Member Spotlight.

Q: What is your current position? 

Principal of Janice J Consulting

Q: What is your educational background?

Bachelor’s in English with a minor in mathematics, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Master’s in Library and Information Science, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Certificates in OD from the University of Minnesota, and Human Systems Dynamics from the HSD Institute

Graduate course in Program Evaluation at the University of Minnesota.

Q: How long have you been in the OD field?

Earned a certificate in OD from the University of Minnesota in 2010, and worked on one consulting project per year while working as a library administrator at the University of Minnesota.  Took early retirement from the U in January 2021, formed my business, and jumped into OD full time.

Q: How long have you been member of MNDOND? Why did you join?

I joined in 2019, when I was considering the next step in my career.  I made so many great people in MNODN who encouraged me to make the leap to full-time OD work.  As a steppingstone, I joined two project teams for the Community Consulting Program, which were wonderful learning experiences.  I also met Glenda Eoyang, Executive Director of Human Systems Dynamics, who was a speaker for one of the monthly programs, which are so good!  As a result, I became a certified HSD Professional Associate and am now working on a significant OD project with an HSD team.

Q: What benefits do you gain from membership?

The networking is wonderful – and I miss meeting in person.  I appreciated Teresa (Director of Membership)’s coordinating of a meet-up at a brew pub last summer, and hope we can do that again when the weather warms and covid subsides.

I also find the monthly programming to be excellent – smart, informative, and engaging speakers who facilitate and deepen our learning while enabling us to get to know one another better.

And the CCP experience was terrific!  I loved working on a project team.

Q: What special skills do you possess that make you an effective OD professional?

I basically love people and find them fascinating.  I am a good listener. I help a client more clearly define their organization’s issues by synthesizing what they tell me and reflecting back what I heard.  I am also a collaborator, working with them to develop effective approaches within their organizational culture.

I am also a pattern person – I take in lots of information from a wider variety of sources and can see the patterns that exist to help guide a client to create a way to move forward.  I work with individuals, through leadership coaching, as well as organizations.

Q: Have you been a board member/volunteer with MNODN before? If so, please share your experience/benefits.

My only volunteer work was through the Community Consulting Program

Q: What advice do you have for people entering the field?

Articulate your values and vision for your role as a consultant and use them to guide your work.  As much as possible, align your projects with your values.  In that way you will be confident and full of enthusiasm, and you will do your best work.  Since I left the U, I have loved every single day and feel that I have made a difference in the lives of individuals and in the culture of organizations.