Reflections and Perspectives on the Future of Organization Development Interventions: Honoring Christina Sickles Merchant's Life

• Author: Linda S. Gasser
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/crq.21140
• Published date: 01 December 2015
• Date: 01 December 2015

C R Q, vol. 33, supplement 1, Winter 2015 S121

© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. and the Association for Confl ict Resolution

Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) • DOI: 10.1002/crq.21140

Re ections and Perspectives on the Future

ofOrganization Development Interventions:

Honoring Christina Sickles Merchant’s Life

Linda S. Gasser

 is short piece honors contributions of Christina Sickles Merchant by

refl ecting on what she felt deeply about OD, how she transcended the

boundaries between OD practice and the confl ict resolution manage-

ment fi elds, and reviewing some concerns and thoughts about the future

of OD interventions within this context.

Who was Christina Sickles Merchant, and what did she care deeply

about? In trying to write a short piece in honor of the unique per-

son, confl ict management expert, and organization development (OD)

practitioner she was, it seems right to consider what Chris felt deeply

about, how she transcended the boundaries between OD practice and the

confl ict resolution management fi elds, and to raise some thoughts about

the future of OD interventions within this context.

I knew Chris as a pioneer: a woman mediator at the Federal Mediation

and Conciliation Service absorbed with building expertise in best practice

mediation and confl ict resolution practice; a future-focused leader of the

Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution; a keen mind at the fore-

front in the developing fi elds of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and

labor-management collaboration practices; a seeker of self-awareness and

knowledge during her National Training Lab days and beyond; a lover of

creative and artistic perspectives; and a mentor, OD colleague, and friend.

She worked diligently to develop her own skills and those of others, experi-

menting, reaching out to many constituencies, and crossing disciplinary

boundaries. She collaborated expansively and rarely used or took “no” for

an answer in moving her vision for confl ict resolution practice forward.