Karl Weick

Organizing

Organizing

This is how people make sense out of equivocal

and ambiguous information

It comes about when an idea, concept, or

direction is not clear

Times When People Organize

Times of change when how things are done and
what people think are dierent

An event that has more than one meaning Matters that have more than one opinion
among the interests of people in the organization

What This Means

People spend considerable time negotiating
what an event, idea, or change means

An organization is a series of relationships that

have long chains of cause and eect

It is not the physical space, organizational

charts, mission statements, etc that make up an organization it is people and their views of what this organization means

Certainty
There is a strong desire among most people to
reduce uncertainty and make the equivocal clear

Organizing serve to narrow the range of

possibilities

However are we ever certain or do we know

the outcome of actions?

Patterns of Causality
With long chains of causes we may not see the
eect of action immediately - when we are in a pattern things follow a close script that are related to events in the past. Example: Conversations with family members

Many people and managers included are

reactive and can over react at times of equivocality

3 Stages of Sense Making

1 - Enactment 2- Selection 3 - Retention

Enactment
Organizations should respond to challenges
and issues they face.

Meetings are venues for action and action is a

precondition for sensemaking

The failure to act is the cause or most

organizational ineectiveness

Selection
Selections are made following 2 tools; rules and
adjustment cycles

rules can be stock responses that have worked

in the past - these are eective when equivocality is low

Adjustment cycles are eective in times of high

equivocality and when there is a need to handle complex data and issues

Retention
Organizational memory creates a network of
rules - this can sometimes limit an organizations ability to respond to complex information

Yet memory or retention is necessary for

stability

A dialectic tension exists between memory and

new directions

Structure and Organization

Flatter organizational structures have less

likelihood for distorted communication

Generally the more self determination and

empowerment given to a worker the higher the satisfaction and productivity

Thinking Through Weick

Weick says organizations should treat memory

as a pest. Discuss rules or practices that this institution or your place of employment uses which do not appear to have any good reason.