In a world where organisations claim to value openness — open communication, open learning, open systems — how open are we really? For decades, Organisation Development has championed transparency, curiosity, and human‑centred inquiry. But as practitioners, leaders, and collaborators in change, we also need to ask the harder questions:

Where do we let openness thrive, and where do we quietly shut it down?
How do our own habits, blind spots, and anxieties shape the openness we invite — or avoid?
And what happens when organisational constraints collide with practitioner discomfort?

“Cracking Open OD” invites us into this tension. It asks us to explore openness not as an abstract ideal, but as a lived, sometimes uncomfortable practice — in organisations and in ourselves.

In 2026, ODA brings our community together to examine the gap between how open we think we are and how open our behaviour, systems, and practice truly allow us to be. This year’s conference is an exploration of depth, honesty, stretch, and possibility — rooted in evidence, practice, and lived experience

ODA Conference 2026

Join us for an immersive and reflective day designed for OD professionals, leaders, HR partners, consultants, coaches, and anyone committed to human‑centred change. Together, we will explore what it really means to “crack open” our practice — stretching our thinking, deepening our awareness, and strengthening our capacity to support openness in organisations and in ourselves.

We’re committed to making our 2026 conference accessible. If cost is a barrier, please reach out—subsidised or complimentary places are available to help ensure financial circumstances don’t prevent participation.

Keynote

Inside Open OD: What openness really looks like in teams, leaders, and systems

Dr. William Brendel

Most leaders say their workplaces are open. Most teams quietly disagree. Drawing on over 25 years of applied OD practice and research, Dr. William Brendel brings to life an evidence‑based approach for understanding openness where Psychological Safety and Growth Mindset meet.

You’ll learn:

What real openness looks like in practice — beyond slogans or “safety‑washing”
Why teams often struggle to speak up, disagree constructively, or name hard truths
How the Open Assessment reveals the exact factors shaping satisfaction, performance, and retention
How openness is shaped not only by interpersonal behaviours, but by deeper structural forces (design, learning, leadership patterns)
A real case example from a Health & Human Services department that rebuilt trust, performance, and retention under extreme pressure

Dr Brendel will introduce the Open OD Approach — a simple, team‑driven method that empowers people to explore their own patterns, decide what matters most, and guide their path toward stronger, safer, more connected work. He will share a client case - a Health & Human Services department that, against all odds, rebuilt trust, raised performance, and increased retention through Open OD.

Attendees are invited to take the free Open Assessment prior to the conference. Bring your report — it will enrich your experience and personal reflection throughout the keynote.

Concurrent Sessions

Cracking Open Care

Dr Krista Troiani

Cracking Open Care takes a bold look at the gap between organisational “openness” and the lived experience of working mothers — and what really drives that disconnect. Expect insight, honesty, and fresh perspectives.

Dr Troiani brings deep expertise in leadership behaviour and organisational systems, paired with real‑world consulting experience. It’s a session you’ll definitely want to catch.

The Story We Tell Ourselves in OD

Pirooz Jafari

The Story We Tell Ourselves in OD will “crack open” the stories we default to in our OD work—and how those stories can narrow the perspectives we consider and the interventions we design. The session draws on Sensemaking theory (Karl Weick) and ideas on “single story” thinking, offering practical ways to strengthen curiosity, dialogue, and more open interpretation in our practice.

Strong Back, Soft Front: The Undefended Heart of OD Practice

Dr Lindy Amos

OD practitioners are immersed in the underbelly of organisational life, conflict, grief, projection, idealisation, fear and systemic turbulence. Yet the emotional labour of this work is largely invisible and unacknowledged. When practitioners are required to absorb systemic emotion without support, the consequences are predictable: exhaustion, emotional over‑identification, defensive distancing and diminished capacity to hold complexity. Systems become brittle, relationships contract and adaptive work stalls.

Dr Lindy Amos presents Strong Back, Soft Front: The Undefended Heart of OD Practice, a highly experiential session blending story, reflection, dialogue and practice.

Gain insight into the shadow dynamics that shape organisational life and explore ways to stay present to discomfort and “sit in the fire” without collapsing, rescuing, or withdrawing. Acquire a deeper appreciation of the emotional labour of OD and how to work with it safely and skilfully.

The session is immersive, relational, and designed to “crack open” the defended patterns that limit OD impact.

More speakers to be announced soon!

Date	Friday, 24th July 2026
Time	💠9 am – 5.15 pm 9 am check-in 9.30 am – 5.15 pm conference 💠5.30 pm 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 member – $395 early bird ($495 full price) Non-members – $595 early bird ($695 full price) Become an ODA member today!

Our Presenters & Sessions

What	Who	Title/Description
Pre-conference workshop	Dr William Brendel	Inside the Open OD Method: How openness shapes real work and real results
Keynote	Dr William Brendel	Inside Open OD: What openness really looks like in teams, leaders, and systems Overview Is your workplace open to new ideas, honest feedback, conflict, or change? Most leaders say yes. Most teams say no. Dr. William Brendel’s keynote cuts through this gap by introducing Open Organization Development — a fresh, evidence-based approach that helps teams thrive where Psychological Safety and Growth Mindset meet. Psychological Safety exists when people feel comfortable sharing ideas, asking questions, and owning mistakes without fear. It is not soft. It is a strategic asset that fuels talent, learning, and better decisions. Growth Mindset refers to a person’s belief that they can learn, adapt, and improve through effort. In teams, it drives curiosity, steady progress, and strong performance during tough change. Together, these forces shape open organizations—places where people speak up, work through conflict, stay engaged, and do work that matters. What You Will Learn Dr. Brendel will show what openness looks like in real life. He will share a client case - a Health & Human Services department that, against all odds, rebuilt trust, raised performance, and increased retention through Open OD. You’ll see how the Open Assessment makes it possible to pinpoint the exact factors that shape satisfaction, performance, and retention. Beyond team and leadership dynamics, the assessment also highlights deeper structural forces such as design and learning. This holistic diagnostic tool makes it possible to see and act on the real causes, not just the symptoms. He will then introduce the Open OD Approach—a simple, team-driven method that helps employees enter dialogue around their own patterns, decide what matters most, and guide their own path toward stronger, safer, more connected work. Why You Should Attend Workplaces everywhere are strained. Many people feel tired, isolated, or overwhelmed. Add the pressure of rapid change, AI, remote work, skill gaps, and rising conflict, and openness can feel out of reach. But research tells a different story. When people build psychological safety and a growth mindset, they find deeper meaning, stronger relationships, and more confidence to face complexity. Teams communicate better. Engagement rises. Retention improves. Performance climbs. Here’s what current studies show: 12% of employees who feel unsafe at work expect to quit within a year (Boston Consulting Group). Only 26% of leaders create strong psychological safety (McKinsey). Teams with high psychological safety report 35% higher innovation (Harvard Business Review). Organizations with clear, open communication see a 39-point increase in high performance (Gartner). Experience before the Event All attendees are invited to take the free Open Assessment before the keynote. You’ll get a tailored report that maps your strengths, blind spots, and deeper patterns of openness. Bring it with you — it will make the session far more personal and insightful. About Dr. William Brendel Dr. Brendel is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Institute for Applied Behavioral & Organizational Sciences at Sacred Heart University and a global OD consultant with over 25 years of experience. A graduate of Columbia University, he has spent his career helping leaders and consultants drive human-centered innovation. He is also the founder of OpenSourceOD.com, a platform that brings practical OD tools, assessments, and wisdom to anyone committed to positive change. His work includes the creation of the MOST —the first theoretically and psychometrically validated OD competency model and assessment —now freely available to the field. Recent Awards 2025 Innovative Inventions in OD Award – International Society for OD and Change 2025 OD for Human Flourishing Award – Organization Leadership & Development Network 2024 Larry Porter Award for Communicating OD Knowledge – OD Network 2024 Article of the Year – Journal of Management Spirituality & Religion 2023 Article of the Year – OD Review 2021 Lisa Kimball Award for Evolving the Field of OD – OD Network
Parallel session	Dr Krista Troiani	Cracking Open Care This session takes a bold look at the gap between organisational “openness” and the lived experience of working mothers — and what really drives that disconnect. Expect insight, honesty, and fresh perspectives.
	Pirooz Jafari	The Story We Tell Ourselves in OD This session will “crack open” the stories we default to in our OD work—and how those stories can narrow the perspectives we consider and the interventions we design. The session draws on Sensemaking theory (Karl Weick) and ideas on “single story” thinking, offering practical ways to strengthen curiosity, dialogue, and more open interpretation in our practice.
	Dr Lindy Amos	Strong Back, Soft Front: The Undefended Heart of OD Practice Overview OD practitioners are immersed in the underbelly of organisational life, conflict, grief, projection, idealisation, fear and systemic turbulence. Yet the emotional labour of this work is largely invisible and unacknowledged. When practitioners are required to absorb systemic emotion without support, the consequences are predictable: exhaustion, emotional over‑identification, defensive distancing and diminished capacity to hold complexity. Systems become brittle, relationships contract and adaptive work stalls. Dr Lindy Amos' doctoral research, The Undefended Heart: Integrating compassion and courage through enactments of leadership, reveals how unconscious dynamics, including the myth of superhuman leadership, the fear of compassion and expectations of invulnerability, intensify these pressures and entangle practitioners in the very dynamics they are trying to shift. Helping practitioners recognise these dynamics, reclaim grounded presence and discover new ways of operating in complex systems is essential for system health. The Strong Back, Soft Front Agility Framework, a work‑in‑progress whole‑person approach drawing on Lindy's Knowing–Being–Doing–Becoming epistemology and Dr Susan David’s Emotional Agility, offers practical avenues for re‑entering systems with greater clarity, compassion and courage, enabling more adaptive and relationally intelligent responses. Participants will leave with: Insight into the shadow dynamics that shape organisational life (projection, idealisation, dependency, fear of compassion) and how these may be impacting them Ways to stay present to discomfort and “sit in the fire”, without collapsing, rescuing, or withdrawing A deeper appreciation of the emotional labour of OD and how to work with it safely and skilfully An understanding of how the Strong Back, Soft Front Agility Model underpins effective OD practice A values-aligned commitment to cultivate compassionate wisdom in their OD practice About Dr Lindy Amos Dr Lindy Amos helps leaders and teams work with the emotional realities and unconscious dynamics that shape organisational life. She is known for her ability to make the unseen workable, translating complex psychodynamic patterns into practical insights that support better leadership, clearer roles, and healthier, more adaptive systems. With a distinctive blend of intellectual rigour, heartfelt presence, and grounded practicality, Lindy’s work sits at the intersection of Emotional Agility, systems thinking, psychodynamic theory, and creative inquiry. Lindy holds a Professional Doctorate in Therapeutic Arts Practice and Organisation Dynamics (MIECAT) and a Masters in Applied Science (Organisation Dynamics). Her practice is underpinned by extensive formal accreditations across leadership, psychometrics, and group facilitation. She is an accredited Analytic Network Coach (UK), an accredited facilitator of the Enneagram System (IEQ9, Enneagram in Business, Enneagram Spectrum), an advanced practitioner of the Team Management Profile Suite (TMS), an IAP2‑certified engagement practitioner, and a Mental Health First Aider. She is also co‑author of the WID Core Potency Profile and a Master Trainer and Practice Collaborator with The WID Factor Australia. Across two decades of practice, Lindy has partnered with leaders and teams across corporate, government, community, and not‑for‑profit sectors. Her clients include Coles Myer, Rabobank, Sagility Global, Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, SunRice Corporation, ExxonMobil, InSync, Women’s Environmental Leadership Australia, Elm Fashion, Bunnings, Arena, Leadership Victoria, WorkSafe, Deakin University, Master Builders Association, Kangan Institute, Melbourne Water, VicRoads, Recycling Victoria, the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Infrastructure, the Department of Premier & Cabinet, Good Shepherd Australia & New Zealand, the Salvation Army, and Peninsula and Bendigo Health. She is a long‑standing facilitator with LGProfessionals and consults regularly with local governments across Australia. Lindy’s work frames leadership as a relational, adaptive practice. She is recognised for creating psychologically safe, emotionally intelligent learning environments where leaders can explore difficult dynamics honestly, understand their own patterns, and build the capacity to lead with courage and compassion

We are absolutely thrilled to announce that Org-ology is a Gold Sponsor for the 2026 ODA Conference: "Cracking Open OD: How open is our OD practice really?" 🎉

Globally recognised as leaders in Organisational Design & Development Consulting, Org-ology helps organisations think differently about how they will meet future challenges. Org-ology has over 20 years of experience in helping organisations understand how people, process, and technology can work more effectively together to create that future.

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