In a world of constant change, the field of Organisation Development (OD) is more important than ever. At its core, OD focuses on people, culture, and systems in a multitude of ways, helping organisations not just be more efficient, but more humane, adaptive, and purpose-driven. It requires OD practitioners to pause, reflect, and engage with the underlying forces shaping an organisation, rather than just reacting to surface-level challenges. Going deep is part of the terrain...

To do this work well, we also must pause, reflect, and refine our own practice - just as we help organisations do. Are we engaging in the deep work of OD within ourselves? How do we ensure our work remains intentional, impactful, and deeply human? How do we show up in our own practice? Let’s go beyond the surface together.

ODA’s Conference 2025

Join us at ODA’s Conference 2025 as we explore the profound and often unseen deep work of OD. Take this opportunity to connect with fellow OD professionals, share experiences, and cultivate the depth of thinking needed to navigate our work with clarity and purpose.

We’ve brought together talented speakers for an experiential day of exploration, challenge, reflection and inspiration as we consider the deep work of OD:

Keynote

Why are organisations addicted to quick fixes, simple solutions, or Silver Bullets? Why don’t we talk about this? How might we all be complicit? Does OD help or hinder? Join Steve Hearsum, Founder, Edge + Stretch, consultant and author, UK.

Parallel sessions:

With AI transforming the workplace at an unprecedented pace, how will the role and work of OD evolve? And as OD professionals, can we navigate this shift with curiosity, agility, and purpose?

Join Tiffany Gray, Founder, BRAWT Company.

Is inclusion an illusion and a bubble that is about to burst? Do current practices address what it is like to be on the periphery and always being on the outside? What really needs to shift to ensure people are not being othered and left out?

Join Pirooz Jafari, Founder, Track C Consulting

Culture continues to eat strategy for breakfast! So, what does it really take to align culture with strategy to realise an organisation’s vision? What deep work is needed here and how can OD professionals support this critical work? How do we learn from case studies and each other and apply best practices to ensure an organisation’s aspired culture becomes an enduring lived experience that underpins its success?

Join Dr Melinda Norris, Senior Leadership & Culture Consultant, Pillar Leaders.

Date	Friday, 25th July 2025
Time	9am – 5.15pm 9am check-in 9.30am – 5.15pm conference 5.30pm post-conference drinks and canapes (at An Di, 5A/854 Collins Street Docklands)
Venue	Community Hub at The Dock, 912 Collins Street, Docklands VIC 3008
Getting there	Tram: Route 48 and Route 11 (stop D18). This stop is within the ‘Free tram zone’ connecting Southern Cross Station and the city. Train: Southern Cross station is ~500 meters walk to the Hub. Car: There are a limited number of metered parking spaces in the area, primarily along Bourke and Collins streets. There is limited parking at The Dock, so public transport is recommended
Ticket Price	Early bird available till 30 April ODA members – $395 early bird ($495 full price) Non-members – $595 early bird ($695 full price)

Our Presenters & Sessions

Keynote

Steve Hearsum, Founder, Edge + Stretch

Steve Hearsum

Steve is a consultant, coach and supervisor who works with clients to build change capability through:

- Leadership practice: working with leaders to help them understand how they show up and the impact they have in the context they operate in.
- Consulting & change practice: working with internal and external practitioners to deepen their awareness of how they show up and the impact they have.
- Culture: working with organisations and leaders to help them inquire into their current behaviours and supporting them to build their capabilities to evolve how they work together.

He is a trustee of the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations, former co-Chair of the OD Network Europe, is author of No Silver Bullet: Bursting the bubble of the organisational quick fix and is on faculty for the Masters in People & OD at the University of Chichester. He lives in Brighton, in the UK, with his wife, daughter and fluffy hound.

No Silver Bullet: why are organisations addicted to quick fix, simple solutions?

There are no end of people offering solutions for messy, complex problems. Culture? No problem, here is a slide deck with all the answers. Digitalisation? Have a SAFe methodology, and we will sell in all the training and fungible junior consultants you need to help you with that. Employees lacking motivation? I have just the inspirational guru for you, straight off his Amazon bestseller promo tour. Exec team not functioning? No worries, come to our lush business school campus and we will woo you with professors and good food. Lacking ideas of your own? Thought leadership inbound.

Whatever you do, don’t worry yourselves about capability building. After all, if you do, what will be left for us to do and how will we earn a crust?...

The market for Silver Bullet solutions remains strong. Why is that, why are we not talking more about it, and how might we all be complicit?

In this session, consultant, supervisor, coach and author Steve Hearsum will talk about what led him to write No Silver Bullet: bursting the bubble of the organisational quick fix, what he has learned since and what might come next. He will scaffold an inquiry with those in the room around questions such as:

What role does OD play in this? Do we help or hinder?...
To what extent are we actually wedded to the idea that there are silver Bullets, even when we say we know there are not?...
What is the cost of these collusive behaviours - financially, emotionally, socially, politically etc?...
How might this relate to wider problems with the way we think about - and ‘do - change in organisations?...
How might ego-driven behaviours be key to understanding this, and what are our own?

Don’t Expect:

Easy answers
Quick wins
Toolkits

Do expect:

Provocation
Maybe some useful discomfort
A chance to explore some of the contradictions in our line of work

Parallel sessions

Tiffany Gray, Founder, BRAWT Company

Tiffany Gray

Tiffany is an experienced organisational development consultant with over 30 years of leadership and executive experience, specialising in human behaviour and system dynamics. Her academic credentials include a Bachelor of Business (HR & IR), a Graduate Diploma in Innovation and Service Management, a Post Graduate Diploma in NeuroLeadership, and a Masters in Applied Science. She is currently pursuing a PhD focused on converting insights into actionable strategies through executive coaching.

As the exclusive holder of the Australian license for PRISM Brain Mapping and one of only four global master trainers, Tiffany leverages advanced neuroscience to enhance leadership performance and employee engagement. PRISM Brain Mapping is the leading neuroscience-based profiling tool, providing organisations with deep insights into their teams and fostering a culture of continuous improvement.

Tiffany has developed the innovative Gen AI at Work program which helps organisations develop and implement cutting-edge Gen AI strategies. This program includes a three-level Gen AI at Work competency model, focusing on integrating Gen AI technologies to enhance organisational capabilities, leadership and team effectiveness and skill development. Her approach ensures that organisations are not only adopting Gen AI but are also building the internal capabilities needed for long-term success.

Organisations seeking to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving business landscape find Tiffany expertise invaluable. Her deep understanding of human behaviour, coupled with her experience in Gen Ai integration and neuroscience, positions her as a transformative leader capable of driving substantial and sustainable organisational growth.

Working in an AI dominant world

AI is no longer a futuristic concept — it’s here transforming the workplace at an unprecedented pace. Beyond automation and efficiency, AI is reshaping culture, leadership, decision-making, and the human experience at work.

What does this mean for Organisation Development? How will the role and work of OD evolve? How do we ensure AI enhances, rather than diminishes, human potential? What role does OD play in fostering adaptability, ethical AI integration, and human-centered organisations in an AI-dominant world?

And as OD professionals, can we navigate this shift with curiosity, agility, and purpose?

Many questions to delve into during this informative, interactive and practical session.

Pirooz Jafari, Founder, Track C Consulting, Community Catalyst & Innovator

Pirooz Jafari

Born in Iran, Pirooz migrated to Australia in the late 1990’s as an ambitious photographer, holding a Bachelor of Visual Arts. His passion for social justice and human rights compelled him to pursue law and upon successful completion of a Bachelor of Laws at University of Wollongong, he worked in the community sector and local government both in NSW and Victoria for over two decades.

Over the years, Pirooz has offered his services as a pro bono lawyer at several community legal centres including Refugee Advice & Case Work Service in NSW, and Western Suburbs Legal Service and Refugee Legal (formerly known as Refugee & Immigration Legal Centre) in Victoria.

Pirooz ran his own migration law practice for over 5 years specialising in asylum seeker and humanitarian cases. This experience enriched his understanding of people’s challenging experience of gross violations of human rights.

Pirooz is committed to bringing critical conversations to the Geelong region and has hosted four major forums in Geelong: Diversity & Inclusion, Done Right! (2021), Racism, Raw & Real (2022), Gender Equality, A goal within reach? (2023) and Being the Other: Inclusion Unmasked (2024).

With over 20 years’ experience in the legal arena, community development, community engagement, project management, and policy development within the human rights framework, Pirooz is versatile and capable of taking on challenging projects.

Pirooz is also a writer and a storyteller, and has a unique set of skills and sensitivity to capture people’s stories and voices. His debut novel Forty Nights was published by Ultimo Press in 2022 and was longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award in 2023.

Bursting the bubble of inclusion: looking in / looking out

The term inclusion frequently appears in organisations with diversity and inclusions roles created everywhere as well as various strategies and policies that aim to address gaps in diversity and inclusion. Meanwhile, there seems to be a global trend towards eliminating the diversity and inclusion policies and practices.

The question remains as to whether “Inclusion and diversity” practices are achieving the intended outcomes or are they counterproductive? Is inclusion an illusion and a bubble that is about to burst? Do these practices address what it is like to be on the periphery and always being on the outside? Are we “othering” people further by adopting this approach?

In this interactive session, together we will walk through some practical exercises to identify what really needs to shift. Sometimes, a small shift in our mindset and perspective can bring about significant change for the better.

Dr Melinda Norris – Leadership, Culture, Wellbeing and Engagement Specialist, Facilitator and Coach

Melinda Norris

Melinda is a warm, strategic, engaging and experienced consultant and coach. She brings a background in organisational psychology and over 25 years’ experience partnering with organisations across numerous sectors locally and globally, including Education, Healthcare, Professional Services, Legal & Financial Services, Mining, Energy, R&D, Policing and FMCG.

Melinda brings deep subject matter expertise in partnering with organisations to develop and implement bespoke solutions to guide the leadership, culture and people outcomes needed to deliver on their purpose and strategy. Guiding alignment of behaviours and the hearts and minds of their people, she brings a values-based and human-centered approach and is inspired to enable leaders, teams and organisations to thrive and be at their best. She passionately partners with organisations to support their sustainable success in pursuit of their visions.

Melinda holds a B.Sc. (Honours in Psychology) and a Ph.D. in Industrial and Organisational Psychology from the University of Melbourne and is accredited in Saville Wave and Everything DiSC and is IECL certified in Organisational Coaching.

The deep work required to align organisational cultures to vision, strategy and values for sustainable high performance: a practical session

Culture continues to eat strategy for breakfast!

An organisation’s culture has a pervasive and powerful impact on organisational success. It encompasses the shared values, beliefs, and behaviours that shape how people interact and work together in an organisation. A misaligned culture can undermine the best strategies and most compelling shared visions.

When culture and strategy are aligned, they reinforce each other, creating a powerful synergy that drives positive momentum and underpins success. So, what does it really take to shift and align culture in an organisation, so it prevails and supports the vision and strategy? What deep work is needed here and how can OD professionals support this critical work?

In this engaging, practical and interactive session, we’ll consider key challenges, considerations and critical design principles. We’ll tap into best practices and our collective wisdom and apply them to two case studies to consider what it really takes to have a positive long-term impact on culture.

Join Dr Melinda Norris in this practical session on the deep work of aligning and transforming cultures for sustainable high performance in organisations.

El Camino proudly sponsors the ODA 2025 Conference!

El Camino, known for its dedication to fostering leadership excellence and organisational development, shares our passion for the profound impact of deep work in driving meaningful change. Their support is invaluable as we prepare for what promises to be an insightful and engaging exploration of critical OD topics.

Salient Consultancy is a Gold Sponsor of the 2025 ODA Conference!

Salient Consultancy brings a wealth of expertise in using the 'systems leadership' approach to support leaders in their work of transformation and organisational effectiveness. They will soon be launching Salient Coaching which will deliver further services to leaders, students, and those exploring career futures and change. This aligns perfectly with our conference's focus on the deep, impactful work within organisation development. Their generous support as a Gold Sponsor is instrumental in helping us bring this insightful event to life.

Partner with ODA as a sponsor today!

*** SPECIAL OFFER: Register for the Preconference Workshop "What happens when the fragility of the leader meets that of the practitioner?" the Conference and receive your free copy of Steve Hearsum’s book, No Silver Bullet: Bursting the bubble of the organisational quick fix.

Contact the host of Beyond the surface – exploring the deep work of OD

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