Virtual Encounter, Real Gifts: Reflections from the China OD Practitioner (CODP) Conference

It has been over two weeks since I returned from this year’s China OD Practitioner (CODP) Conference held on November 16-17, yet the impact of the event still lingers on my mind. I am deeply moved by the overwhelming feedback shared by participants, especially their reflections from a talk given by Peter Block, which was streamed via video.

Some Background

The CODP Conference is an annual gathering organized by the Innovative OD Center (IOC), an OD training and consulting firm based in Shanghai. This event fosters connections among OD practitioners in China and helps them share best practices, learn new perspectives, and deepen their sense of community.

The gathering of this year had a special significance as it was a celebration of the 10^th anniversary of IOC’s most foundational program, the Competencies in OD Certificate Program. Close to 80 graduates participated in this gathering, representing about one-third of all alumni. As a graduate of the 10^th OD Certificate Program, I am lucky to be one part of this growing community. 

The “Encounter”

Peter Block’s name is familiar to everyone in this community as his book, Flawless Consulting (3^rd edition) has been one of the two pre-reading books for the OD Certificate Program in the past decade. However, the conference was first time that the participants finally “met” Peter, albeit virtually, through a 26-minute video excerpt from a recent 80-minute Zoom interview conducted by IOC.

The video played on Day 2 of the conference during a session focused on envisioning the community’s next 10 years. Peter’s insights addressed profound and wide-ranging topics:

• The essence and value of OD in a world of uncertainty and change
• Bringing authenticity into organizations often dominated by the “head” rather than the “heart”
• His journey to becoming a Master of OD
• Transitioning from organizational to community-focused work
• Shifting people’s mindsets from being consumers to becoming co-owners of their communities

The Gifts

Unexpectedly, watching a short video recording turned out to be the highlight of the conference. In the small groups that were convened immediately after watching the video, many participants shared that they were deeply touched and inspired. In the WeChat group for the conference, many shared similar reflections.

The momentum continued even after the conference was finished. I saw many participants posting photos of Peter on video in their WeChat Moments, together with the lines that struck them most.

Here are just a few of the lines shared:

• “The essence of OD is that relationship and our connection to each other is what produces outcomes.”
• “OD is…confronting people with their gifts, confronting with what you want to bring to this place.”
• “We’re not trying to protest or change anyone. We’re looking for people looking for us.”
• “When you choose to treat people as subjects rather than objects, you’re going to feel lonely. And that’s why we need each other.”
• “You’re not trying to convince anybody. You’re an invitation. You’re not a mandate.” 
• “That’s the magnet you are and the container you are for your culture.”
• “Leadership is to step into an uncertain future, to believe and face ourselves that we can create the future, even though we can’t predict it.”
• “The future always exists in the present.”

Meaningful Reflections

With curiosity, I asked some of the participants, “What made those particular words meaningful to you?” Here are some of their responses:

• “Our work of HR and OD treats ‘people’ as the end instead of the mean. However, we often feel lonely and frustrated, because most people around us are focusing on the ‘things’ only. And I feel greatly comforted by Peter’s words that we just need to look for people looking for us.” (Leslie, an HR leader of a new energy automotive company)
• “Treating people as subjects instead of objects is so important for our time. Nobody can be all-powerful, and we need everyone to be agent and give full play to our creativity.” (Jinfeng, a former sales leader of a bio-pharmaceutical company.)  
• “Peter talks about the essence of OD and community in such simple but powerful words. And his way of talking just demonstrates authenticity. This encourages us as OD practitioners to trust and confront ourselves–we can create the world we want to inhabit.” (Victoria, an independent EQ and leadership coach, and OD consultant.)     
• “Everyone is trying to make a change, and the change does not happen in the future but starts from now. And my reflection is how I can become to be the magnet and the container for that change.” (Wing, OD Head of a chain catering enterprise.)

Immediate Application

One outcome that was particularly inspiring to me was an action immediately taken by the Dream Team responsible for co-designing the conference made up of six volunteers from the OD practitioner community. Vera, one of the Dream Team members and an OD consultant of IOC, shared with me:

“I heard Peter talking about the subtle differences of questions, and I suddenly realized that our questions designed for collecting participants’ feedback on the conference were all ‘consumer’ questions, for example, ‘What attracted you to the conference?’ and “What is your takeaway from the conference?’ I discussed this with the rest of the team, and we immediately decided to change them to ‘ownership’ questions- ‘What intention did you bring to the conference?’ ‘Did you realize your intention?’”

Gratitude

As Maria Wang, the founder of IOC, reflected, “Peter’s presence made a difference to the conference. His words evoked and provoked a lot of thinking and reflections on OD and community. They are such precious gifts to our conference participants.”

Thank you, Peter, for the abundant gifts you brought to OD practitioners in China. Your words continue to inspire, guide, and elevate this community.

Article written by Mei Hong