Organization Development and Knowledge Management

Since ODKM’s inception, Learning Community events have been the root of the program, providing students with an opportunity to plan and execute a day-long event while also opening a space for dialogue with alumni and other organization development and knowledge management professionals.

On the second floor of George Mason University’s Van Metre Hall in Arlington, Virginia, a graduate student lounge quietly played a role in shaping what would become a defining part of the ODKM experience.

Meet Lori Wade, the 1999 ODKM graduate who is now in charge of learning and development strategy at the Central Intelligence Agency.

For years, I would find myself thinking about the voice in my head. It doesn’t feel like me because sometimes we, well, talk. I would ask, “Who’s in there?” Who are the we? I had never been taught about the voice in my head that talks to the other voice in my head. A second voice. I decided to uncover this mystery and learn the neuroscience of this phenomenon, which is what I am sharing with you here.

When the editors were discussing these first editions of the ODKM Learning Edge, we wanted to include community voices. We hoped to hear from alumni from a wide span of the 30-year program.

The current curriculum in the Master of Organization Development and Knowledge Management program at the Schar School of Policy and Government is a mix of classes that have been part of the curriculum since the very beginning as well as newer classes meant to address the current working and organizational landscape.

A summer study-abroad adventure took students to London and Oxford—with the Schar School dean. See what they did and who they met and learn why study-abroad is vital to higher education.

We enter group spaces carrying invisible scripts: how to belong, how to lead, how to stay safe from conflict or vulnerability. But what happens when those scripts no longer work? When the group itself becomes a mirror, reflecting back our blind spots, our values, and our deepest questions about power, safety, and connection?

On September 13, four students from ODKM Cohort 29 will host a Learning Community event, Secret Agents of Change: Inner Development for Outer Transformation. The event will be a fun-filled day of engaging discussions, interactive activities, and expert insights into the IDG framework.

The Inner Development Goals (IDGs) are a new framework of 23 leadership competencies that were developed in 2021 through a collective process involving some of the biggest names in organization development, coaching, and adult development, including Peter Senge, Otto Scharmer, Robert Kegan, and many other names you would likely recognize.