Our storyteller, Komal Srivastava, sits down with Soumya from Growth & Excellence at Glow Worm to talk about the world and work of OD.
In Chapter 1, Soumya took readers through an exploration of “the different hats she dons at Glow Worm Company and why she believes organizations must leverage an OD lens.”
As we step into Chapter 2, Soumya shares insights into how she goes about making herself at home within the different systems she works with.
Making Yourself at Home in Different Systems
As an OD consultant, you are never fully internal to any client system that you work with, and every client has different values, contexts and ethos. How do you go about making yourself at home within the different systems that you work with?
Soumya references her first week at Glow Worm, where she encountered “the concept of the self as an instrument.” She explains that in any interaction, one is already influencing it and creating impact. While never fully internal to client systems, she notes that Glow Worm operates as “a very trusted party” with clients.
Key strategies Soumya employs:
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Understanding Context: She gathers information from websites, LinkedIn, press coverage, and readily available resources to understand organizational context.
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Asking Questions: “I ask a lot of questions. Often, our clients come in with perceived problems, but it’s essential to dig deeper and define the real challenges.” She emphasizes that spending time defining the actual problem — rather than accepting stated issues at face value — is crucial.
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Using Tools: The cause and effect diagram helps analyze immediate, medium-term, and long-term impacts of proposals.
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Team Debriefs: Regular team discussions about calls and observations keep everyone aligned and informed.
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Building Trust: She emphasizes fostering strong relationships across organizations, from primary sponsors to HR teams. “I also believe in sustaining these relationships beyond the scope of the project, as it helps transform the relationship into a partnership based on trust, not just a transaction.”
“It’s important to understand the client’s perspective, but it’s equally important to deeply engage in acquiring all the information you can.”
Regional and Cultural Differences
How does this change when we bring regional and local cultural differences into the mix?
She states that general principles remain consistent but must be applied with cultural awareness. She emphasizes researching context:
“What am I learning and understanding about the regional and cultural differences? What is appropriate and inappropriate?”
Specific examples:
- During field visits, the team is intentional about clothing choices, considering regional and organizational norms
- This awareness becomes ingrained over time, leading to natural adaptation to local customs
- The team learns basic phrases in local languages before visiting new regions
- Soumya researches regional foods and shares similar dishes from her own culture as bonding moments
“Managing the balance of local norms and organizational norms is important because you want to be a part of the system; we want to be a neutral observer and not stand out. The minute people start seeing us as outsiders, it can hinder the authenticity of our interactions.”
She notes that “something as simple as how do you say ‘hello’ or ask basic questions in another language” can go a long way in building rapport.
A Shift for Leaders
What is one shift you would invite leaders to make in the way they think about shaping the future of work?
She observes the evolution from industrial economy to service economy to knowledge economy, noting that “people are at the core of it all.” The shift centers on humanness in the economy, with two key components:
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Human Potential: “I believe that when we focus on making people the best versions of themselves, our organizations will naturally thrive.”
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Embracing Complexity: Organizations must acknowledge rapid technological change, climate concerns, and global politics without shying away from the interconnected complexity these create.
What Organizations Miss Without an OD Approach
What do you think organizations miss out on, when they do not leverage an organization development approach?
She argues that complex problems arise when attempts to solve one issue ignore impacts on interconnected system elements. Rather than siloed problem-solving, the OD lens enables holistic views of systems and their interdependencies.
“By not leveraging the OD lens, organizations also fail to recognise that they are fundamentally driven by people.”
She emphasizes that organizations are built by people, not floor plans or real estate. Three critical elements form the OD lens:
- Purpose
- Process
- People
When organizations neglect this perspective, they fail to recognize the impact of alignment on attrition, service quality, and performance, instead “getting stuck in a cycle of fixing one problem after another.”
“To truly understand organizations, we need to start looking at them as societies of interconnected human beings. As soon as we bring the human lens in, we’ve brought the OD lens into it.”
