# Where OQM's Six Organic Principles Came From > A source-backed explanation of OQM's six organic principles, their roots in Wesely's dissertation, and the practical questions they raise for organizational change. - Publisher: OQM International - Language: en - Published: 2026-09-30 - Canonical: https://oqm-international.com/en/journal/six-organic-principles-origins/ - Image: https://oqm-international.com/journal-images/sechs-organische-prinzipien-herkunft.jpg Stephan Wesely's dissertation distinguishes OQM's eight quality characteristics from its six organic principles. The characteristics help an organization decide **where** to focus. The principles ask **how** change should be carried out. Confusing the two can turn an illustrative nature analogy into a supposed measurement result or a discussion method into a promise of success. The historical origin is documented. Wesely derives the principles from Christian social thought and uses nature analogies from Natural Church Development. His dissertation does not derive them from cybernetics or systems theory. A secular organization can still ask the practical question behind each principle without rewriting that history. [Source: dissertation, pp. 20–38](https://administration.oqm-business.com/storage/app/public/Dissertation_Wesley_comp.pdf#page=36). ## Symbiosis: Who depends on whom for the work to succeed? Wesely describes the relationship between a tree and fungi at its roots. The fungi provide mineral nutrients; the tree provides carbohydrates. His organizational point is that different contributors can strengthen one another rather than compete for importance. For example, a customer support team and a product team may share a goal but lose information at their handoff. The practical questions are who needs which information, who makes the decision, and who deals with the consequences. “Symbiosis” does not make conflict disappear. It gives people a reason to examine interdependence honestly. [Dissertation, pp. 27–29](https://administration.oqm-business.com/storage/app/public/Dissertation_Wesley_comp.pdf#page=43). ## Functionality: What result would show that the work helped? The dissertation's image is fruit growing on a tree. Wesely calls for defining, planning, and reviewing the intended fruit. In work terms, that means asking what useful result the organization is trying to create for people and how it will know whether its activity contributed. A consulting team might count workshops delivered. That measures output, but not whether teams make clearer decisions afterward. The useful indicator depends on the purpose of the work. More activity is not automatically more value. This question can sharpen an existing measurement plan without pretending that one metric captures every effect. [Dissertation, p. 29](https://administration.oqm-business.com/storage/app/public/Dissertation_Wesley_comp.pdf#page=45). ## Interconnection: What else could this decision change? Wesely argues that a change in one area affects others. An additional approval may strengthen quality control while slowing response time. A new role may clarify ownership yet sever an informal connection that helped a team solve problems. The practical discipline is to look across boundaries before acting and to review unexpected effects afterward. Interconnection does not mean that every outcome can be calculated in advance. It means that a local improvement should be checked against the wider system of work. [Dissertation, pp. 31–32](https://administration.oqm-business.com/storage/app/public/Dissertation_Wesley_comp.pdf#page=47). ## Energy transformation: How can affected people participate? The dissertation asks how existing energy can be directed constructively. Resistance to a proposed change may contain useful information: insufficient time, an overlooked customer need, or memories of earlier initiatives that produced no response. Leaders can examine that information with the people who experience the work. This is not a technique for turning every objection into agreement. Participation has substance only when concerns are considered and decisions are explained. Leaders remain responsible for difficult trade-offs. Wesely's phrase about making affected people participants points toward involvement, not pressure to comply. [Dissertation, pp. 32–33](https://administration.oqm-business.com/storage/app/public/Dissertation_Wesley_comp.pdf#page=48). ## Multiplication: What can continue without one indispensable person? When knowledge resides in only one manager or specialist, that person can become a constraint. Wesely asks how learning can be passed to colleagues and trainees. His contrasting habit is the manager who says it would be quicker to do the work alone. Multiplication might mean documenting a method, training a second person, and giving that person real responsibility. It is not the mechanical copying of every practice. The aim is to increase the organization's capacity to act without depending on extraordinary effort from a few people. [Dissertation, pp. 35–36](https://administration.oqm-business.com/storage/app/public/Dissertation_Wesley_comp.pdf#page=51). ## Sustainability: Can an improvement endure as normal work? Wesely uses fallen leaves becoming humus as an image of a continuing cycle. Applied to organizational development, the question is whether a change requires constant exceptional energy or becomes part of workable routines. A weekly coordination meeting is sustainable only if it helps people make decisions and does not merely add another hour of discussion. The principle invites a review of ongoing costs and benefits. It is not a claim that every OQM intervention is environmentally sustainable. [Dissertation, pp. 36–37](https://administration.oqm-business.com/storage/app/public/Dissertation_Wesley_comp.pdf#page=52). ## Use the principles inside the improvement cycle The six questions do not replace an assessment of the eight characteristics or the conversation about a profile. Wesely places them in the step where people choose goals and measures. First, the organization should understand which [minimum factor](https://oqm-international.com/en/journal/oqm-minimum-factor/) matters. The principles then help people examine whether a proposed change connects work, people, and relationships responsibly. The [OQM improvement cycle](https://oqm-international.com/en/journal/oqm-improvement-cycle-six-steps/) continues through implementation and reassessment. Our [research overview](https://oqm-international.com/en/research/) and [source-backed FAQ](https://oqm-international.com/en/faq/) distinguish this historical basis from later products. That distinction lets the principles function as practical questions without claiming more than the dissertation establishes. ## Related articles - [The OQM Improvement Cycle: Six Steps from Survey to Change](https://oqm-international.com/en/journal/oqm-improvement-cycle-six-steps/) - [The Minimum Factor: Where Organizational Improvement Should Begin](https://oqm-international.com/en/journal/oqm-minimum-factor/) - [OQM in Practice: Organizational Quality, Values, and Improvement](https://oqm-international.com/en/journal/oqm-organizational-quality-values-and-improvement/) ## Languages - [en](https://oqm-international.com/en/journal/six-organic-principles-origins/) - [es](https://oqm-international.com/es/revista/seis-principios-organicos-origen/) - [de](https://oqm-international.com/blog/sechs-organische-prinzipien-herkunft/)