Lynne Forbes-Zeller

France Flash Consulting Reflections

Lynne Forbes-Zeller

Pepperdine University

MSOD 616 - OD Practitioner as Global Citizen and Strategist

Dr. Miriam Lacey

Lynne Forbes-Zeller

France Flash Consulting Reflections

My flash consulting client was Natacha Lalande, Director at the European

American Chamber of Commerce (EACC), a transatlantic business networking

organization. My group members include Amritha Ravindranathan, Marne Maykowskyj

Nordean, Natalie Weathers, Jonathan Weller, and Joshua Carson.

During our initial discovery call with Natacha, she explained her function and

limitations as a result of being a part-time employee with minimal resources. She

indicated they have low membership engagement. EACC’s current environment has

created organization instability, reduced member retention, and not increased their

operating budget. To collect member data, Natacha set up several interviews with

EACC members. Additionally, she asked us for two specific deliverables, a member

survey, and a client engagement chart.

Quality of our Product

The pivotal event is the client presentation. Our goals included delivering

impactful information that would provide a deeper understanding of the membership

base and to offer valuable ideas for next steps. Our team presented a process

overview, the engagement survey, engagement charts (member and board), overall

findings, SWOT analysis, final recommendations, followed by a discussion period.

In summary, the information the Pepperdine Flash Consulting team’s data and

presentation were received well; our work was helpful and understood by the client, the

client felt empowered. Our deliverables could be used to obtain member feedback with

little effort and cost. The project could have been improved by having more time to

interview a broader base of members which may have provided new data for analysis.
Lynne Forbes-Zeller

What was your role and exhibited behaviors?

I acted as a contributory member of the consulting team bringing ideas for use

during the consulting research, analysis, strategy, and quality work to achieve our final

deliverables. After our initial client call, without prompt, I voluntarily researched business

networking clubs (BNC), BNC member engagement and accountability, and how other

BNCs solve the challenge of recruiting the right mix of members for success. I

developed a resource document and shared this with my consulting team. The research

provided a foundational understanding of how a business networking organization

functions, how similar organizations are dealing with the same issues, and solutions

they have used to combat the member engagement problem. I volunteered to create

one of our primary deliverables, the member engagement chart. I also created

engagement recommendations specific to a board member. During our interview

process, we learned that the members do not understand what the organization’s

values are. I also offered the client a list of proposed EACC values, a surprise, and

delight that she was not expecting but very happy to receive.

What was triggered in you, what skills did you develop, and how did this

experience contribute to your POV as an OD practitioner?

Taking EACC data and applying it to the SWOT and TOWS models was

extremely helpful. This activity increased my skills by gaining clarity about which model

to use, and how to effectively evaluate these models in future OD work.

On a personal level, I learned more about how I show up on a team and how

extroverts may perceive an introvert in a team dynamic. Our group consisted of two

extroverts and four introverts. We all participated in discussions; however, one of the
Lynne Forbes-Zeller

extroverts drove more of the project discussion. Despite this behavior being helpful,

they at times were impatient and dismissive. They failed to bring everyone’s voice to the

table. They were more interested in quick output or production (masculine American

norm), rather than building consensus and checking to see what the group work pace

was. As a result of these dynamics, they also jumped up the ladder of inference not

pausing to examine their assumptions about team members.

During the feedback portion of our project, I was paired with this individual. It

became evident they were unaware of my personality and work style. They expressed

incorrect negative assumptions and biases towards me, including using ageism. They

stated because I was less audible in meetings, I am unintelligent, irrelevant, and

incompetent. In the future, to increase understanding about my personality and work

style, I can explain that as an introvert, I like to gather enough details before I speak.

This experience was valuable to me, providing an opportunity to reflect on how I

may be perceived in a team or group dynamic. As an OD practitioner, I saw the

importance of having the skills and being able to help others work side-by-side with

different personalities and work preferences. The experience reinforced that high-

performing teams must have psychological safety and trust. The poor judgment and

lack of curiosity by this individual is also an example of how ineffective leaders/OD

practitioners can destroy relationships and positive group/team dynamics.