WHAT IS ORGANISATION DEVELOPMENT (OD)? 
A comprehensive, cohesive, connected, structured and systematic organisation-wide development programme designed to meet organisational objectives. 

Why do organisations need OD? 
Organisational performance is the outcome of how the organisation identifies, designs, allocates, deploys and delivers its resources. Organisational performance is a direct consequence of how individuals within the organisation apply themselves when using the resources at their disposal. How individual members apply themselves is through their behaviours when performing their role. If performance is not up to agreed standards then change is required. Organisational change is the result of the organisational development interventions that are employed at both individual and organisational level. 
What are the benefits to organisations and individuals? 
The benefits realised depend upon the focus of the intervention. If the focus is on individuals there may be personal benefits in relation to behavioural change. Where the focus is on teams or groups there may be both personal and organisational benefits relating to changes in behaviour that impacts positively on organisational working practice and improved performance. Where the focus is organisational there may be benefits in efficiency and effectiveness by changing working structures and processes. The best results are when all three levels of benefit are combined.
In 1978, Porras and Berg reviewed 35 studies of organisations. In those who employed an organisational performance outcome focus ie productivity, turnover, profit, they found positive change in 51%, and in those who employed a process focus, positive change was found in 46% of cases.
Katzell and Guzzo in 1983 reviewed 207 experiments involving individual approaches focused on goal setting, training, appraisal and feedback and found gains in individual productivity in 87%. In 1982 Golembiewski et al reviewed over 574 separate organisational development initiatives and found that over 80% showed positive outcomes.

What is involved?
The scope is potentially huge encompassing both management and leadership theory and practice.
Decisions as to which approach organisations should adopt and what interventions to apply can be difficult to determine and prioritise if the organisation, and individuals within it, do not have a clear understanding of where they are now (present state) against where they want to be (desired state).
Organisation development interventions are levers for change that will prompt changes in organisational behaviours to focus on performance improvement at personal, team or group, and organisational levels. These include:- 

• Organisational arrangements - goal setting, strategic and operational planning, structure, policy and procedures, system and process design, integration and alignment of activity.

• Social factors - organisational culture, individual attributes, styles and behaviours, patterns of working, partnership working and relationship building, interaction and connectivity.

• Physical setting - space configuration, interior design, ambience, safety

WHAT IS LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT?      
People are the most valuable resource of any organisation and the emphasis on leadership development intensified throughout the 1990s. The importance of balancing transactional management characteristics against the more transformational leadership characteristics was recognised - a view supported by Stephen Covey in his best selling book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People where he says ".the metamorphosis taking place in most every industry and profession demands leadership first and management second.......no management success can compensate for failure in leadership."

There is a highly significant relationship between the leadership style adopted by the management and the culture of the organisation and, furthermore, employees behaviour is acutely affected by their relationship with their manager. Studies have shown that the most stressful aspect of employees’ roles is mostly their immediate manager and that managers are often unaware of their effect on staff stress levels.
Mind Over Matter Associates are able to support you in developing the leadership qualities which are necessary in the 21^st Century.

WHAT IS PERSONALITY PROFILING?  
With over 50 years worth of research behind it, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is one of the oldest and most respected instruments for personality profiling in the world.  It was developed by mother and daughter, is based on the work of Carl Jung and represents a blend of western European and American thinking.  MBTI is a questionnaire that identifies your preference for one of 16 potential personality profiles.  It is not a test of intelligence, ability, competence or skill.
Using the MBTI tool, Mind Over Matter Associates will help you to identify your personality profile and provide personal feedback on your preferences so that you can identify your strengths and areas for future development.

Personal profiling for career development

WHAT IS CONSULTANCY?  
We aim to help organisations create change.  Change to improve performance and change to initiate learning.  We do this by building a relationship with our client and agreeing a contract of work to provide services which meet our clients specific needs.  
In providing consultancy we apply offer the following:

• expert analysis and advice which facilitates decision making

• a specific, one-off task or set of tasks

• a task involving skills or perspectives which would not normally be expected to reside within the organisation

Mind Over Matter Associates will deploy our wide range of knowledge, skills and expertise at your disposal for the resolution of specific problems or general issues, providing practical expert advice within the fields of;

• Organisation development

• Change management

• Coaching

• Facilitation

WHAT IS CHANGE MANAGEMENT?   
‘Change is always a threat when it is done to people, but it is embraced as an opportunity when it is done by people’ 
Change is a process of moving from a present state to a desired future state over time. Our ability to change successfully and positively is dependent upon the resources we have at our disposal.
There are different types of change:-

The purpose of change is to achieve a different output, outcome or benefit from an action.
The approach taken will reflect your intention, your desire, your resources and your time-scale.  The success you achieve will reflect how well you manage and/or lead the change process.
As humans we all respond to change in different ways, some find change exciting and progressive whilst other view it as harmful.  Depending upon how people respond will determine how the change should be managed.

Research suggest that where people engaged, involved and empowered to make change happen there is a greater degree of achievement and sustained levels of higher performance.
Leading change is a complicated, multifaceted issue and there is no quick-fix, universal recipe, or single way to effect change.  The process is a long march and leaders may experience a dip in performance before it goes up. Building relationships and creating a receptive context for change is crucial requiring bold decisions to challenge old thinking.  Managerial skills can help simplify complex issues by directing effort into clear goals focused on delivering priorities for change.

At Mind Over Matter Associates we believe that everyone has the resources they need to achieve successful change - if they have the ambition and desire to do so.  It is our intention to help you achieve change either personally, professionally or organisationally.  

WHAT CAN CHALLENGING VALUES AND BELIEFS ACHIEVE?  

In order to ensure the success of an individual, or indeed, an organisation it is important to understand the values and beliefs that are used to define success.  
Examine any individual or organisation and you will find a series of unwritten but widely followed rules of the game - rules that specify sensible behaviour for those who wish to remain in and prosper in the organisation. You will find paradigms, codes of behaviour and patterns of values and beliefs that govern, in the case of an organisation, who belongs and who does not. You will find particular assumptions and meanings conveyed and created in the nuances of language and jargon that an organisation employs. You will find traditions that are accepted "as part of the way things are around here".

It is difficult to make distinctions between a belief system, a set of shared values or theories in use, or paradigms or mental models. It is not clear where the unwritten rules of a particular organisation become its culture (the way things are done around here). Every organisation has its own pattern, a mix of shared thinking and language which enables it to operate and until a pattern emerges there is no real sense of organisation. There is, instead, a series of interactions and communications upon which some people seek to impose order by force of personality or rewards.

Explicit or implicit values and beliefs are what create the collective patterns that define an organisation. These values and beliefs are expressed through the language and the behaviours on which the organisation bases its actions and activities.  
Meaningful and successful organisational change will require a review of present state prevailing culture (values and beliefs) and consideration over whether the present values and beliefs will satisfy future, desired state needs. Mind Over Matter Associates can help you to identify the existing values and beliefs that drive the way people behave and the things they do, help you to challenge them in a safe environment and help develop an approach to planned behavioural change.