarily directly engaging with them.”
Common Organizational Challenges
Across diverse industries (e-commerce, renewable energy, sales, domain registry), Soumya identifies recurring OD issues:
- Learning philosophy gaps
- Cultural integration struggles
- Leadership development
- People capacity building
She emphasizes these require holistic solutions rather than training-only approaches.
The OD Lens Importance
Soumya argues organizations miss critical insights without OD perspective.
“Organizations are not made up of floor plans and real estate; they’re built and created by people.”
She identifies three critical elements:
- Purpose
- Process
- People
Organizations adopting human-centered perspectives recognize interdependencies and systemic impacts, avoiding reactive problem-solving cycles.
