The charge that the OD Division of the Academy of Management is a group from which "the zest is gone" is explored in an address to this division. Several images are presented regarding ways of observing and learning. OD professionals are advised to perform reconnaissance, which is defined as lowering one's defenses, seeing fully, looking again at things one considers already understood, capturing previously undetected nuances, and developing high-variety languages to describe what is discovered. Reconnaissance should also be applied to the values, beliefs, and practices of OD to determine their validity. OD practitioners are encouraged to study and disseminate the findings of theorists, to act incrementally at times, and to identify problems and issues that are not appropriately addressed by those working in OD.
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