OU inaugural lecture to address new ways of organising

The need for organisations to embrace the creativity within before planning new innovations, will be addressed by Richard Holti, in his inaugural lecture on Tuesday 26 June 2018.

Professor Richard Holti is Professor of Professional Learning in the OU’s Faculty of Business and Law. Richard Holti studied natural sciences, including history and philosophy of science, at Cambridge and has a PhD in industrial sociology from Imperial College. He then spent 18 years at the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations in London, working on change and innovation projects with public and private sector organisations. He joined The Open University Business School in 2001, developing his engaged approach to research and practice-based teaching. He has collaborated closely with a wide variety of NHS organisations and within the construction industry, focusing on what is involved when professionals challenge existing ways of working and create something new. 

In his inaugural lecture: Making new ways of organising out of old, Professor Holti, will draw on case studies from the construction industry and health care to illustrate how working professionals have forged new areas of practice over the past 50 years.

Professor Holti said: “Professionals are often portrayed as putting the brakes on change, as concerned with protecting their own interests rather than adapting to the needs of a changing society and tougher economic times.  However working professionals have themselves often created new kinds of services, or new ways of meeting people’s needs, and there is much to be learned from how they have gone about this. The key trend I have noticed is that reorganisations often fail if those carrying out the reforms fail to recognise the innovations that exist within the organisation. Those who start designing from above often miss the innovations that lie within.”

Hear what Professor Holti has to say about his inaugural lecture in the video below:

Read about Professor Holti’s research

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