~ by Cath Ralston, ODA Member During ODA’s May event, Vicki Millen skillfully explained and guided us to experience the differences between our brain’s two dominant networks. We reflected on the positive impacts of balancing the time we spend working from each and the negative consequences that may arise when we spend too much time working from one. The session …
By Danielle Jacobson, ODA Leadership Group Member Discussions about AI seem to be everywhere at the moment, often focused on new tools, productivity gains or implementation risks. What made this discussion particularly interesting was that it deliberately stepped back from those operational conversations and instead explored how AI is reshaping the foundations of work, leadership and professional value. Rather than …
~ By Renate Harris, ODA member Thanks to Dawn Jarvis for leading an engaging ODA session. The topic, Use of Self, explored how our biases can impact our effectiveness as OD practitioners. Dawn created a safe space for discussion, encouraging participants to take a closer look at their own values and biases and consider how these shape the way we …
The February ODA session, Intentional Listening: Utilising Intentional Listening to increase Collaboration and Connection in the Workplace, was a practical reset on something we all say we do — and then, under pressure, often do poorly. Jenna and John De Bono (GroupWise) framed intentional listening as bringing attention + intention to what someone is saying and how they’re feeling, particularly in busy environments where we’re tempted to jump in, defend, fix, …
Conference: Friday, 24 July 2026 Pre-conference Workshop: Thursday, 23 July 2026 Conference Overview In a world where organisations claim to value openness — open communication, open learning, open systems — how open are we really? For decades, Organisation Development has championed transparency, curiosity, and human‑centred inquiry. But as practitioners, leaders, and collaborators in change, we also need to ask …
~ Review by Pete Canny, LG member For our November event, our valued ODA members Carolina Bouten-Pinto and Syed Shah took us on a journey through their process and approach to OD at the City of Hobart, where they both work. We were introduced to their process of establishing the OD team, engaging the organisation during a CEO transition, and …
~ Review by Fiona Sewell, LG member The National Centre for Cultural Competence (NCCC) at The University of Sydney hosted this month’s ODA workshop led by Associate Professor Gabrielle Russell, focusing on cultural competence in leadership. The session emphasised critical self-reflection, relational accountability, and continuous learning to foster equity and social justice. Culture is not simply one’s ethnicity and race. …
For our September event, Leadership Group members Pete Canny and Yope Vagenas developed “Prismatic Reflection,” a reflective process for our OD community. This process was designed to guide consultants (internal or external) in examining their practice through three perspectives: their self-perception, their primary clients’ (those who hired them) perspective, and how secondary clients (those they work with) view them. …
~~ By Fiona Sewell, LG member We were delighted to welcome ‘the Marie Kondo of org design’, Beatrice Hofmeyr, to this month’s ODA meeting. Too often, restructuring efforts begin and end with an org chart. But as Beatrice reminded us, true organisational design goes beyond this. She shared compelling insights into why traditional restructuring efforts often fall short and …
Kaliopi and I were sitting at the Vietnamese café for the ODA drinks when Sarah Kirkby came over to say goodbye. She said, “This is my second ODA event. The first was online. I’m so happy I flew down from Sydney. Everyone is so welcoming.” That was the overwhelming feeling I had at the ODA conference too: Openness, conversation, …
