Richard beckhard biography

Richard Beckhard (–) was an American organizational theorist, adjunct professor at MIT, and researcher in the field of organization development.

Beckhard co-launched the Addison-Wesley Organization Development Series and began the Organization Development Network in ^[1] His work, Organization Development: Strategies and Models, was published in Beckhard was an adjunct professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management from to He died on December 28, ^[2]

He helped to define organization development as: "an effort (1) planned, (2) organization-wide, (3) managed from the top, to (4) increase organization effectiveness and health through (5) planned interventions in the organization's 'processes', using behavioural-science knowledge".^[3] He was the first to coin the practical precept for decision-makers: "let it happen; [if not] help it happen; [if not] make it happen!" Through the Organization Development Network and The Gestalt