Running Head: REFRAMING ORGANIZATIONS

Reframing Organizations

Elisabeth Barrow

Oakland University

EDU 740
Running Head: REFRAMING ORGANIZATIONS

Abstract

In Reframing Organizations, Bolman and Deal discuss how organizations can be seen

through four frameworks; structural, human resources, political, and symbolic. The four

frameworks are outlined in separate sections with a final section that cautions leaders to use all

four lenses fluidly when making impactful decisions. In this paper I will be analyzing Bolman

and Deals four frameworks and how they apply to our district.

Demographic Information

Covering 2.2 square miles, Clawson Public Schools is the smallest school district in

Oakland County. Clawson is a suburban community in which many families in the district are

multi-generational and Clawson Pride runs deep. Clawson Public Schools serves 1,737

students and consists of five buildings: a pre-school/administrative building, two elementary

schools, and one middle school that is connected with one high school. Of the total student

population 35.6% are economically disadvantaged and 15.6% receive Special Education

services. 74.87% of the students are white, 11% are African American, 6.47% are Hispanic,

5.72% are two or more races, and 1.66% are Asian. The district also has a growing English

Language Learner population and a steady number of school of choice students.

Structural Frame

Organizations function best when they have been designed for maximum efficiency.

Historically, however, schools and school districts have inherited a structure with little thought

as to how they could arrange their personnel to fit the challenges of an ever-changing landscape.

That being said, in a district of approximately 1,700 students, 141 full-time teachers in 5 schools,
Running Head: REFRAMING ORGANIZATIONS

7 administrators, and several shared services with other districts, structure becomes not only a

challenge but imperative. According to Bolman and Deal (2013), the structural perspective

argues for putting people in the right roles and relationships, (p. 45).

The size of our district should make structuring easy. However, because of limited

financial resources, positions to support teachers and coordinate efforts do not exist as they

might in larger districts. Until recently each building operated on its own with little coordination

between the buildings. District level tasks were split between administrators who in addition to

already being overwhelmed with running their own buildings, often let things slip through cracks

or did them incorrectly. No one knew who was responsible for what task and in the end our

2010 school improvement visit found several areas in which we were clearly out of compliance.

Since then a variety of individuals have worked together to create policies, procedures,

and programs to address the areas identified for improvement. Two Instructional Coach

positions were created but each of these people had many more tasks assigned to them besides

coaching. Some of their duties included establishing a new teacher mentor program, overseeing

Title and 31A funding, professional development through instructional rounds and other

opportunities, as well as district school improvement. The building administrators still had other

responsibilities including Athletic Director, testing coordinator, etc. In this same time period

new math programs were adopted, the elementary buildings switched to standards based grading,

two out of four schools became focus schools, the buildings underwent a bond issue to upgrade

facilities and technology, and 4 of the 7 administrators changed. Throughout the entire process,

Bolman and Deals six structural assumptions were never thoughtfully considered as everyone

was in survival mode (2013, p. 45).

Running Head: REFRAMING ORGANIZATIONS

Structure is at best still undefined in our district. Differentiation and integration happen

by chance. Tasks are allocated on a whim but there is often no way to figure out who is assigned

to what task since there is no formal record of who is supposed to do what or communicate to

whom. Job descriptions are either so lengthy that no one person could ever hope to accomplish

all aspects of the job or do not exist at all. Predictability, uniformity, and reliability are held

together by a core of people who voluntarily take on extra responsibilities just to keep things

going. Suboptimization, an emphasis on achieving unit goals rather than focusing on the

overall mission, (Bolman and Deal, 2013, p. 51) exists between buildings, departments, and

grade levels. Over the years the lack of formal vertical structure and informal lateral

coordination has led to fragmented efforts and lack of employee morale.

At the beginning of my career almost two decades ago, our district was like Mintzbergs

professional bureaucracy form (Bolman and Deal, 2013, pp. 79-80). Teachers worked in

isolation to best meet the needs of their students and their students alone and were given free

reign to do so in any way they saw fit. The organization was very fragmented but certain

teachers honed their craft and were outstanding. From there a shift occurred as collaboration

became the focus with the adoption of the Michigan Core Standards. However, this structure

more resembles Mintzbergs divisionalized form (Bolman and Deal, 2013, pp.80-81) as each

school, department, and grade level operate as a separate entity and report only when necessary

to the building principal or superintendent.

While no formal restructuring has taken place, the schools and district as a whole have

moved more to a simple structure/adhocracy. There have been more top-down mandates with

curriculum and teaching styles, as well as a new teacher evaluation system. Teachers went from

having very little guidance to feeling that they have lost the ability to do whats best for the
Running Head: REFRAMING ORGANIZATIONS

children in their class. This has also occurred without clear roles and responsibilities as to who

will coordinate and oversee the mandates and information is not being communicated clearly.

As a result, teachers are overwhelmed and feel unappreciated.

Because of the small size of our district, the ideal formal structure would operate like

Helgensens web of inclusion, (Bolman and Deal, 2013, p. 83). For this structure to be

effective at the school and district level, roles and responsibilities need to be clearly defined and

communication systems have to be in place. The questions listed on page 99 of Bolman and

Deal (2013) would help to guide any restructuring efforts. As those questions are answered and

individual responsibilities as well as the role of teams are outlined, a clearer structural form will

emerge. We do have the unique ability to integrate efforts between buildings and if they were

linked as an all-channel network, we could strengthen the entire school community. For this to

occur we need team members who bring well-developed communication skills, enjoy

participation, tolerate ambiguity, embrace diversity, and are able to manage conflict, (Bolman

and Deal, 2013, pp. 102-103). Individuals and teams must be given clear authority to operate

and have specific and measurable performance goals (Bolman and Deal, 2013, p. 107).

Self-managing teams have been the norm in the past with some success. This structure

could be strengthened by ensuring that teams take time to explore who is best suited for a

particular task as well as how individual roles come together,and teams require a clear

understanding of who is going to do what, (Bolman and Deal, 2013, p. 108). Often things get

done by people who volunteer or who are voluntold to do something; not chosen specifically

for the task based on a particular set of skills. Finally, teams must find a way to hold the

collective accountable, to avoid confusion, frustration, and winding up in endless meetings

about meetings without a purpose (Bolman and Deal, 2013, p. 108).

Running Head: REFRAMING ORGANIZATIONS

Clawson Public Schools is a unique place. The top-down hierarchical structure has never

been the norm and after careful consideration, is not one that suits our needs. The separate

schools in the district have the ability to come together and work with, not against, each other.

For that to happen, roles and responsibilities must be made clear to everyone and a chain of

communication needs to be established so that efforts in one building are reflected and built upon

in the others.

Human Resources Frame

The human resource frame focuses on relationships within an organization.

Organizations generally hope for a cadre of talented, highly motivated employees who give

their best, and this rings true in Clawson Public Schools, as well (Bolman and Deal, 2013, p.

113). It is, in fact, the people and relationships that make our district special. Employees are

asked to take on a plethora of added responsibilities due to the small size but because of the

staffs dedication to doing whats best for children, many teachers feel rooted in the district.

Many teachers in Clawson are Clawson graduates themselves and live within the district. The

city of Clawson prides itself on being a small community with a big heart and Clawson Pride

echoes throughout the Clawson school district and community at large. When our current

superintendent was hired she asked what made Clawson special and the overwhelming reply was

the people.

Many efforts have been made in the past few years to support teachers. The adoption of

the Michigan Core Standards brought the MAISA units for Reading and Writing. An elementary

word study program was purchased and new math programs at the high school and elementary

level. Curriculum is housed on Atlas Rubicon making it accessible to teachers at all times. To
Running Head: REFRAMING ORGANIZATIONS

support these curriculum shifts Instructional Coaches were hired and teachers were able to meet

in department or grade level teams to collaborate on implementing the new curriculum. Galileo

was brought to the district to build teacher leadership capacity and if interested, teachers have

been involved in Oakland Schools Aspiring Principals Academy as well as Math and Literacy

Consortiums. For those who want to grow themselves, there are many opportunities available

and many ways to get involved as long as you are willing to work hard without asking too much

in return, (Bolman and Deal, 2013, p. 128). The intent is to build talented, motivated, and loyal

staff members.

As wonderful as the intent to support teachers is, things have backfired. At the

elementary level teachers no longer have any autonomy over what or how they teach as they

have been told by the elementary Instructional Coach at the time that they were to follow the

script or program as written and abandon prior best practices. That same person was passed up

for two principal jobs but was promoted to the District Director of Curriculum, Instruction and

Assessment this past fall. Since then teachers have received misaligned, inaccurate information

about curriculum as well as grading and assessment and dont feel a sense of purpose. People do

not trust the District Curriculum Director and she has alienated people by talking

condescendingly to them.

Teachers who used to go out of their way to take on extra responsibilities have started to

withdraw and resist by not collaborating with others as intended. Downsizing due to budget

constraints has also had an effect on motivation and commitment as stated by Bolman and Deal

(2013, p. 132). Teachers dont see the support that theyve been given as an investment because

of confusing or mixed messages being sent about their effectiveness.

Running Head: REFRAMING ORGANIZATIONS

In order to remedy this situation, open-book management must take place. Right now

employees do not see the big picture and do not have the information they need to do a better

job, (Bolman and Deal, 2013, p. 148). We need to stop treating teachers as children by forcing

them to teach every lesson verbatim and reinstill professional trust. Our teachers are talented and

know how to adjust their teaching based on the group of children sitting in front of them. The

staff has been relatively stable and rather than handing them teacher-proof curricula, we should

be using our resources to support instructional methods and not blame teachers for being

ineffective. We must offer opportunities for autonomy, influence, and intrinsic rewards,

(Bolman and Deal, 2013, p. 148) which motivate people to do their best. Staff need more

freedom and authority, more feedback, and greater challenges, to feel valued and appreciated

(Bolman and Deal, 2013, p. 151) and less scrutiny. People have lost their confidence and are

visibly showing signs of stress and unhappiness. A school climate survey could be given to

teachers so that they feel that their concerns are at least heard, and ultimately addressed.

Besides having a clearer sense of purpose and more open communication about what

should be done and why, the building administrators need to clearly define what their role is

compared to the Curriculum Director. Staff at all buildings mostly support their building

administrators who also feel like their hands are tied with the directives coming from the

Curriculum Director.

The Political Frame

Politics is the realistic process of making decisions and allocating resources in a context

of scarcity and divergent interests, (Bolman and Deal, 2013, p. 183). In our case, resources are

particularly scarce and political factors both within and outside of our district play an integral

role. Being a small district means that our decisions are more easily swayed by initiatives put
Running Head: REFRAMING ORGANIZATIONS

forth by the Department of Education such as its Service Consolidation plan. This plan brought

about shared services with surrounding districts as well as private schools and means that we are

now bound by those particular operations. While cost-effective, this approach fragments how

the entire organization runs as we share staff and are forced to do things in a particular way

rather than being able to objectively consider the effectiveness of systems that have been put into

place.

Additionally, in the past few years our fund balance has continued to sink. As a result

teachers have had year-to-year contracts and pay freezes that have many teachers making

significantly less than they did five years ago. The teachers union has fought hard to protect

teachers wages and positions but has been met with resistance. The standard answer has been

that hands are tied and that the answers lie with legislators. For most people this answer is

insufficient and feelings of frustration and feeling underappreciated are apparent. Because of

this, the unions stance has become one of doing only whats absolutely necessary rather than

what is best for students. Hard lines have been drawn in the sand but these lines affect students.

Two particular examples illustrate this; scheduling and professional development. Our

district provides more elementary specials time than most other districts. Teachers have

commented that there is not enough time in the day to teach all the curriculum being required. A

solution was proposed this summer to reduce the amount of special time at the elementary while

also creating an intervention block for each grade level; something everyone thought would

benefit students. There were issues, however. One major issue was that the specials teachers

would no longer have full time positions teaching their specials classes. Rather than make their

positions a 0.8 or look at how people could be shifted around throughout the district, specials

teachers were going to be assigned to teach intervention classes of which they had no prior
Running Head: REFRAMING ORGANIZATIONS

knowledge or training about. In the end, numbers were crunched and the union president

realized that getting rid of a special meant the elementary teachers would not get as much

planning time as the secondary teachers and we went back to the way things always have been.

Along similar lines, most professional development time has been cut out of the calendar

as that is the one area in which the union still has some ability to make concessions about or use

its coercive power, (Bolman and Deal, 2013, p. 197). Unfortunately this hard line happened

to take place as several new initiatives were put into place and teachers needed more training and

collaboration time to be successful. Rather than search for alternatives that would benefit

students in the long run, the wrong people set the agenda. A strategy suggested by Fisher and

Ury (1981) is to invent options for mutual gain instead of locking in on the first alternative that

comes to mind.

Additionally, an interesting shift in power occurred this fall with the creation of the

District Curriculum Director. The person who the position was written for does not have a

background in curriculum and does not have a strong coalition of allies. She is seen as

knowledgeable by the Superintendent and has been given access and control of many agendas

but does not have personal credibility with the rest of the staff, (Bolman and Deal, 2013, p.

203). Bolman and Deal (2013) state that, People rarely give their best efforts and fullest

cooperation simply because they have been ordered to do so, as compared to when they

perceive the people in authority as credible, competent, and sensible, (p. 214). Decisions that

have been made by this individual have been one-sided, rushed, and do not have a clear purpose

for those involved. The risks in proposing change that someone else was expected to carry

out, are not considered and whether the idea was a good one or not is meaningless as people

have started to resist, criticize, and withdraw (Bolman and Deal, 2013, p. 231).
Running Head: REFRAMING ORGANIZATIONS

A shift needs to occur quickly. If the Curriculum Director position is going to be one that

influences so many decisions than the person in that position has to be, developing a direction,

building a base of support, and cobbling together working relationships with both allies and

opponents, (Bolman and Deal, 2013, p. 208). A clear vision needs to be communicated as well

as how pieces of the puzzle fit together to achieve that vision. Any new initiative has to be

thoughtfully considered and it would be helpful to map the political terrain first by using

Pichaults four stages: determine channels of informal communication; identify principal agents

of political influence; analyze possibilities for mobilizing internal and external players; anticipate

counterstrategies that others are likely to employ (Bolman and Deal, 2013, p. 211). The first

stage is extremely important as that is one that often goes overlooked. The next strategy would

be to exercise political influence by following these four steps: identify relevant relationships;

assess who might resist, why, and how strongly; develop, wherever possible, links with potential

opponents to facilitate communication, education, or negotiation; carefully select and implement

either more subtle or more forceful methods if necessary (Bolman and Deal, 2013, p. 213).

Once allies and adversaries are identified, it would be beneficial to let each side have a

voice. Underlying values will be created and as the process moves forward in conditional

openness with collaborative behavior and we can begin to look at what would be win-win

solutions for everyone. When people do not feel they have a voice they feel powerless and

long-term success is jeopardized.

If we look at how power is distributed through a political frame we can begin to address

the imbalance currently within our district. There are other key players waiting in the

background but a long as the person who is most visible gets the final say, we will continue to

yearn for purposeful actions and initiatives that are thoughtfully considered.
Running Head: REFRAMING ORGANIZATIONS

Symbolic Frame

Welcome to Clawson, was for many years the phrase passed around to symbolize how

we do things around here. This common lingo served many purposes. It bound together

individuals in a shared cohesive culture. It infused humor into seemingly frustrating situations.

It also reinforced that the more things change, the more they remain the same and a belief that

things will never get much better, (Bolman and Deal, 2013, p. 300).

The phrase Welcome to Clawson was casually kicked around and no one thought much

about it until our current superintendent arrived and asked staff members not to use the phrase

anymore due to its negative connotations. Conversations were started around the idea of how we

go about changing the culture from one of apathy and disillusionment to one that calls attention

to the uniqueness of being Clawson.

As part of changing the culture, we are in the process of trying to tell our story as a

district. Our story contains deep values which convey a sense of identity, and help people

feel special about what they do, (Bolman and Deal, 2013, p. 249). This fall each buildings

staff was asked to redefine why they teach in Clawson and what they believe is special about our

community. While we havent formally rewritten our vision or purpose statements, many key

values have been identified. For some people it was a sense of giving back to a community that

they themselves were raised in, others identified with the small town feel, and almost all said

something about doing it because they love the kids in Clawson.

If there is a symbol in Clawson that sticks it is one of being a family. The power lies in

bringing the family members from each level together and working as one unit; not separate

entities. District wide events and ceremonies need to be established so that people in one
Running Head: REFRAMING ORGANIZATIONS

building get to know the other staff members. We are too small of a district to have people from

the high school not know any of the elementary teachers and vice-versa. Overall we have a

caring, dedicated and fun staff who are tired. Teacher leaders in the district need to be inspiring

to others and help build connections between buildings and foster relationships among staff

members.

We also need to bring back humor and play and find ways to transform the image of

ourselves as one of a beat down staff to a group of people who are dedicated to children and

enjoy coming to work each day. Humor integrates, expresses skepticism, contributes to

flexibility and adaptiveness, and lessens status differences, all which we need to move forward

and do great things for our kids (Bolman and Deal, 2013, p. 263). This year for the first time

high school students came to the elementary schools the week before Homecoming to put on a

pep-rally led by the high school students. It was a great experience for all involved and those

types of activities are what we need to build a shared and cohesive culture, within the entire

district (Bolman and Deal, 2013, p. 274). We have also begun a conversation about having one

solitary mascot for the entire district rather than one for each building in an attempt to create

shared culture and soul. The hashtag ClawsonPride is being used by students, parents, and

teachers to post positive things on social media that are happening at every level. This lingo

sends an important message about what we value and is one that we need to build upon,

constructing new myths that alter beliefs and generate faith. (Bolman and Deal, 2013, p. 299).

Organizations are judged as much on appearance as on outcomes, so as we craft the

story of Clawson and make visible what is unique and special we need to be tuned into the

shared values and the things that make us feel ClawsonPride.

Running Head: REFRAMING ORGANIZATIONS

Improving Practice

Led to believe that they should be rational and on top of things, managers may instead

become bewildered and demoralize. They are supposed to plan and organize, yet they find

themselves muddling and playing catch-up. They want to solve problems and make decisions.

But when problems are ill defined and options murky, control is an illusion and rationality an

afterthought, Bolman and Deal (2013, p. 307). How true! When managers dont have clearly

defined systems and have few people around to support them and collaborate with, decisions are

made hastily and often considered only through one lense which makes new initiatives and

projects fail. Bolman and Deal suggest that when confronted with problem or new initiative, one

must look through all four lenses.

Leaders can relate Bolman and Deals four frameworks to the True Colors personality

spectrum. The structural framework with its clearly defined roles and responsibilities is clearly

gold. Human resources best represents blue with its emphasis on people and relationships. The

political frame is reminiscent of green as people try to analyze and figure out ways to divvy

scarce resources and make decisions. Finally, the symbolic frame relies on people to carry

forward the energy and culture of the organization which is characterized by orange. In True

Colors each person has a dominant color but the other colors are present, too, and subject to

become more or less dominant depending on the context. Organizations are made up of people

who are gold, blue, green, and orange and need all four personality types to be successful. Each

brings a strength to a particular situation. Like True Colors Bolman and Deal suggest that

leaders use a myriad of the frameworks and apply parts of each situationally as needed.

Bolman and Deal (2013) raise several key questions; Are commitment and motivation

essential to success? Is the technical quality important? Are ambiguity and uncertainty high? and
Running Head: REFRAMING ORGANIZATIONS

Are conflict and scarce resources significant? Are you working from the bottom up? (pp. 311-

314). The overwhelming answer to all these questions at Clawson Public Schools is,

Absolutely! The bigger question is what do we do to move ourselves forward.

Blanksteins first and recurring principle has to do with creating a mission, vision,

values, and goals and using those to guide any subsequent decisions. If an organization doesnt

have a clearly defined and communicated purpose and action plan, it is hard for anyone else to be

supportive. People dont fully commit and take a this too shall pass, attitude. Moving

forward, we must define who we are and what we hope to do with students. The District School

Improvement Team is the perfect avenue to start conversations about our guiding principles with

all stakeholders and move through the process of creating new, meaningful documents. We

began this work in November and have a plan outlined for the remainder of the school year.

While the creation of creating new defining documents is taking place, it is also

imperative that all schools, staff, and parents know what is happening throughout the district.

Efforts need to be communicated and streamlined in a way that makes sense so people are not as

frustrated and worn down. Morale can be boosted by sharing the amazing things we do but this

means reliable, consistent information.

All four frames in Bolman and Deal address communication in some way. In the

structural frame, the all-channel network brings about high employee morale. If people feel they

are part of a larger community that celebrates their efforts, they will work harder and be more

supportive of each other which addresses the human resource frame. The political frame is about

influencing decisions when resources are scarce but if the key players all knew what the other

players agendas were and why they were important, all parties would be more likely to find how

to manage scarce resources to support our mission and vision for all students. Finally,
Running Head: REFRAMING ORGANIZATIONS

communicating our story and our struggles and successes with each other builds a sense of

community which helps to build bridges and unify people. According to Bolman and Deal

(2013), A unifying culture reduces conflict and political strife, (p. 317).

One starting point is to define what types of information needs to be shared and with

whom. The other part is to disseminate current information with all stakeholders. The creation

of a quarterly interactive digital district newsletter to be sent out to all staff and parents and

posted on the website is a basic but important step to take. In the future, working with the new

marketing committee to brand Clawson Public Schools will be an essential task as well as

finding ways to bridge the gap between all five buildings in the district. Sharing day to day

information as well as our story is just the beginning but celebrating along the way is equally

important. We are a small district and that small sense of hometown pride is what makes us

unique and sets us apart from every other district in the area.

References

Blankstein, Alan M. (2013). Failure Is Not an Option: 6 Principles That Advance Student
Achievement in Highly Effective Schools. Corwin Press.

Bolman, Lee G. and Deal, Terrence, C. (2013). Reframing Organizations. Jossey-Bass.