The Dangers of Success

Based on the theoretical approach of Rogers’s diffusion of innovations model, the article examines the spread of large group interventions (LGIs) in German-speaking countries (Austria, Switzerland, and Germany) from 1999 to 2002. From this perspective, organization development consultants are the agents for diffusion of this new knowledge. An empirical study carried out in 1999 shows their status as innovators and early birds in the spread and diffusion of LGIs. A second study, carried out in 2000-2002 as a yearly trend survey, shows the tendencies of application and spread and the quantitative diffusion of LGIs in German-speaking countries thus far. They are successful in diffusion, but this success also carries its dangers: They might lose their clear shape and transformational power. They are hence to be analyzed with regard both to the risks of their success story and the promising myth of a fundamentally transforming experience.