Читать книгу Reframing Organizations - Lee G. Bolman - Страница 37

Changing old patterns and mind‐sets is difficult. It is also risky; it can lead to analysis paralysis, confusion, and erosion of confidence. This dilemma is with us even if we see no flaws in our current thinking because our theories are often self‐sealing. They block us from recognizing our errors. Extensive research documents the many ways in which individuals spin reality to protect existing beliefs (see, for example, Garland, 1990; Staw and Hoang, 1995). In one corporate disaster after another, executives insist that they were not responsible but were the unfortunate victim of circumstances. After the mob invasion of the U.S. Capitol in January 2021, no one felt personally responsible and the blame game was in full swing.

Extensive research on the “framing effect” (Kahneman and Tversky, 1979) shows how powerful subtle cues can be. Relatively modest changes in how a problem or decision is framed can have a dramatic impact on how people respond (Gegerenzer, Hoffrage, and Kleinbölting, 1991; Shu and Adams, 1995). One study found that doctors responded more favorably to a treatment with “a one‐month survival rate of 90 percent” than one with “a 10 percent mortality rate in the first month,” even though the two are statistically identical (Kahneman, 2011).

Many of us sometimes recognize that our mental models or maps influence how we interpret the world. It is less widely understood that what we expect often determines what we get. Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968) studied schoolteachers who were told that certain students in their classes were “spurters”—students who were “about to bloom.” The so‐called “spurters,” who had been randomly selected, achieved above‐average gains on achievement tests. They really did spurt. Somehow, the teachers' expectations were communicated to and assimilated by the students. Medical science is still probing the placebo effect—the power of sugar pills to make people better (Hróbjartsson and Gøtzsche, 2010). When patients believe they will get better, they often do. Similar effects have been replicated in countless reorganizations, new product launches, and new approaches to performance appraisal. All these examples show how hard it is to disentangle reality from the models in our minds.¹

Japan has four major spiritual traditions, each with unique beliefs and assumptions: Buddhism, Confucianism, Shintoism, and Taoism. Though they differ greatly in history, traditions, and basic tenets, many Japanese feel no need to choose only one. They use all four, taking advantage of the strengths of each for suitable purposes or occasions. The four frames can play a similar role for managers in modern organizations. Rather than portraying the field of organizational theory as fragmented, we present it as pluralistic. Seen this way, the field offers a rich spectrum of mental models or lenses for viewing organizations. Each theoretical tradition is helpful. Each has blind spots. Each tells its own story about organizations. The ability to shift nimbly from one story to another helps redefine situations so they become understandable and manageable. The ability to reframe is one of the most powerful capacities of great artists. It can be equally powerful for managers and leaders.