Organization Design with a Systems-thinking Lens

Join an ODF Community Conversation

July 10 | 12:00 – 1:00 (EDT)

Organization Design with a Systems-thinking Lens

Join community members Juselly French and Julia Urbanchuk who are excited to share the work and research they have gathered on this topic. . .

Frustrated with the cycle of transformative efforts that go nowhere? Leaders wanting to solve every problem with restructuring? Tired of short-term thinking by leaders who are under pressure of driving quick quarterly results to the neglect of a holistic and longer-term view? We are too! We need to see the system. Listen to the voice of the system. Connect with the interaction and behavioral patterns.

We have an opportunity to respond to the modern needs of the world, to go beyond using tools from the past. When we do that, we help our organizations prepare for the future, helping leaders create the conditions for their change to take hold more organically.

This session will explore three key themes:

1. How we use diagnosis to do truly systemic organization design
2. Going beyond the formal organization and seeing the system in flow through the informal organization design – networks and system dynamics
3. Paying attention to the other system elements beyond structure when we do org design

This session offers case examples that elevate our practice as org design professionals to boldly support leaders to think systemically.  

Juselly French is a management consultant and leadership coach. For over 25 years, she has worked with global companies and multiple industries, building Integrated Strategic Change capabilities. Juselly brings critical systems thinking approaches to decision-making under complexity and uncertainty, particularly as it relates to designing organizational systems fit for purpose that enable sustained organizational change.  Juselly holds a JD from Universidad del Rosario, an LLM in Financial Law, and an MA in Organization Development and Change Leadership from University of St. Thomas.

External Speaking Engagements:

• “A System View of Organizational Change” at Minnesota Organizational Development Network, April 2023
• “Organization Design as Strategy Enabler” at University of St Thomas, MBA program, May 2022, and November 2022
• “Leveraging Organizational Network Analysis for information flows and process effectiveness.”
• At European Organizational Design Forum – Practice sub-group, Summer 2022

Julia Urbanchuk is the founder of Star Pattern Consulting and an organization development leader and practitioner. For over 25 years, she has held global executive and consulting roles in organization development and talen t management across leading companies in the biopharmaceutical, technology, and consumer products industries. She has worked as an internal consultant at L’Oréal, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck, eBay, and Celgene; and as a small business owner and external OD consultant to life science, technology, and financial services organizations. Julia specializes in diagnosing organizational challenges and opportunities syste mically and has led numerous initiatives involving organization design, cross-company transformational change, talent management, and capability building. Julia holds a BA in communications from Villanova University, an MS in organizational dynamics from the University of Pennsylvania, and she is a Global Fellow of the Wharton School.

External speaking engagements:

• “Change Management – New Perspectives & Tried and True Tools” at L&D Philadelphia, 2018
• “Culture Clash:  Integrated Thinking as a Tool for Change” at Integrated Thinking 2, 2017
• “Integrated Thinking from the Inside Out:  Leveraging the tensions for Innovation” at the Symposium on Integrated Thinking, 2015
• “An Employer’s View of Leadership” at Tech360, 2015
• “Facilitating Change During Turbulent Times” at NY HRPS, 2014
• “Translating OD Theory to Practice: OD Mash-ups,” “Managing Dynamic Tensions,” and “Facilitating Change in Turbulent Times,” at NJ OD Annual Sharing Conference, 2012-15
• “Organization Capability Management: the Role of I/O Psychologists in Strategy” at SIOP, 2013
• “Managing Organizational Change” at Drug Information Association (DIA), 2009
• University of Pennsylvania:  Graduate Career Services speaker, 2005
• •Julia was featured in Forbes.com article: “Employee Engagement in the Digital Age,” 2016