By Jackie Duffus Boyd, Organization Development and Knowledge Management Class of 2025/Cohort 28, and OD and Transformational Leadership Coach
At a recent professional event, a speaker suggested that many organization development (OD) graduate programs excel at teaching theory but fall short in equipping students with the practical skills necessary to become effective OD practitioners. According to this critique, such programs produce graduates who can cite theory and write research papers, but struggle with the pragmatic aspects of OD engagements like contracting, client management and project management.
This assertion struck me as particularly interesting, given that organization development itself emerged from the dynamic intersection of theory and action. The field’s early foundations—such as Kurt Lewin’s Action Research Model (Lewin, 1946) and the Human Interaction T-Groups pioneered by the National Training Laboratories (NTL)—were explicitly designed to link scholarly understanding of human systems with experiential learning and real-world application. Lewin is known for his famous dictum that “there is nothing so practical as a good theory.”
While I do not doubt that the speaker’s observation holds true for some programs, it does not reflect my experience in the George Mason University Master’s of Organization Development and Knowledge Management (ODKM) program. From day one until the final class, we blended theory and practice, each building on and informing the other.
We studied the historical and conceptual frameworks of OD and knowledge management (KM) while applying these concepts to our personal learning and client work. For instance, we explored Kolb’s (1984) Experiential Learning Cycle, which emphasizes the iterative process of concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation as well as Argyris and Schön’s (1978) Double-Loop Learning model, using it to reflect not only on outcomes but also on the underlying assumptions guiding our actions. These two frameworks informed our personal written reflections and the learning experiences we designed and implemented for classmates and clients.
The first evening of class, we were introduced to Style Matters: The Kraybill Conflict Inventory (KCI) (Kraybill, 2005), a self-assessment tool that helps individuals identify their preferred approaches to conflict and understand how those preferences shift under stress. The theory was fascinating, but the next day was when things got interesting. We divided into small groups and were tasked with a timed, unstructured, competitive assignment. Within minutes, chaos ensued. When our allotted time ended, we came back to the large group, and to more theory including the Ladder of Inference (Argyris, as cited in Senge, 1990) which is a mental model that illustrates the unconscious steps we take in making judgements about other people.
By the second semester, we expanded our theoretical and analytical understanding of organization development, knowledge management, coaching, research methodologies and data analysis, and practiced client contracting and client management. In the third semester, we learned many tools for meeting facilitation and had bi-weekly opportunities to apply those facilitation tools as we created learning experiences for our classmates. In our fourth and fifth semesters, we worked with clients, held input sessions, created scopes of work and road maps, collected data, framed recommendations, and presented to clients. We rewrote client scopes as our clients navigated the changing realities of their organizations. We reconfigured a full day workshop to a two-hour workshop, working with the time our clients could spare. This cyclical process of learning and applying deepened our understanding of both theory and practice. Within the classroom, we experienced theory in action. In client projects, we translated that theory into professional practice.
As a graduate of George Mason’s ODKM program, I feel I have emerged not only as a theorist, but as a reflective practitioner (Schön, 1983)—a professional capable of navigating complex adaptive systems, fostering learning cultures, and implementing change that is both evidence-based and humane. I am deeply grateful that I found my way into a program that modeled the integration of theory and practice so effectively. The Mason ODKM experience taught me not only the what and why of OD and KM, but also the how: how to engage clients and how to lead change thoughtfully and skillfully.
About the Author
Jackie Duffus Boyd, MSOD, is an Organization Development and Transformational Leadership Coach with over a decade of experience helping private and nonprofit organizations navigate complex change. As Founder and CEO of The Practicing Practitioner, they design and facilitate leadership development, organizational assessment, and culture transformation initiatives that foster growth, inclusion, and sustainable impact.
Their career spans roles at Best Buy, where they led enterprise-wide strategy, talent development, and culture-building programs, to consulting engagements that strengthen organizational learning and leadership capacity. Jackie’s work is grounded in adult learning theory, systems thinking, and data-informed insight, empowering leaders and teams to align purpose with performance.
They hold a Master of Science in Organizational Development and Knowledge Management from George Mason University and certification in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion from Georgetown University. Guided by the belief that every organizational challenge holds a solution that benefits both people and performance, Jackie brings wisdom, courage, and influence to every engagement.
References
Argyris, C., & Schön, D. A. (1978). Organizational learning: A theory of action perspective. Addison-Wesley.
Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Prentice Hall.
Kraybill, R. (2005). Style Matters: The Kraybill Conflict Style Inventory. Riverhouse ePress.
Lewin, K. (1946). Action research and minority problems. Journal of Social Issues, 2(4), 34–46.
Schön, D. A. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. Basic Books.
Senge, P. M. (1990). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. Doubleday/Currency.