OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Symbolic Frame Worksheet

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

My role is within the human resources organization at Lockheed Martin

Aeronautics, and I am analyzing a current situation I am experiencing within this

organization. My immediate team is the Human Resources Operations group within the

larger human resources organization. My team supports the larger human resources

organization through operational excellence and project management initiatives and

training on one side of the team, and general services that perform standard work

processes for the human resources organization on the other. The latter side of the team is

considered Human Resources Services, and this is where much of my role’s functions

and responsibilities are organized. I support our Palmdale, CA, work site with leave of

absence consultation, occupational injury case support, coordination of workplace

accommodations, workshop facilitation, and the administration actions for collective

bargaining agreements and the employee populations represented by these.

My Human Resources Operations team has been going through a team restructure

since a new senior manager was aligned to our group. This new manager has brought a

fresh perspective and new insight to our team but has been a part of the long-running

structure and culture of the larger human resources organization. We have been working

together with her to find better ways to perform our work, and new methods in how we

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 support our customers. One way that this is being done is in creating positive experiences

and realigning work assignments to better support employees’ development goals and

work structure.

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

In the Aeronautics business unit of Lockheed Martin, we have enlisted Partners in

Leadership to support our culture shift through framework established through their

books and resources, including Roger Connors and Tom Smith’s book, Change the

Culture Change the Game (2011). Through this we use their symbol, The Results

Pyramid, to understand how to shift the culture of work into a Culture of Accountability

to achieve greater targeted results (Connors & Smith, 2011). The foundation of The

Results Pyramid is based upon the Experiences we have, and these are theorized to form

the beliefs that we hold about the company and our roles (Connors & Smith, 2011).

According to Bolman and Deal, the symbolic frame is focused on “not what happens, but

what it means,” and assumes that culture is the bonding force of an organization (2017).

My manager is restructuring our team to make us more effective, but also to create a

more uplifting and rewarding experience for the team and enhance the culture of our

organization.

My manager has done this through seeking feedback and acting on it. She has

listened to the experiences we have had, and what beliefs these develop within our team.

The experiences we have shared with her, and the prevailing beliefs, are clearly not

aligned with the Aeronautics Beliefs that we hope all employees to hold about our

organization. These beliefs as outlined in our work with Partners in Leadership are

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 proprietary, but I can explain that when our team expressed the experiences and beliefs

that we are invisible, are expected to speak when spoken to, and are left out of key

projects even when they directly involve our work, these beliefs do not align with the

target cultural beliefs of our organization. My manager believes strongly in the Culture of

Accountability framework, and in her reorganization has sought to establish better

experiences that align with our cultural beliefs.

To align our team in ways that will enhance our experiences and develop the

intended cultural beliefs, my manager has reassigned work and developed stretch

assignments for visibility and growth of our team members. She has been an outspoken

advocate for the support roles that are historically in the shadows. She has also pulled the

team members of these roles into other work assignments to enable them to gain new

experiences and provide their insight. This has created positive experiences overall

because newer employees are able to network, gain visibility and develop in ways we

would not have with the old structure. Some negative experiences though have been her

providing the most visibility and development to those within the team that have been

most averse to development of the team culture, and through that my manager is creating

a belief that the negative behaviors will be rewarded if a person is outspoken enough.

One peer that she is developing a new role for has been the prime source of complaint,

manipulation for personal gain, and working to a personal agenda. Through the overall

shift in the culture focus, my manager is actually bringing this person along to a new

positive culture, but the path to get there has cost the trust from the rest of the team.

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 3) Recommend how you would use organizational symbols for an alternative course of

action regarding your case.

I would approach this situation in many of the same ways that my manager did. I

would seek feedback and gather a comprehensive picture of what the culture of the team

was up to the start of my role there. I would seek to understand each role and their

experience and formulate the existing beliefs that were held within the team. What I

would do differently, though, is I would seek additional feedback from stakeholders, and

lean in to learn more especially from the quieter members of the team. The more

outspoken voices were heard, and became priority to appease with her new approach, but

there are highly skilled members on the team that are not as outspoken and are still

holding negative beliefs about the team and the manager. With her approach, these team

members are feeling left behind and as though their organizational values-based approach

is failing them.

What I would do specifically would be to reestablish what the intent of our

symbols and resources were. I would take my team through team building exercises and

more developed curriculum in the culture development framework to bring all my team

members along the culture journey together. My manager did well for the most part, but

she has been steeped in the culture symbols for a long time, not all of the team has. She

was fitting the team into the mold, where I think we should have defined our mold

together as a team to find a more inclusive and welcoming approach that could still

achieve the goals of the organization’s culture focus. I would have developed an

understanding of current beliefs, identified where these deviated from the target beliefs,

and together as a team identified ways that we could create experiences for internal and

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 external opportunities to develop our culture towards holding the ideal beliefs that would

empower our culture.

4) Reflect on what you would do or not do differently, given what you have learned

about this frame.

The symbolic frame was eye opening to learn about. I initially believed it to be

more mystical and out of touch with reality but learned that this is where leaders and

organizations develop visions and the undercurrent of passion for their teams. I would

have approached this situation in a similar way, but with a more open mind focused on

total inclusion for all team members. My manager lives the Culture of Accountability

language and framework, but just because this is instilled in her does not automatically

translate as the vision for the team. This takes continuous work, especially within new

teams or with new employees.

The organization as a whole has beliefs that they have identified as the important

symbols to strive towards that develop the intended culture, but I would approach this in

an immediate team environment first. I would identify the values of the team, and what

stories upheld or demonstrated these values. As Bolman and Deal stated, “values

characterize what an organization stands for, qualities worthy of esteem or commitment”

(2017, p. 244), therefore the values of my team would be identified in current state, and

then updated values would be crafted, together, to represent our ideal vision of our

purpose and future. We would do this through sharing stories of where the ideal values

drove team and organizational success and develop internal plans to craft the experiences

with each other to reinforce these values. This would develop a sense of ownership with

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 all team members, true accountability to ourselves and each other, and drive us all with a

vision for our most optimal state and team operations.

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 References

Bolman, L. G. & Deal, T. E. (2017). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership

(6thed.). Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass

Connors, R., & Smith, T. (2011). Change the culture, change the game: the breakthrough strategy

for energizing your organization and creating accountability for results. New York:

Portfolio Penguin.