The Methodology of Organizational Diagnosis

The purpose of organizational diagnosis is to establish the widely shared understanding of a system and, based on that understanding, to determine whether change is desirable. By stating and then maintaining that the initial work in the client system is diagnosis, consultants provide clients with bases against which they can be held accountable. Organizational diagnosis is considered as a recursive process. The topics considered in this article include entry, data collection, and feedback. The methods described here are self-correcting. For client systems who wish to learn, this methodology provides the opportunity, if it is employed by consultants who have been thoroughly and appropriately trained.