Dear ODC Division Colleagues,
As the ODC Division continues to strengthen its role as a leading voice in the organizational change conversation at AOM, I am writing to invite your involvement in the third iteration of the Professional Development Workshop "Bridging the Gap: Aligning Academic Insights with Practical Excellence in Organizational Change."
Building on the strong momentum of our PDWs in Chicago (2024) and Copenhagen (2025), we are now developing the proposal for AOM 2026 in Philadelphia. What began as a single workshop has evolved into a continuing ODC initiative-one that is increasingly recognized as a space where research, practice, and education meet to shape the future of the field.
What is different in this iteration?
For 2026, we are deliberately shifting the focus from reflection to projection.
Rather than primarily reviewing past change efforts, this PDW is being designed as a participatory, future-oriented forum-a space for collective sensemaking, imagination, and co-creation around the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for organizational change.
The emphasis is on looking forward together:
- How roles in organizational change are evolving
- How judgment, data, and AI interact in conditions of uncertainty
- How scholars, practitioners, and educators can jointly shape impact rather than work in parallel
Our ambition is clear: to position ODC at the forefront of the organizational change conversation at AOM, not only as a home for rigorous scholarship, but as a division that actively helps define where the field is going.
Why get involved?
This PDW aims to:
- Advance the ODC mission by strengthening the connection between rigor, relevance, and impact
- Sustain a living dialogue that has grown across multiple AOM meetings
- Foster co-creation across roles, bringing scholars, practitioners, executives, and educators into the same generative space
- Model what future-oriented OD work looks like, both in content and in format
How can you contribute?
As the proposal is now being finalized, we welcome ODC members who are interested in:
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Contributing perspectives that look ahead rather than only back
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Sharing emerging questions, tensions, or practices shaping the future of organizational change
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Participating in or helping shape a highly interactive, dialogical PDW format
Contributions can take many forms-from helping frame the conversation, to sharing practice-based insights, to active participation during the session itself.
If this resonates with you, or if you are simply curious to explore how you might be involved, I would very much welcome hearing from you. Please feel free to reach out to me directly at
gediminas.baublys@evaf.vu.lt.
Let's continue building on what we have started and take this next step together in shaping the future of organizational change field.
Warm regards,
Gediminas Baublys
Vilnius University
Faculty of Economics and Business Administration