Reframing Organizations, 5th ed.

Simple Ideas, Complex Organizations Chapter 2 Simple Ideas, Complex Organizations

Simple Ideas, Complex Organizations Common Fallacies in Organizational Diagnosis Peculiarities of Organizations Organizational Learning Coping with Ambiguity and Complexity

Common Fallacies in Organizational Diagnosis Blame people Bad attitudes, abrasive personalities, neurotic tendencies, stupidity or incompetence Blame the bureaucracy Organization (a) stifled by rules and red tape, or (b) lack clear goals, procedures and job descriptions Thirst for power Organizations are jungles filled with predators and prey

Error in Organizations: The Tragedy of 9/11 System Failures Helped Terrorists Succeed Mindset error: defense systems hadn’t planned for domestic air attack, even though the possibility had long been recognized (they didn’t anticipate a “black swan” because they’d only seen white ones) Coordination error I: FBI/CIA (terrorists were not, but should have been, on airport security watch lists) Coordination error II: FAA/NORAD (weak lateral communication hindered the two agencies from working together during the emergency)

Error in Organizations: Helen Demarco Osborne announces revitalization plan Demarco and colleagues agree: it can’t work but we can’t tell him “Study” to buy time and develop strategy Option B: low benefits at high costs Technical jargon as camouflage Demarco feels frustration, failure

Peculiarities of Organizations Organizations are complex Organizations are surprising Organizations are deceptive Organizations are ambiguous

Sources of ambiguity Not sure what the problem is Not sure what’s going on Not sure (or can’t agree) on what we want Don’t have the resources we need Not sure who’s supposed to do what Not sure how to get what we want Not sure how to know if we succeed or fail

Organizational Learning Peter Senge We learn best from experience, but often don’t know consequences of our actions System maps Barry Oshry Asymmetric relationships (top – middle – bottom – customer) “Dance of blind reflex”

Systems model for vicious learning cycle

Organizational Learning (II) Chris Argyris and Donald Schön Individual fears and defenses prevent facing and discussing key issues Avoid “undiscussable” topics, which are often important but “sensitive” Tiptoe around organizational taboos Double bind: can’t solve problems without facing what we’ve been trying to hide Chris Argyris Donald Schön

Coping with Ambiguity and Complexity: Friendly Fire in Iraq What you see what you expect -- and what you want US fighter pilots expected enemy helicopters Aerial combat is fighter pilots’ holy grail Pilots saw what they expected and what they wanted

Coping with ambiguity: conserve or change? Advantages of relying on existing frames and routines Protect investment in learning them They make it easier to understand what’s happening and what to do about it …but we may misread the situation, take the wrong action, and fail to learn from our errors Change requires time and energy for learning new approaches but is necessary to developing new skills and capacities

Conclusion Complexity, surprise, deception and ambiguity make organizations hard to understand and manage Narrow frames become rigid fallacies, blocking learning and effectiveness Better ideas and multiple perspectives enhance flexibility and effectiveness