The Symbolic Frame Understanding Culture Assumptions of the

The Symbolic Frame Understanding Culture

Assumptions of the Symbolic Frame l l l Most of organizational life is ambiguous and uncertain; people create and use symbols to resolve the confusion. Activity and meaning are loosely coupled; events have multiple meanings because people interpret experience differently. What is important is not what happened but its meaning. People create symbols and use metaphor to resolve confusion, increase predictability, provide direction and anchor hope and faith. Myths, rituals, ceremonies and stories help people find meaning, purpose and passion Culture is the glue that holds an organization together and unites people around shared values and beliefs

Symbolic Frame l Metaphor l l Central concepts l l Culture, meaning, metaphor, ritual, ceremony, stories Image of leadership l l Theater Inspiration Basic leadership challenge l Create faith, beauty and meaning

Culture and Change in Organizations l l Problem: the challenge for leaders of organizations to guide successfully the growth or change processes in their organizations. Must understand culture

Organizational Culture l Why Is It Important? Why Try to Understand It?

The Bottom Line l Culture is Deep l Culture is Broad l Culture is Stable

So What Is It? l A distinctive pattern of beliefs, values, practices, and artifacts, developed overtime, which defines for organization members who they are and how they do things l It is the most stable and the most difficult to change. l Sum total of all the shared, takenfor-grant assumptions that a group has learned throughout its history

Why Try To Understand It? l It’s the way folks in organizations go about doing things

Evidence from Research l Evidence of Faulty Change Strategies

More Evidence of Faulty Change Strategies. . . l As many as three quarters of all reengineering, total quality management (TQM), strategic planning, and downsizing efforts have failed entirely or have created problems serious enough that survival of the organizations was threatened. Cameron and Quinn (1999). Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture

Why? . . . Most frequently cited reasons Incomplete understanding by leaders of their organization

Symbolic Frame l Organizational Symbols An organization’s character is shown and communicated most clearly through its symbols. l. Central function of symbols: express meaning and feelings, create order, clarity, predictability, handling paradox, protect from uncertainty l l Myths and stories They provide clarity and direction in the presence of confusion and mystery. l l Rituals and ceremonies They provide ways to take action in the face of confusion, unpredictability and threat. l

Levels of Culture Artifacts Espoused Values Basic (Tacit) Underlying Assumptions Schein, 1985 Visible organizational structures and processes (sometimes hard to decipher) Strategies, goals, philosophies mostly (espoused theories and justifications) Unconscious, taken-forgranted beliefs, perceptions, thoughts, and feelings (theories-in-use; ultimate source of values and behavior)

We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time. T. S. Eliot "Little Gidding" Four Quartets l