1. Reframing Organizations
Lee G. Bolman & Terrence E. Deal

2. Typical Organization Diagnosis
Blame the people
They are incompetent or have bad attitudes
Blame the bureaucracy
The rules are too stifling or there is a chaotic lack of roles and processes
Blame the thirst for power
People are only looking out for themselves
These aren’t wrong
they’re just an oversimplification

3. Frames
Lenses –focus, filter some things and allow others to pass through, help us order experience.

4. Frames
Tools –strengths and limitations. Wrong tool gets in the way; right tool makes the job easier.

5. Structural Frame From sociology and management science.
Emphasizes goals, specialized roles, and formal relationships.
Structures (Organization charts) fit organization’s environment and technology.
Responsibilities, rules, policies, procedures.

6. Structural Tensions Differentiation (of roles/tasks)
Integration (coordination of rules/products)
Specialized roles/committees
Rules and policies
Authority or a “Coordinator” role
Systems of control/coordination (meetings, committees, reporting lines, etc)

7. Problems arise when the structure does not fit the situation.
Structural Frame
Problems arise when the structure does not fit the situation.
Time to restructure.

8. Human Resource Frame From psychology.
Organization as an extended family.
Individuals with needs, feelings, prejudices, skills, and limitations.
Capacity to learn—and capacity to defend old attitudes and belief.

9. Human Resource Frame
Challenge is to tailor organizations to people—find a way for individuals to get the job done while feeling good about what they are doing.

10. Attending to People’s Needs
Training and Development
Belonging
Mattering
Esteem (both proud of selves and feel valued by others)
Self-actualization (reaching fullest potential)

11. Political Frame Rooted in political science.
Organizations as arenas, contests, or jungles.
Different interests competing for power/resources.
Rampant conflict— differences in needs, perspectives, and lifestyles.
Bargaining, negotiation, coercion, compromise, coalitions.

12. Political Assumptions
Organizations are made of people and interest groups with their own goals/agendas
The most important decisions involve allocating scarce resources – who gets what?
Conflict is central to organization dynamics
Power is the most important asset
Decisions emerge from: bargaining, negotiation and jockeying for position, and have winners and losers.

13. Political Resource Frame
Problems arise when power is concentrated in the wrong places or is too broadly dispersed.
Political skill
Know your sources of power.
Know everyone else’s sources of power and what they want.
Use informal communication.
Anticipate strategies others are likely to employ.

14. Symbolic Frame Draws from social and cultural anthropology
Intentional shaping of organizational culture.
Tools:
Story/Narrative
Heroes/Tales
Traditions/Rituals
Initiations/Ceremonies
Symbols
Use of Space
Metaphor

15. Assumptions Symbolic Frame
What is important is not what happens, but what it means (what it is interpreted to mean)
Events have multiple meanings because people interpret experience differently.
Events and processes are more important for what is expressed than what is produced.
Culture (shared stories, traditions, symbols) are the glue that unites people around shared goals and values.

16. Symbolic Frame
Problems arise when actors play their parts badly, when symbols lose their meaning, when ceremonies and rituals lose their potency.
Rebuild the expressive or spiritual side of organization through the use of symbols and stories.

17. Reframing Organizations: A Review
Match the theory or model with the frame.

18. Abraham Maslow (1954)... defined the hierarchy of pre-potent needs
5. self-actualization 5
4. self-esteem 4
3. belongingness 3
2. safety, security 2
1. physiological 1

19. Helgesen’s Web of Inclusion
The term “web of inclusion” originally came from The Female Advantage. The women-led organizations I studied in that book were not standard hierarchies led from the top down. They were more circular in structure and were led from the center…. I believe that great companies will all operate as webs of inclusion in the future. Webs allow organizations to draw on the widest possible base of talent, a huge advantage in an economy based on knowledge. They allow resources to flow to where they’re needed. They undermine the tendency to become hierarchical. They put organizations more directly in touch with those they serve, and make partnerships easier to achieve. - Sally Helgesen

20. Bolman and Deal’s Leading with Soul
Honor the past
Celebrate the present
Look to the future

21. Theory X and Theory Y

22. Mintzberg’s Five Configurations of Organizations
Simple Structure
Machine Bureaucracy
Professional Bureaucracy
Divisionalised Form
Adhocracy

23. Niccolo Machiavelli
It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both.
There is no avoiding war; it can only be postponed to the advantage of others.
Men rise from one ambition to another: first, they seek to secure themselves against attack, and then they attack others.
It is necessary for him who lays out a state and arranges laws for it to presuppose that all men are evil and that they are always going to act according to the wickedness of their spirits whenever they have free scope.

24. Denning’s The Secret Language of Leadership
In his exciting new book, The Secret Language of Leadership: How Leaders Inspire Action Through Narrative, (Jossey-Bass, October 2007), business narrative expert Steve Denning explains why traditional approaches to leadership communication don’t work and reveals the hidden patterns that effective leaders use to spark change. He shows how anyone can inspire enduring enthusiasm for a cause, even in skeptical, cynical or even hostile audiences and provides a comprehensive guide to the nitty-gritty of transformational leadership.

25. Fisher and Ury’s, Getting to Yes
Do not engage in positional bargaining – staking out a position and making relectant concessions.
Separate people from the problem
Focus on interests, not positions
Invent options for mutual gain
Insist on objective criteria – standards of fairness in substance and procedure
Create value for both parties

26. Overview of the Four-Frame Model
Frame
Structural
Human Resource
Political
Symbolic
Metaphor for Organization
Factory or Machine
Family
Jungle
Carnival, temple, theater
Central Concepts
Rules, roles, goals, policies, technology, environment
Needs, skills, relationships
Power, conflict, competition, organizational politics
Culture, meaning, metaphor, ritual, ceremony, stories, heroes
Image of Leadership
Social architecture
Empowerment
Advocacy
Inspiration
Basic Leadership Challenge
Attune structure to task, technology, environment
Align organizational and human needs
Develop agenda and power base
Create faith, beauty, meaning
Organizational Ethic
Excellence
Caring
Justice
Faith
Leadership Contribution
Authorship
Love
Power
Significance
Source: Bolman & Deal (1997), p. 15 & p. 344

27. Reframing Organizations: A Review
Identify your natural frame(s)

28. Implications for Leadership

29. Reframing Leadership Frame Structural Human Resources Political
Frame
Structural
Human Resources
Political
Symbolic
Effective Leader
Analyst, architect
Catalyst, servant
Advocate, negotiator
Prophet, poet
Effective Leadership Process
Analysis, design
Support, empowerment
Advocacy, coalition building
Inspiration, framing experience
Ineffective Leader
Petty tyrant
Weakling, pushover
Con artist, thug
Fanatic, fool
Ineffective Leadership Process
Management by detail and fiat
Abdication
Manipulation, fraud
Mirage, smoke & mirrors
Source: Bolman & Deal (1997), p. 303

30. Effective Structural Leaders
Do their homework, they understand all aspects of the organization and how each affects the others
Understand the relationship of structure, strategy and environment
Focus on implementation, are ready to address resistance, training, and power grabs
Experiment, evaluate, and adapt

31. Effective Human Resource Leaders
Believe in people and communicate their belief
Are visible and accessible
Empower others

32. Effective Political Leaders
Clarify what they want and what they can get
Assess the distribution of power and interests
Build links among key stakeholders
Persuade first, negotiate second, and coerce only if necessary

33. Effective Symbolic Leaders
Lead by example
Use symbols to capture attention
Frame experience
Communicate a vision
Tell stories
Respect and use history

34. Chapter 16: A case study
When to use which frame?

35. Four Corners
When to use which frame?

36. Choosing a Frame Question Frame if answer is Yes Frame if answer is No
Are individual commitment and motivation essential to success?
Source: Bolman & Deal (2003), p. 310

37. Choosing a Frame Question Frame if answer is Yes Frame if answer is No
Are individual commitment and motivation essential to success?
Human Resource, Symbolic
Structural, Political
Is the technical quality of the decision important?
Source: Bolman & Deal (2003), p. 310

38. Choosing a Frame Question Frame if answer is Yes Frame if answer is No
Are individual commitment and motivation essential to success?
Human Resource, Symbolic
Structural, Political
Is the technical quality of the decision important?
Structural
Human Resource, Political, Symbolic
Are there high levels of ambiguity and uncertainty?
Source: Bolman & Deal (2003), p. 310

39. Choosing a Frame Question Frame if answer is Yes Frame if answer is No
Are individual commitment and motivation essential to success?
Human Resource, Symbolic
Structural, Political
Is the technical quality of the decision important?
Structural
Human Resource, Political, Symbolic
Are there high levels of ambiguity and uncertainty?
Political, Symbolic
Structural, Human Resource
Are conflict and scarce resources significant?
Source: Bolman & Deal (2003), p. 310

40. Choosing a Frame Question Frame if answer is Yes Frame if answer is No
Are individual commitment and motivation essential to success?
Human Resource, Symbolic
Structural, Political
Is the technical quality of the decision important?
Structural
Human Resource, Political, Symbolic
Are there high levels of ambiguity and uncertainty?
Political, Symbolic
Structural, Human Resource
Are conflict and scarce resources significant?
Are you working from the bottom up?
Source: Bolman & Deal (2003), p. 310

41. Choosing a Frame Question Frame if answer is Yes Frame if answer is No
Are individual commitment and motivation essential to success?
Human Resource, Symbolic
Structural, Political
Is the technical quality of the decision important?
Structural
Human Resource, Political, Symbolic
Are there high levels of ambiguity and uncertainty?
Political, Symbolic
Structural, Human Resource
Are conflict and scarce resources significant?
Are you working from the bottom up?
Source: Bolman & Deal (2003), p. 310

42. Reframing Change Frame Structural Human Resources Political Symbolic
Frame
Structural
Human Resources
Political
Symbolic
Barriers to Change
Loss of clarity and stability, confusion, chaos
Anxiety, uncertainty, feelings of incompetence, neediness
Disempowerment, conflict between winners and losers
Loss of meaning and purpose, clinging to the past
Essential Strategies
Communicating, realigning and renegotiating formal patterns and policies
Training to develop new skills, participation and involvement, psychological support
Creating arenas where issues can be renegotiated and new coalitions formed
Creating transition rituals: mourning the past, celebrating the future
Source: Bolman & Deal (2003), p. 321

43. No one best way…
Learn to work across and integrate frames. Organizations simultaneously have multiple true realities. Have awareness of your natural tendency. Use that strength Remind yourself to use other frames