Analogical Alignment Between Integrative Medical Levels of Dysfunction and Organization Development Diagnosis: An Extension of Weisbord's Six-Box Model.

The purpose of this conceptual paper is to explore the ways in which an analogy of integrative medicine levels of dysfunction could apply to organizational diagnosis to enhance practitioner understanding of the nature and depth of organizational dysfunction while preserving the collaborative and co-learning nature of the organization development (OD) process. This paper is to attempt to create greater specificity as OD practitioners look at the dysfunction in an organization when using Weisbord's diagnostic approach. By extending Weisbord's Six-Box Model to a seventh box, the external environment, the OD practitioner is able to focus more particularly on an area for intervention. Further, by extending the metaphor of diagnosis from the biomedical model to an integrative medicine model, organizations can gain insight into the gravity of their problems and more deeply embrace the nature of the required interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]