Abstract
The author, a native Chinese practitioner, presents the Five Maxims for OD consulting in China grounded in Taoist and Confucian wisdom based on her experiences working with multinational corporations.
As a native Chinese practitioner, I have been practicing organization development (OD) in China for over 20 years, including being an internal HR and OD practitioner in several US multinational corporations (MNCs); now an external working mainly with China-based European multinational clients. I learned OD from the Western traditions (e.g., NTL, Fielding Graduate University). In my early years as a practitioner, I employed the traditional Western mindset (e.g., Lewin’s unfreeze–movement–refreeze linear model of change) with some success but would run into some situations where that way of thinking and acting led to misunderstandings or difficult interactions. Over time, I began to apply what I considered more native Chinese ways of thinking and doing. That led me to develop “Maxims” to guide how I should think about things in addition to my Western education about consulting and change. As I worked on formulating my Maxims, I remembered and reread Bob Marshak’s early work in the 1990s about the Confucian (and Taoist) ways of thinking (Marshak, 1993; 1994). I also did my readings of classical Taoist and Confucian texts and found them quite helpful in refining my Maxims.
Confucian and Taoist Worldview
Before presenting the Five Maxims, let me first draw on Marshak to describe a few foundational concepts central to both the Confucian and Taoist worldview: Underlying both Confucian and Taoist philosophy is an alternative world view that presumes the inherent oneness, or interdependence, of everything and everyone in the universe. All are governed by the universal principles of the Way (the Tao), including the principle of continual cyclical alternation between the polarities inherent in everything (yin and yang). (Marshak, 1994, p. 20)
Three aspects are core to the Confucian and Taoist mindset: Tao, yin-yang, and harmony. With the Tao encompassing all things made up of yin and yang in continual change, harmony becomes central to everything. Therefore, when practicing OD with this mindset, a change agent needs to help the client system maintain or restore balance and harmony while following its own Way throughout any engagement.
Applying Confucian and Taoist Mindset: Five Maxims
Next, I will briefly discuss each maxim from my experiences.
Follow the Way (Tao)
Each organization has its own Way of doing things. Any change intervention requires the consultant to identify and follow the client system’s Way. For example, in an organization with a family culture, leveraging emotional connections might be a good change strategy. However, in a company with a hierarchical culture, adopting a top-down approach may work.
Remember the Tao of Change
Change is cyclical, processional, and continuous, not episodic or linear. In an organization that values continuous improvement, changes shall happen in a processional manner. When implementing change initiatives, it is important to remember the Tao of change, such as advancing a change agenda with a phased approach that follows the Way, and understand that each phase will inherently begin and build upon the success of the previous one.
Think in Terms of Both/and Aspects of Yin-Yang
All things include both yin and yang as interdependent and mutually defining aspects. In any change intervention, there are always yin-yang factors manifested with different perspectives. For example, when conducting an organizational diagnosis, although some issues may occur in the present, asking questions about the past and future may help provide a whole picture since the present does not exist independent of the past and the future.
Attend to Overt/Covert Aspects of Yin-Yang
Consulting in the MNC context inevitably requires attending to both Western and Eastern cultural dimensions. Often the Western cultural aspect is openly displayed, while the Chinese cultural aspect stays unspoken and hidden. I have found paying attention with both Western and Eastern eyes and ears to what is said and done openly and also what is covertly not said or done allows me to develop a better sense of the overall situation.
Maintain Harmony
Maintaining harmony is central to everything. For example, always keep in mind that avoiding conflict and giving face is particularly important in a Chinese cross-cultural setting. In situations where I have different opinions from the client, finding a common ground usually helps me build or enhance harmonious working relationships with the client. Confrontations, challenges, and disrespect, no matter how subtle, towards a Chinese client in front of others will assuredly create disharmony and jeopardize your relationship, even if unspoken.
Implications
How best to practice OD in China is a timely topic. In recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in OD interest by individuals and organizations, with emphasis on learning Western-based OD theories and practices. It is assumed local practitioners will know how to apply these ideas in China while Western practitioners are encouraged to understand a few aspects of Chinese culture, such as the importance of face. Missing is learning about deeper levels of traditional Chinese knowledge so that a practitioner is able to draw on both Western theories and Chinese wisdom relevant to organizational consulting and change. This absence led me to develop my Five Maxims to draw on both ways of thinking and acting. My resulting experiences suggest that drawing on these two ways of knowing and doing will enable OD practitioners in China-based MNCs to be more effective.
However, for this to happen, it will require additional research, development, and application by Chinese and Western OD scholars, educators, and practitioners. A first step would be assessing which concepts from the vast Confucian and Taoist canons are most relevant to organizational consulting and change. One starting place might be Marshak’s writings (1993; 1994; 2004), but more research and elaboration are needed. How to take those concepts, turn them into some form of a coherent theory of practice, such as my Maxims, and then develop ways for people to learn and apply them is another series of essential steps. A possibility in that regard would be for educators to create modules based on relevant Confucian and Taoist concepts and add them to Chinese culture–oriented OD educational curriculums. Importantly, in all these efforts, ways to think and act using both Western and Chinese concepts in something more like a yin-yang, both/and relationship rather than as competing either/or dichotomies will be critical.
Finally, research assessing the effectiveness of different concepts, modules, and ways of applying learnings would significantly advance OD practice in China. In return, practitioners reporting on their experiences, as I hope I have done, might suggest some needed and fruitful lines of further research and development.
