What is organizational development?

Organizational Development (OD) is a values-based approach to systems change in organizations and communities; it strives to build the capacity to achieve and sustain a new desired state that benefits the organization or community and the world around them.  It approaches communities and organizations as open systems; that is, acts with the knowledge that change in one area of a system always results in changes in other areas; and change in one area cannot be sustained without supporting changes in other areas of the system.

Organizational Development (OD) is an approach, a method, a process dedicated to expanding the knowledge and effectiveness of people to accomplish more successful organizational change and performance. OD emerged out of human relations studies where psychologists realized that organizational structures and processes influence worker behavior and motivation, and in turn, organizational mission achievement.

  It is concerned with leadership, openness of communication, participative management, role clarity, conflict resolution, and leader support and control. OD will examine the organization’s mission, goals, policies, structures and technologies; its climate and culture; and desired outcomes and readiness to take action.

Why the need to develop HOA organizations?

First, it must be understood that the HOA organization consists of not only the board and officers, but the membership as well.  In the OD approach to HOAs, we must also recognize the strong influence and control that attorneys and managers have over the HOA.

The answer to the above question is simple:  there is a very strong need for change in the HOA corporation, in its legal structure, in its model of government that stands in stark contrast to our system of democratic government, in its climate and culture that imposes a strict authoritarian control over people, and in the radical changes in behavior required of its members in order for the HOA to function as intended.  To many HOA members, living in an HOA is like living in a hostile foreign country, a banana republic.

The mindset that has been imposed upon our society is that the values of HOA governance justifiably exceed any detriments relating to the loss of constitutional protections and the equal protection of the law.  The irrational defense of this HOA concept is the biased interpretation and selective application of the laws to, in effect, make the HOA model work. When such a defense argument is used by state governments to create a form of private government that rejects and opposes the social contract of the US Constitution, the people will react accordingly. 

Behavior problems have resulted as we have witnessed:  feelings of hopelessness and abandonment, apathy, stress; the HOA Syndrome (PTSD); anger and violence. Especially creating stress and the feelings of abandonment by the government is the treatment of the HOA as a public entity or as a private contractual entity.  The resultant behavior that we have seen or heard daily in the media across the country is a clear indication that “something is rotten in the state of Denmark.”  Yet, the pro-HOA special interests, as reflected by their very influential lobbying activities, continue to see no evil. 

Their attitude falls under: The HOA has certain rights that must be considered; if only the members would just follow the rules all will be great; that all that is necessary is to legislate proper behavior and proscribe improper behavior.  For they are honorable men; so are they all honorable men.

Yet, state legislatures see no evil. So urgent changes in our mindset, our attitudes, and our value system regarding the social and legal aspects of private government HOAs are in order. The OD process is the method to bring about this change.

Given the all-encompassing political and legal structure of the HOA scheme or model, it is not too difficult to understand member reactions and behavior. It is not difficult to understand 1) the discord, the hostility in the HOA community and the stress, both emotionally and financially on the homeowner; 2) the adversity felt by average people who find themselves in a strange world that they would have not accepted if fully disclosed; 3) the feelings of helplessness when they discover that they are powerless without the support of their neighbors, which is rarely forthcoming; and 4) where they are essentially at the suffrage - the whims - of the board that can change in a day.

The state government’s laissez-faire attitude toward HOA communities has allowed the HOA to become a closed, inbred society where "the state is everything." It is not surprising, then, that several groups with personal agendas have emerged, creating a dysfunction climate and culture within the closed HOA society. These negative influences helped shape the character and quality of life in the community. Here are links to a few appropriate research studies:

1. Before the HOA Syndrome there was The Milgram Experiment (harmful acts carried out under pressure by "authorities").
2. Why do people harm others in HOAs? (Milgram and Stanford Prison research, where role models by "authority" and "submissive" subjects had to be cut short).
3. Psychologist defines the HOA Syndrome caused by oppressive HOAs (psychologist identifies PTSD attributed to living in an HOA).
4. Solomon Asch experiment (1958) A study of conformity (group pressure influenced decisions by subjects).

The 1955 interviews by Milton Meyer, a journalist, who sought answers to the question as to "how could the people allow Hitler to take control of Germany?" are very revealing. A very apropos question today for HOA regimes. Among the replies from his respondent, working class Germans were,

"What happened was the gradual habituation of the people, little by little . . . . This separation of the government from people, this widening of the gap, took place so gradually and insensibly, each step disguised. . . . [Mayer believed that the good people went along] in the usual sincerity that required them only to abandon one principle after another, to throw away, little by little, all that was good.

They Thought They Were Free, Milton Mayer, 1995.   

These issues cannot be corrected by lawyers writing CC&Rs or by crafting pro-HOA legislation. Nor can they be corrected by property managers. And state legislatures cannot mandate correct behavior, following in the footsteps of the approach adopted by the HOAs with their rules and strict enforcement of the rules.

I have been immensely disappointing that no one in the behavioral sciences field has undertaken an in-depth analysis of the behavioral dynamics operating within the essentially closed communities commonly known as homeowners associations. If such a study (similar to Whyte intermingling with and observing and interviewing his subjects) were to be conducted today, the findings would show that the Street Corner Society mentality was alive and well in homeowner associations.

A comparison between Whyte’s Cornerville community, with its Corner Boys and College Boys, and today’s HOA communities can be made. Whyte describes the problems Cornerville as, “Cornerville’s problem is not lack of organization, but failure of its own social organization to mesh with the structure of the society around it.” I speak not of the board of directors and officers, but of the rank and file members who blindly defend the actions of their board, right or wrong, and their community as healthy and satisfying. Whyte was concerned about the “big shots” in Cornerville, who were the racketeers and politicians, or our HOA directors of today. He asks, “What makes a man a big shot and by what means is he able to dominate the little guys,” or the rank and file HOA members of today.

I have earlier described the dysfunctional climate and culture of homeowners associations. Leaving aside the questions of legality, which would need to be addressed as part of any OD effort, the mission for HOA OD consultants is,

1. to return the climate and culture of the HOA to where its members are able to re-identify with the values, beliefs, principles, and purposes of healthy and desirable communities functioning within the larger society of the municipality and the state; and
2. to remove the very strong external influences of the special interest vendors and lobbyists that are the primary causes of this deviation from the general societal norms and values.

A massive, multi-disciplined OD intervention is needed that is not for the faint of heart. OD diagnosis, evaluation, and the transference of knowledge and skills to HOA regimes are in order. It must be fully understood that education in constitutional law and politics will be required.