OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Political Frame Worksheet

Worksheet Objectives:
1. Describe the political frame
2. Apply the political 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 situation at my organization is there is a disconnect between our executive levels to the
store levels. My role in my organization, Starbucks, is I am a Barista/Trainer. My job is to
prepare a new partner for their role as a barista at the store level. Training includes drink
techniques, customer support rotations, handling transactions, warming station, etc.... During
this training, there is little to no training on our mission, culture, and values. I am given two
hours to teach our new partners how to connect with our customers while processing orders.
Our situation is we do not put enough training and emphasis on our connection with each
other and our customers. At our founding, we established a belief that our partners are
important. This belief echoed through our organization and was evident through our success.
This success was built on the foundation of our partner’s involvement and satisfaction. Twice
in our organization’s history has a major change happened when we lost that connection.
Howard Schultz was brought back to the company to restore the downward spiral back to
where we used to be, and we rebounded quickly. Not only did Howard put an emphasis on
how important partners are but he lived it. “The most widespread improvement strategy is
upgrading management talent.”. (Bolman & Deal, 2021, p.9). We do not need to change our
people; just change the way they are leading.

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

Unfortunately, I misplaced my invitation to the last board of directors meeting so I can only theorize
how the political frame influenced the situation described above. I agree with Kotter, “…that too
many managers are either naïve or cynical about organizational politics.” (Bolman & Deal, 2021,
p.213). I believe data and information tells us a different story than what our managers are
saying. The political frame gives us five assumptions. The first stating, “Organizations are
coalitions of different individual and different interests.” (Bolman & Deal, 2021, p.192).
Within an organization at every level, you gather others around you that are like-minded and
can help you on your journey. If one individual aspires to climb the corporate ladder and

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 their perspective on how to accomplish this is selfish and self-centered, their way of getting
up this ladder may be different than what is envisioned by the executives.

At the top levels of an organization, executives are busy with their own agenda dealing with
strategic planning, coordinating new business deals with coffee farmers, expansion of the
company to new countries, incorporating new diversity training, and acquiring smaller
competitors to add to their resources. This means they are leaving the day-to-day operations
to those they trust. If a shift lead becomes store manager, their interest may transition from
the partner experience to focusing on quotas and labor hours. This store manager may be
promoted to district manager and the focus again transitions to all the stores hitting their
numbers to ensure the organization has the resources they need to continue to grow. This
individual, as they make their climb, could lose focus on what was important when they were
a shift lead. The pressures from their superiors could influence what decisions are made just
trying to impress them to further their own ambition. The political frame’s foundation is built
at the start of your journey. “Constructive politics is a possibility-indeed, a necessary option
if we are to create institutions and societies that are both just and efficient.” (Bolman & Deal,
2021, p.207).

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

To offer an alternative is an easy thing to do, but hard to implement it. I would start my
political frame at the foundation like I mentioned above. You need to gather your coalition
around you. I would begin at the store level with one manager at one location. If I were this
manager, I would negotiate with my district manager to allow me to invest in my team and
lead them the way I believe would inspire them to achieve greatness. I would make it my sole
responsibility to hire, train, and motivate those around me. I have already started doing this
as a barista, so my foundation has already started. Using the human resource and political
frame as my base, I would attempt to gather and train this team so we could deliver the
results that our district manager would be delighted with. In this hypothetical situation, the
results would be seen by others using a transparent, open-door policy, and these results
would inspire other store managers to adopt their style to what I’m using. This would build a
larger coalition, gathering the other store managers, district manager, and possibly your
regional manager. “Interdependence means that people cannot ignore one another; they need
each other’s assistance, support, and resources.” (Bolman & Deal, 2021, p.217). To
implement this, you will need all three of these from your district manager, but they will
expect you to deliver results.

When offering an alternative solution to a superior, we have learned that that might not be
received with open arms. While your intentions may be good, the other individual could

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 perceive this as a negative gesture. Attempting to go straight to your executives and offer this
alternative action could backfire on you. Building your coalition in small amounts with
applicable results will hold more weight when offering ideas. If you achieve positive results
through honest political framing at the store level, you might have a chance to implement
these ideas at higher levels. “The question is not whether organizations are political, but what
kind of politics they will encompass. Political dynamics can be sordid and destructive. But
politics can also be a vehicle for achieving noble purposes.” (Bolman & Deal, 2021, p.226).

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

After writing the last section, offering alternative solutions, it gave me a chance to dig deep
into what a person is willing to accomplish and what they can do. To make big changes I feel
you need to be in a position of power or influence. I believe that most of those positions are
at the top of an organization, but this last section gave me an awakening I was not expecting.
I used the word investment and I firmly believe in that. To help others succeed and for an
organization to succeed, you need to invest in people. To make these changes, the solution I
offered is SMART, Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound.

You do not need to be an elected politician or promoted to the leader position to be a leader.
Many people have become a leader through their actions and in time, become that elected
leader. This is the investment that is necessary to make changes. An informal, or emergent
leader, gathers a coalition around them by their actions. A leader is a person who inspires and
motivates others. Since most of us are not the executives at the board room making the
decisions, all we can do is the best we can. In the political frame, if you lead with honor and
integrity, you can gather a coalition that stands for the same thing and together you will have
a better chance of making the changes to help others.

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 References

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

leadership (7th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass.