OD Consulting as a Catalyst for Change

This longitudinal case study addresses a critical gap in understanding how Organization Development (OD) consulting facilitates sustainable transformation in complex organizations, particularly concerning the precise mechanisms that enable enduring change while rigorously maintaining operational stability. Employing a six-year constructivist grounded theory methodology, we investigated this challenge within a large Israeli public sector organization, drawing on 67 interviews, extensive field observations, and organizational documentation collected in two distinct phases (2018 and 2024). Our analysis empirically refines three interconnected mechanisms through which effective OD consulting operates: (1) creating adaptive spaces, (2) systematically developing emergent capabilities, and (3) enabling systemic integration. The findings reveal that these mechanisms collectively foster a unique state of “bounded transformation”—a phenomenon where organizations achieve meaningful change without compromising essential operational effectiveness. This research contributes theoretically by offering a grounded framework that extends complexity theory and dialogic OD, introducing “bounded transformation” as a novel concept, and detailing how these mechanisms facilitate multi-level learning and dynamic integration. Practically, it provides actionable insights for OD practitioners on cultivating trust-based relationships, fostering iterative learning cycles, and embedding sustainable change processes within complex organizational systems.