OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Symbolic Frame Worksheet

Worksheet Objectives:
1. Describe the symbolic frame
2. Apply the symbolic 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.

The OM called me into his office on March 8th , 2016. He expressed to me that if I did not agree to

get certified for kid’s club that he was unsure if my position as a service representative, would be

stable. Claiming that members would be more comfortable with me, a female, watching their

children rather than my male counterpart who was certified. This conversation left me devastated as I

knew I had no interest in being certified to work in kids club. Which had the ability to rob me of

additional growth within the organization.

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

The lack of organizational culture I what heavily influenced this situation,

“symbols can divide as well as unify.” (Bolman & Deal 2021, pg. 254) Other than the

uniform as an organization we had very little that held us together. The organization

prioritized meeting quotas and a competitive like nature to do so. Limiting the interaction

between location management because each one strived to be better than the next.

According to our textbook, “Organizations often rely on CEO’s or other prominent

leaders as exemplars.” (Bolman & Deal 2021, pg. 258) During my experience at 24 Hour

1
 Fitness, leadership was very lacking. Toward the end of my employment at 24 hour

Fitness, they hired a new CEO that made big promises. His name is Tony Ueber and

through his work history, made big changes at Best Buy. He was said to be a hero the

organization needed. He had big visions of expanding the company throughout the states.

Yet, Ueber failed to connect with the employees at a club level and request input of what

they felt would be helpful strides of transformation.

In the scenario I speak of the real hero was my then general manager. The issue is

that, with the high turnover the company experienced the leadership was not consistent.

Which fails to unite people in a broader way. There isn’t competent leadership to follow

in the heat of challenges.

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

The biggest change I would make is awareness surrounding gender roles. For

example, the operations manager made a comment about how people would feel safer

with a female watching their children rather than a male. This thought patern goes back

many milenias, “female representative raises the specter of sexual discrimination.”

(Bolman & Deal 2021, pg. 267) He is not the first person to say that a woman should take

care of children. Yet, as leaders in an organization we need to have the ability to connect

with our team on an individual level. As a leader we there is power in understanding the

strengths of each person. For example, maybe my male counter part was extremely good

at taking care and interacting with children. Whereas I would not engage with the

children with the same enthusiasm.

2
 4) Reflect on what you would do or not do differently given what you have learned
about this frame.

I would take more time to assess current learship. I would place a bigger

importance on the alignment as a organization as a whole. Symbolism would need to

penetrate the organization deeper than our red shirts. We can have symbolism of a brain

becoming fiiter. This would represent from the members perspective of the benefits of

working out on mental health. Also, the brain could represent continual willingness to

expand, even though brains are incredibly powerful in their natural state.

3
 Reference

Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2021). Reframing  organizations: Artistry, choice, and

leadership (7th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass