Transcript The Symbolic Frame - Web Media WorkShop

The Symbolic Frame
Team 3
John Beadles
Eva Liu
Kim Thorell
Scott Crist
Symbolic Frame:
• What is most important about any event is not what happened
but what it means.
• Activity and meaning are loosely coupled: events have multiple
meanings because people interpret experience differently.
• Most of life is ambiguous or uncertain – what happened, why it
happened, or what will happen next are all puzzles.
• High levels of ambiguity and uncertainty undercut rational
analysis, problem solving, and decision making.
• In the face of uncertainty and ambiguity people create symbols
to resolve confusion, increase predictability, provide direction,
and anchor hope and faith.
• Many events and processes are more important for what is
expressed than what is produced. They form cultural tapestry
of secular myths, rituals, ceremonies, and stories that help
people find meaning, purpose, and passion.
Organization as a Culture
From Collins and Porras’s Built to Last (1994)
“Cult-Like Cultures” 4 common characteristics of cults that visionary
companies display:
- Fervently held ideology (core ideology)
- Indoctrination: process of becoming a member.
- Tightness of Fit: in a visionary company, people tend to fit
well or not at all.
- Elitism: part of something special, superior organization.
Changing Frames
• Looking through the Symbolic Frame:
• Vision and inspiration are critical
• People need something to believe in
• People will give loyalty to an organization that has a unique
identity and makes them feel what they do is important.
• Relying heavily on organizational traditions and values as a base
for building a common vision and culture that provides
cohesiveness and meaning.
• This approach works best when goals and information are
unclear and ambiguous, where cause-effect relationships are
poorly understood and where there is high cultural diversity.
Organizational Symbols: Rituals & Ceremony
• Rituals give structure and meaning to daily life.
• “Rituals anchor us to a center while freeing us to
move on and confront the ever-lasting
unpredictability of life” (Fulghum, 1995).
• Ceremonies are grander, more elaborate, less
frequent occasions than rituals. (simpler day-to-day
patterns)
• Ceremonies serve four major roles:
– They socialize, stabilize, reassure, and convey messages to
external constituencies.
Applying the Symbolic Frame
• Organizations are judged primarily by
appearance
• Correct appearance rather than efficient
production is the prevailing measure of
effectiveness
• Stage dramatic performance for internal
& external audiences
The End