Overview of "Frame" model for assessing organizational effectiveness

1. [Lawyers]
Understanding
Organizations Using the
Four Frame Model: A
Gateway to More Effective
Lawyering
Dan DeFoe JD MS - Adlitem Solutions
www.adlitemsolutions.com
Blog – www.psycholawlogy.com
dan@adlitemsolutions.com
DanDeFoeJDMS-Copyright2013
1

2. Four Frames . . . .
2
DanDeFoeJDMS-Copyright2013

3. Four Frames . . . .
•Structure
•Human Resources
•Politics
•Symbols
3
DanDeFoeJDMS-Copyright2013

4. Metaphors - Four Frames
• Factories or Machines [Structure],
• Family [Human Resources],
• Jungle [Politics], and
• Theatres, Temples or Carnivals
[Symbols]
4
DanDeFoeJDMS-Copyright2013

5. “Frame” means . . . .
• Mental model
• Ideas and assumptions
• Register and assemble
information into a coherent
pattern
• More comprehensive picture of
what is happening and what to
do
• Functions: map, tool, lens,
orientation, filter, prism, or
perspective
5
DanDeFoeJDMS-Copyright2013

6. Four Frames Can Help . . .
•Clarify
•Decipher,
•Focus,
•“Size things up”
•Navigate, and
•Understand
. . . . the usually complex and
often ambiguous
organizational landscape. 6
DanDeFoeJDMS-Copyright2013

7. Frames Can Show . . . .
• Pieces of organizational life
• Comprehensive picture about how
each piece contributes a part
• Areas for attention/intervention
• How to let the “bright” side shine
• How to keep “dark” side in
shadows
• How organizational virtues can
outweigh vices
7
DanDeFoeJDMS-Copyright2013

8. Frames Come From Where . . . .
•Management insight
•Management wisdom
•Social science research
from
•Sociology
•Psychology
•Political Science
•Anthropology 8
DanDeFoeJDMS-Copyright2013

9. How Frames Help Lawyers
• Register and assemble
information into coherent
pattern
• Gain more comprehensive
picture of workplace
• Better understand organizations,
how they work, how they
should work
• Identify development
opportunities
• Assist in evaluating success or
failure of change efforts
9
DanDeFoeJDMS-Copyright2013

10. Each Frame . . .
•Summary
•Central Concepts
•Leadership challenges
•Associated Metaphor
10
DanDeFoeJDMS-Copyright2013

11. Structural Frame . . . Machine
11
DanDeFoeJDMS-Copyright2013

12. Structural Frame . . . .
• Focus on architecture of organization: goals,
structure technology, roles and relationships,
coordination
• Responsibilities, division of labor, rules, policies,
procedures, systems, and hierarchies which
coordinate an organization’s diverse activities
into a unified effort relate to this frame.
• Challenge for organizations and their leaders
involves designing, maintaining, and aligning
structural forms with current circumstances,
tasks, technology, the environment, and goals.
• Metaphor - Factory or Machine. 12
DanDeFoeJDMS-Copyright2013

13. Human Resource Frame . . .Family
13
DanDeFoeJDMS-Copyright2013

14. Human Resource Frame . . .
• Emphasizes understanding people and their
relationships , individual needs, feelings, fears,
prejudices, skills, and development opportunities.
• Focus on and understand the fit between the
individual and the organization.
• A lens for organizations to learn how to meet
individual needs and train the individual to meet
organizational needs.
• The job gets done by persons who feel good about
themselves and their work.
• Metaphor - Family.
14
DanDeFoeJDMS-Copyright2013

15. Political Frame . . . Jungle
15
DanDeFoeJDMS-Copyright2013

16. Political Frame
• Sees organizations as jungles, arenas, or contests
• Emphasizes power, competition, and winning
scarce resources.
• Diverse values, beliefs, interests, behaviors, and
skills provide context for resource and power
allocation.
• People set agenda, bargain, negotiate, build
coalitions, compromise or coerce, and manage
conflicts.
• Involves “Who gets what and how. . . . “
• Solutions from political skill and acumen.
• Realities can be toxic, creativity, or innovation.
• Effective managers or leaders guide proper
disbursement of power.
• Metaphor – Jungle.
16
DanDeFoeJDMS-Copyright2013

17. Symbolic Frame . . . Theatre
17
DanDeFoeJDMS-Copyright2013

18. Symbolic Frame
• Organizational life is drama and where members’
roles play out everyday.
• Focus on meaning and faith, ritual, ceremony,
story, play, and culture challenges leaders to
create and maintain faith, beauty, and meaning.
• Context engages head and heart.
• Meaning matters more than results.
• Events and processes more important for
expression than production.
• Members’ shared faith and meaning infuse
passion, creativity, and soul.
• Rules, policies, and managerial authority matter
less.
• Culture, symbol, and spirit provide pathway to
organizational effectiveness.
• Metaphor – Theatre, Temple, or Carnival
18
DanDeFoeJDMS-Copyright2013

19. Jackson County, Missouri
Circuit Courthouse
19
DanDeFoeJDMS-Copyright2013

20. Summary – Four Frames & Lawyers
• Whether dealing with situations like Enron,
Katrina, the Columbia and Challenger
disasters, or tainted Tylenol, misfeasance,
malpractice, or harassment or discrimination,
for examples, the Four Frame Model can
provide a new way to organize thinking and
decipher the messy, complicated, complex,
and ambiguous world of organizations.
• Lawyers can discover and enjoy new
possibilities for reframing, a “powerful tool for
gaining clarity, regaining balance, generating
new options, and finding strategies that make
a difference.”
• The Four Frame Model can provide lawyers a
gateway to more effective lawyering. 20
DanDeFoeJDMS-Copyright2013

21. Conclusion & Thank You!
• See: Bolman, L, & Deal, T. (2008).
Reframing organizations: Artistry,
choice, and leadership (4th ed.). San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass [Chapter 1.].
• See also. Gallos, J. V. “Reframing
Complexity: A Four-Dimensional
Approach to Organizational Diagnosis,
Development and Change.” In Gallos, J.
V. (Ed.). Organization Development.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2006.
Dan DeFoe, JD MS
Adlitem Solutions
www.adlitemsolutions.com
www.psycholawlogy.com
dan@adlitemsolutions.com
21
DanDeFoeJDMS-Copyright2013