Transcript Reflective Practice:Using Theory and Skill to Inform

Theories of Practice:
The Symbolic Frame
MPA 8002
The Structure and Theory of Human
Organization
Richard M. Jacobs, OSA, Ph.D.
For the greater part of the 20th
century, the objectivity associated
with the assumptions and concepts
of scientific management have
guided most inquiry into human
organizations.
While the human resources and
political theories of practice provided
a corrective to this emphasis by
attending to the subjective elements
of human organization...
…all three theories of practice have
failed to provide a comprehensive
analysis identifying the specifically
subjective elements of human
organizations, influencing not only
organizational functioning but also
the people who populate
organizations.
A SYMBOLIC SCENARIO
Symbolic managers and leaders are sensitive
to an organization’s history and culture. They
seek to use the best in their organization’s
traditions and values as a base for building a
culture that provides cohesiveness and
meaning. They articulate a vision that
communicates the organization’s unique
capabilities and mission.
MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP
IN A SYMBOLIC SCENARIO
Symbolic managers and leaders believe that the most
important part of their job is inspiration—giving people
something that they can believe in. People will give their
loyalty to an organization that has a unique identity and makes
them feel that what they do is really important. Effective
symbolic managers and leaders are passionate about making
their organizations the best of their kind and communicate that
passion to others. They use dramatic, visible symbols that
give people a sense of the organizational mission. They are
visible and energetic. They create slogans, tell stories, hold
rallies, give awards, appear where they are least expected, and
manage by wandering around.
Bolman & Deal (1991, p. 364)
the symbolic frame
Primary
Metaphor for
Organization:
 Carnival
 Cathedral or
Temple
 Opera and
Theatre
Central
Concepts:







Culture
Meaning
Metaphor
Ritual
Ceremony
Stories
Heroes and
heroines
 Common
good
Managerial
And
Leadership
Image:
 High priests
and priestesses
 Tribal Chieftans
 Clan Chieftans
Fundamental
Challenge:




Inspire
Create faith
Define beauty
Identify
meaning
The intuitive and subjective side
of human organizations...
The symbolic frame asserts that organizations
are judged primarily on and by appearances...
…by giving appropriate emphasis to the
beliefs, meanings, and faith communicated
symbolically through the attempts that
people in organizations make to reconcile
the dilemmas and paradoxes which they
experience.
The concept...

organizational culture:
the “way we do things around here”
(Bower, 1966)
the “glue” holding the organizational
pieces together (Schein, 1984)
...the pattern of basic assumptions that a given
group has invented, discovered, or developed
in learning to cope with its problems of external
adaptation and internal integration, and that
have worked well enough to be considered
valid, and, therefore, to be taught to new
members as the correct way to perceive, think,
and feel in relation to those problems (Schein,
1984, p. 3)
Organizational culture may be likened
to a medieval tapestry...
…composed of many different strands
…each strand giving unique color, hue,
and texture to the composite
…with one strand unifying the entire
view.
…the tapestry metaphor provides two
views of organization...


the front view:
unified
rich
holistic
complex
revealed by the structural, human
resources, and political theories of
practice

the back view:
distorted
messy
dull
lacking character

revealed by the symbolic theories of
practice
By means of contrast...

the structural frame stresses...
…organizational rationality
…the objective dimensions of human
organizations
The symbolic frame asserts that facts and
logic can tyrannize human beings because
organizations are more fluid and dynamic
than the structural frame assumes.

the human resources frame stresses...
…what people experience
…the subjective dimensions of human
organizations
The symbolic frame pushes beyond human
needs theory, asserting that organizations
are populated by people who strive for
self-actualization through cooperative
efforts.

the political frame stresses...
…how people act covertly and overtly
…the subjective and objective
dimensions of human organizations
The symbolic frame asserts that human
organizations provide a forum through
which people discover meaning and
purpose.

the symbolic frame stresses that...
…organizations are not characterized
by rational, linear processes
…but by intuitive, creative responses
to environments where:
 technology is underdeveloped
 the linkage of means to ends is
poorly understood
 effectiveness is difficult to ascertain
objectively
Organizational culture explores how
similar organizations...
…can differ in substantive ways
(Carlson, 1996)...
…which can explain why some
organizations survive and thrive in
their environments while others do
not (Schein, 1990).
The concept of organizational
“culture”...

adopted by organizational theorists in the
1980s from the social sciences, in
particular, cultural anthropology...
...integrating anthropological, sociological,
and psychological theories theories of
practice
...into a complex analysis of organizational
functioning

organizational culture is a qualitative,
multi-factor variable...
…resistant to direct observation
…that can only be inferred by
examining the culture itself
(Schein, 1992)

organizational culture represents...
…the self-expression of a
community of diverse people
assumptions
values
norms
For Schein (1984), people oftentimes
discover that they work in an organization
without knowing its culture, without
understanding how the organization came
to be what it is, or how the organization
could be changed were its survival
threatened.
Were managers and leaders to decipher
their organization’s culture, Shein argues,
it could then be reified and related to other
important organizational variables, for
example, setting strategy, aligning
structure with purpose, and ultimately,
promoting excellence.
The management and leadership
challenge...

to define the organization’s culture...
…by studying its history and
traditions
…by identifying its patterns of
beliefs, norms, language, and
behavior
…by explicating its guiding myths
and rituals
…as these phenomena become
explicit in the “way we do things
around here” each and every
day.
1. decipher organizational culture

involves…
digging below the organization’s
surface
 identifying the elements of the culture
 interpreting the elements by assessing
how each element contributes to
organizational functioning/dysfunction

Elements of organizational
culture...

organizational history

shared values and beliefs

norms and standards

patterns of behavior

history:
1. How does the organization’s past
live on in the present?
2. What traditions are carried on?
3. What stories are told and retold as
folklore?
4. What events in organizational
history are overlooked or forgotten?
5. Do heroes and heroines exist among
the organization’s membership
whose idiosyncrasies and exploits
are remembered for the core values
their personal qualities represent?
6. In what ways are the organization’s
traditions and historical incidents
modified through reinterpretation
over the years? Can you recall, for
example, an historical event that has
evolved from fact into myth?
7. Are there storytellers, whisperers,
spies, and rumor-mongers in the
organization? How do they serve to
keep the culture alive and intact or
act as a barrier to change?

shared values and beliefs:
1. What are the assumptions and
understandings shared by the
membership, although these
assumptions and understandings
may not be stated explicitly?
2. What does the organization’s
philosophy, mission statement, or
creed suggest about the
organization and it purposes?
3. Are there slogans which reveal core
beliefs that have evolved from
experience and sort what works
from what does not?
4. Does the organization have symbols
that serve to narrow the its mission
and provide guidelines for behaviors
and decision-making processes?
5. What are the things that the
organization prizes and rewards?
6. When members talk about the
organization, what are the major and
recurring themes underlying what
they say? How do these statements
reveal values?

norms and standards:
1. What are the oughts, shoulds, do’s,
and don’ts that govern the behavior
of the organization?
2. Who determines who gets rewarded
and for what?
3. Who gets rewarded and for what?
4. Who gets punished and for what?
5. What is it that informal
communication networks condemn
as wrong and bless as being right?

patterns of behavior:
1. Are there rituals which reinforce
core cultural values and permit
subcultures to communicate
effectively with one another
…for example: work routines, gossip
networks, task organization, annual
rituals associated with entrance to and
exit from the organization
2. Does the organization sponsor
dramatic ceremonies which allow its
culture to be experienced,
celebrated and transformed from an
idea into a reality?
3. Are there special rituals and
ceremonies which regenerate
commitment to organizational ideals?
4. What are the accepted and recurring
ways of doing things?
5. What are the generally accepted
patterns of behavior?
6. What are the habits and rituals that
prevail in the organizations?
7. Who stands opposed to the
prevailing organizational culture for
a variety of reasons but views
themselves (either individually or
collectively) as upholding the “true”
organization (i.e., the [loyal]
opposition?
The organization’s history, shared
values and beliefs, its norms and
standards, as well as its shared
patterns of behavior symbolize the
organization’s culture...
…and provide a listing of the rich
variety of concrete factors
influencing “what is.”

once unearthed, identified, and interpreted,
managers and leaders can…

understand and appreciate the
organization’s idiosyncratic culture

provide cultural leadership by...
...enhancing (or changing) those intangible
factors that exercise a powerful influence
upon the positive (or negative) behaviors of
people associated with the organization

but, managers and leaders first need...
...to search for evidence of the
presence (or absence) of these
and other factors
...by looking for how these are
manifested with the
organization’s culture
2. reify the culture

to infer from the “hard” data what the
artifacts, perspectives, values, and
assumptions mean
…by maintaining objectivity
…by endeavoring to understand how
the data interact to influence
organizational culture

in order to gain “understanding”...
…conceptually “to stand under,” that
is, to conceive the fragmentary bits
and pieces of data from within a
larger context
…without imposing a theory of
practice upon the data (“Model I”
behavior, Argyris & Schön, 1974)
Organizational culture...

does not come into existence over
night...
…rather, organizational culture emerges
through human interactions
…and, over the years and decades,
becomes a “tradition”
…narrowing the diverse expectations
people may have by directing their
individual interests toward the core
values, beliefs, and faith in what has
made for success in that particular
organization
…this “tradition” then shapes and
gives purpose to the interactions
between people in organizations
across generations
A strong organizational culture...
enables people to identify
themselves and their aspirations with
the organization’s transcendent
purpose
 can heighten people’s faith and
confidence in the organization in the
midst of environmental turbulence
and adversity

A weak organizational culture...

people form attachments to symbols
and symbolic activity
…what Winnicott call’s “teddy bears”
(1964)

when the attachments are severed…
…this change creates a loss of meaning
and purpose
...these people experience great
difficulty in letting go
These existential wounds require
symbolic healing.
3. relate the culture to other
organizational variables
Managing and leading
organizations involves...
conveying what the organization
stands for and how people can
embody what the organization values
and cherishes
 by connecting people in the present
with what was valued and cherished
in the past

Managing and leading
organizations requires...

creating, managing, and sustaining
what gives meaning people today
by…
...embodying organizational values
...telling and retelling the sagas which
concretize the organization’s purpose
...enabling people to achieve cherished
organizational objectives
Some implications of the
symbolic frame for...
1. meetings...
2. planning...
3. evaluating...
4. bargaining...
5. power...
Cultural tasks for managers and
leaders...
1. to attend to socializing new
members into the organization
2. to emphasize diversity
3. to manage and lead by example
4. to use and develop code language
5. to tell stories
...to keep sacred traditions alive
...to provide exemplars to guide
behavior
6. to incorporate humor and play
into organizational life
...to reduce tension
...to encourage creativity
7. to punctuate organizational
purposes, values, and mission
with rituals and ceremonies
8. to remain aware that informal
cultural players make
disproportionate contributions both
positively and negatively
9. to remember that “soul is the
secret of success”
…managing and leading people is not
so much a matter of conducting an
orchestra...
…as it is playing in a jazz band
(DuPree, 1992)
Managers and leaders do not
“change” organizational culture...

they “contend” with it...
…by designing a pathway that enables
people to learn new values, to adopt
and adapt them to the current
situation, and to form a new
synthesis, one melding “what is”
with “what can be”
The pathway to organizational
effectiveness...

is to be discovered within the
organization (Deal, 1985) as
managers and leaders...
…capture the imagination of the
people in organizations
…revitalize the demoralized
…generate enthusiasm for cooperative
efforts to achieve shared goals
Using symbolic theory...
effective managers and leaders are
…prophets
…poets
…inspiring others
whose primary concerns are
…framing
experience
Abusing symbolic theory...
ineffective managers and leaders are
whose primary concerns are
…fanatics
…fools
…smoke and mirrors
…mirages
Strengths of the symbolic theory
of practice...
…personal
…meaningful
…inspiring
…motivational
Limitations of the symbolic
theory of practice...
…impractical
…abstract
…overly complex
Integrating reflective practice, conceptual
pluralism, and organizational analysis...
Reflecting upon organizational behavior through four
frames inculcates the conceptual pluralism managers and
leaders need to diagnose the issues underlying the
problems manifesting themselves in human organizations.
the structural frame
the human resources frame
the political frame
the symbolic frame
a more “complicated”
conceptual view of
organizational functioning
This module has focused on...
The cultural theories that managers
and leaders can utilize in practice
episodes...
...as these theories of practice provide
managers a frame of reference to
inform decision making...
the symbolic frame
...offers managers and leaders guidance
about the strengths and limits of
cultural theory
A SYMBOLIC SCENARIO
Symbolic managers and leaders are sensitive
to an organization’s history and culture. They
seek to use the best in their organization’s
traditions and values as a base for building a
culture that provides cohesiveness and
meaning. They articulate a vision that
communicates the organization’s unique
capabilities and mission.
MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP
IN A SYMBOLIC SCENARIO
Symbolic managers and leaders believe that the most
important part of their job is inspiration—giving people
something that they can believe in. People will give their
loyalty to an organization that has a unique identity and makes
them feel that what they do is really important. Effective
symbolic managers and leaders are passionate about making
their organizations the best of their kind and communicate that
passion to others. They use dramatic, visible symbols that
give people a sense of the organizational mission. They are
visible and energetic. They create slogans, tell stories, hold
rallies, give awards, appear where they are least expected, and
manage by wandering around.
Bolman & Deal (1991, p. 364)
the symbolic frame
Primary
Metaphor for
Organization:
 Carnival
 Cathedral or
Temple
 Opera and
Theatre
Central
Concepts:







Culture
Meaning
Metaphor
Ritual
Ceremony
Stories
Heroes and
heroines
 Common
good
Managerial
And
Leadership
Image:
 High priests
and priestesses
 Tribal Chieftans
 Clan Chieftans
Fundamental
Challenge:




Inspire
Create faith
Define beauty
Identify
meaning
The next module will focus on...
ETHICS
…to conceptualize how
managers and leaders might
integrate virtue into the
decision-making process
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
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




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
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