Sr Fellow in Scholarly Practice & AOC
Jean Neumann, BA, MA, PhD
After four decades of working as both academic and practitioner in organisational development and change (OD&C), I now devote most of my time to providing professional advice and development to managers, leaders, consultants and other agents of organisational change.
I am committed to the dual tasks of improving the quality of change management and consultancy available to organisations, along with encouraging and guiding change practitioners in their projects, careers and the balance of their ‘total life space’.
For me, both concerns require that I keep in mind Kurt Lewin's phrase, ‘there is nothing so practical as a good theory’. I have a strong bias towards realistic and sensible OD&C. During the nearly 500 projects that I have undertaken since 1970, I have been forced to accept that there is nothing so full of implicit, contested theory than good organisational development and change.
From 1991 through 2009, I served as Director of Academic Studies for the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations (TIHR) ‘Advanced Organisational Change and Consulting’ (AOC) programme. The AOC became the vehicle through which we were able to integrate three strands of the Institute's intellectual traditions: systems psychodynamics, organisational theory and consultancy competence. The notion of ‘advanced’ referred to this integration of theory in a scholarly practice. It also signalled the ongoing commitment of 80 plus AOC graduates to improving their work inside organisations as well achieving their own uniquely balanced ‘total life space’.
Currently as Senior Fellow in Scholarly Practice for the TIHR, I work with others to design and deliver educational and developmental events for managers, leaders, consultants and other organisational change practitioners. Sometimes these are internal, like the one we did for advisory specialists in the voluntary sector who wanted to add consulting interventions to their service. Other times, we are cooperating with a university like we do with the University of Birmingham on an MSC for Leading Public Sector Change and Organisational Development. At the moment, we are anticipating a launch with a national agency in Italy of an approved certificate programme for people who work in the Third Sector. We've already taught them how to use action research to enact their change roles.
Also for the TIHR, I engage in writing, presenting and publishing ‘shamelessly practical’ theory. My immediate academic interests have to do with: managers being required to lead change from the middle without proper authorisation; how to think about work with OD&C in inter-organisational domains and other whole systems interventions; and the application of ‘practice theory’ to advanced organisational change and consulting. An Assistant Editor for Human Relations for eight years (1989-1998), I currently serve on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Applied Behavioural Science (JABS).
Publications include:
Neumann JE, Lau CM and Worley CG (2009) Ready for consideration: International organisational development and change as an emerging field of practice. Journal of Applied Behavioural Science 42(2): 171-185.
Neumann JE (2007) Becoming better consultants through varieties of experiential learning. In Reynolds M and Vince R (eds) The Handbook of Experiential Learning in Management Education. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 258-273.
Neumann JE (2005) Kurt Lewin at The Tavistock Institute. Educational Action Research 13(1): 121-137.
Neumann JE (1999) Systems psychodynamics in the service of political organisational change. In French R and Vince R (eds) Group Relations, Management and Organisation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 54-69.
Neumann JE (1997) Negotiating entry and contracting. In Neumann JE, Kellner K. and Dawson-Shepherd A (eds) Developing Organisational Consultancy. London: Routledge, 7-31.
Neumann, JE (1989) Why people don't participate in organisational change. In Woodman RW and Pasmore WA Research in Organisational Change and Development Volume 3. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, 181-212.
In private practice, I consult to organisations that need to undertake challenging change or developments. I prefer to do this by building a meaningful working relationship with internal change managers, leaders and other agents. Thus, we work collaboratively both to address the immediate issues as well as to increase the organisations capacity to plan and undertaken organisational change and development in the future. My clients tend to be willing to use some aspect of appropriate involvement and participation.
I have a reasonable reputation for helping to sort out problems with cooperation and motivation during challenging developments. My background and experiences have prepared me well to address both structural and cultural changes as well as to handle many types of interventions effectively. My credentials include: PhD in organisational behaviour from Case Western Reserve University; an MA in adult development and a BA in education and psychology. I regularly continue my professional development through the Academy of Management, the STS Roundtable, and the TIHR Advanced Organisational Consultation Society (AOCS).
I hold both UK and USA citizenship. I live in South London with my husband, Richard Holti, and our two teenagers, Elizabeth and Damien. My hobbies include walking and gardening.
