OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Structural Frame Worksheet

Worksheet Objectives:
1. Describe the structural frame
2. Apply the structural frame to your personal case situation

Complete the following making sure to support your ideas and cite from the textbook and other
course materials per APA guidelines. After the peer review, you have a chance to update this and
format for your Electronic Portfolio due in Module 6.

1) Briefly restate your situation from Module 1 and your role.

My situation is undergoing work ups in the United States Navy. Work ups are a series of
evaluations followed by actions to meet the requirements for a deployment. My role in
this situation was a leadership position in a specific department called primary flight
control. My role entails assuring our staff is properly qualed and our spaces were
properly equipped and considered deployment ready.

2) Describe how the structure of the organization influenced the situation.

When you think of military structure, you should think of a rank and chain of command.
The Navy is best considered as a hierarchal structure. For example, on the aircraft carrier,
we have the commanding officer, the executive officer, command masterchief, division
officer, department chief, leading petty officer, then the lower enlisted. In work ups, the
structure of the Navy really shows as it is typically a stress filled event.

The commanding officer’s one goal is to become deployment ready and that may lead to
working 12 hours a day every day of the week. The amount of damage each ship goes
through on a deployment or underway is remarkable so work ups are never a smooth
operation. There will be problems and setbacks, how the chain of command handles those
setbacks are completely dependant on the commanding officer.

3) Recommend how you would use structure for an alternative course of action
regarding your case.

In the military, they make it seem that there is only one way of doing something and they
absolutely drill that into your head from day one. When it comes to work ups, they are no
different. There is little room for error and with that comes the inability to try and attempt
to introduce innovation in specific fields at a lower level.

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 I would use the structure in a more effective way by using proper communication
throughout the work ups. In the military it is a constant “do this” ”do that” environment
and there is little explanation as to why you are being told to do these things. I think with
proper structure, there needs to be a more clear objective presented to even the lowest
levels of staff.

4) Reflect on what you would do or not do differently given what you have learned
about this frame.

As I said in the previous question, there is little room for change when it comes to work
ups in the Navy’s eyes. I would suggest trying a different type of structure beyond just
hierarchel. Obviously, when it is anything military, there will be some sort of hierarchy
but that does not mean that the lower level sailors should now have a say in how we
could be innovative to make work ups run more smoothly.

The lower leveled sailors are typically the ones who are doing on the manual labor,
obtaining all the qualifications, and are the ones who need to be deployment ready. I
believe if the Navy took the time to listen to it’s sailors, they would be more productive
and more efficient in a large amount of fields. The retention rate is low for a reason, and a
big part of that reason is not being listened to.

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 Reference or References