What will I learn about: why successful problem-solving requires leaders to actively question their established beliefs rather than dangerously oversimplifying complex information?

Discover why successful problem-solving requires leaders to actively question their established beliefs rather than dangerously oversimplifying complex information.

What will I learn about: Learn how implementing self-managing teams can empower your employees, streamline operations, and dramatically improve company-wide decision-making?

Learn how implementing self-managing teams can empower your employees, streamline operations, and dramatically improve company-wide decision-making.

What will I learn about: the importance of aligning your hiring practices directly with your desired customer experience to build an unstoppable team?

Understand the importance of aligning your hiring practices directly with your desired customer experience to build an unstoppable team.

What will I learn about: why offering top-tier salaries and quantifiable rewards is a highly profitable strategy that slashes turnover costs and doubles productivity?

Find out why offering top-tier salaries and quantifiable rewards is a highly profitable strategy that slashes turnover costs and doubles productivity.

What will I learn about: Explore how providing rock-solid job security and profit-sharing can cultivate fierce employee loyalty and drive long-term organizational success?

Explore how providing rock-solid job security and profit-sharing can cultivate fierce employee loyalty and drive long-term organizational success.

Reframing Organizations

Artistry, Choice, and Leadership

Lee G. Bolman and Terrence E. Deal

★ 4.3 / 5(43 ratings)

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Categories:

Management & Leadership

If You're Curious About These Questions...

You should listen to this audiobook

💡Have you ever wondered why some organizations thrive in chaos while others crumble under the exact same pressure?
💡What if you could master four distinct 'frames' to solve any leadership challenge, no matter how complex?
💡Did you know that the way you structure your team might be the hidden key to simplifying every decision you make?

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Key Takeaways from Reframing Organizations

✓Discover why successful problem-solving requires leaders to actively question their established beliefs rather than dangerously oversimplifying complex information.
✓Learn how implementing self-managing teams can empower your employees, streamline operations, and dramatically improve company-wide decision-making.
✓Understand the importance of aligning your hiring practices directly with your desired customer experience to build an unstoppable team.
✓Find out why offering top-tier salaries and quantifiable rewards is a highly profitable strategy that slashes turnover costs and doubles productivity.
✓Explore how providing rock-solid job security and profit-sharing can cultivate fierce employee loyalty and drive long-term organizational success.

Learning Tools

Reinforce what you learned from Reframing Organizations

Mind Map

Reframing Organizations

Navigating Complexity+

Organizational Structure+

Talent Management+

Culture and Leadership+

Corporate Ethics+

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Question 1 of 8

According to the authors, what is a common mistake leaders make when faced with complex problems?

A. They delegate the decision to self-managing teams without providing oversight.
B. They oversimplify the situation by reverting to existing prejudices and ignoring contradictory information.
C. They spend too much time gathering unnecessary information, leading to decision paralysis.
D. They immediately hire outside consultants to analyze the data instead of trusting their instincts.

Question 2 of 8

How does Whole Foods utilize self-managing teams to improve their business operations?

A. By allowing teams to dictate corporate marketing strategies across all international regions.
B. By having teams elect a traditional boss to oversee their daily tasks and report to executives.
C. By empowering store-level teams to make decisions on product sourcing, employee salaries, and customer feedback.
D. By replacing human resource departments entirely with automated team-voting software.

Question 3 of 8

Why did Enterprise Rent-A-Car specifically look to hire former college athletes and socialites?

A. They wanted employees who were highly competitive and driven solely by individual sales commissions.
B. They believed these individuals possessed the soft skills critical for excellent customer service and team building.
C. They needed physically fit employees to handle the demanding manual labor of moving and washing rental cars.
D. They aimed to build a corporate sports team to improve their public image and community outreach.

Question 4 of 8

What is the key lesson from Lincoln Electric's response to a 40 percent drop in sales?

A. Drastic layoffs are sometimes the only way to save a company from bankruptcy during a recession.
B. Providing strict severance packages is more cost-effective than retraining employees for new roles.
C. Refusing to lay off employees and instead reallocating them can foster immense loyalty and drive profitability.
D. Transitioning to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) immediately solves revenue shortfalls.

Question 5 of 8

How did Mary Barra's leadership as CEO of General Motors demonstrate the value of a 'company heroine'?

A. She fired all the executives involved in previous scandals and replaced them entirely with outside hires.
B. She created a new founding myth about the company's origins to distract from recent product failures.
C. She refused to admit the company's guilt, fiercely defending GM's reputation against the media.
D. She publicly acknowledged the company's past mistakes and restructured it around transparency, which helped triple profits.

Question 6 of 8

Why did James McNerney's initial success at 3M eventually stifle the company's long-term growth?

A. He failed to consult the board of directors before making major changes to the product line.
B. His rigid focus on efficiency and cost-cutting snuffed out the company's culture of creativity and innovation.
C. He paid employees significantly above market rate, which drained the company's financial reserves.
D. He implemented self-managing teams too quickly, leading to internal chaos and a lack of direction.

Question 7 of 8

How did Medtronic's CEO Bill George handle the discovery of an executive's secret Swiss bank account used for bribes?

A. He handled the matter internally to protect the company's stock price from plummeting.
B. He fired the executive and went straight to the media to affirm the company's zero-tolerance policy for unethical behavior.
C. He paid a fine to the government but allowed the executive to quietly resign with a severance package.
D. He restructured the company's accounting department to better track offshore transactions without publicizing the incident.

Question 8 of 8

According to the final summary, what is the authors' primary advice when things go wrong within an organization?

A. Blame the structure, not the people, as unclear guidelines are often the root cause of conflict.
B. Immediately replace the underperforming employees to set a strong example for the rest of the team.
C. Implement an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) to increase motivation and accountability.
D. Hire a new manager to strictly enforce the existing rules and regulations.

Reframing Organizations — Full Chapter Overview

1Recommendation
2Oversimplifying complexity breeds mistakes; the real key is to challenge your own biases relentlessly.
3The presence of self-managing teams in company structures can enhance decision-making greatly.
4Business success rests on strong hiring practices and truly measurable rewards for employees.
5Sharing profits and offering job security fosters employee loyalty.
6Myth and vision are vital to company success, with heroes and heroines upholding those ideals steadfastly.
7Taking on a new management role is hard, requiring quick thinking to fit in fast and well too.
8New executives must adapt to company culture, often by winning over the most important stakeholders early.
9Companies that refuse ethical compromises end up better off and more trusted.

Reframing Organizations Summary & Overview

Reframing Organizations (2017) looks at how to structure organizations in order to simplify tasks and decision-making. It shows that there is no foolproof way to arrive at the right answer when facing complex challenges. However, certain structures exist that increase the chances of company success.

Who Should Listen to Reframing Organizations?

Managers
Employees
Organizational psychologists

About the Author: Lee G. Bolman and Terrence E. Deal

Lee G. Bolman is a professor at the Bloch School of Business in Missouri where he specializes in leadership and organization. He is also a popular speaker and workshop leader for companies, governmental bodies and universities in the US and abroad. Terrence E. Deal is a retired professor of education at the University of Southern California. He has worked at many of the most prestigious US universities, focusing on organizations and the methods they deploy to deal with symbolism and disruption.

© Lee G. Bolman and Terrence E. Deal: Reframing Organizations copyright 2017, John Wiley & Sons Inc. Used by permission of John Wiley & Sons Inc. and shall not be made available to any unauthorized third parties.

Reframing Organizations

If You're Curious About These Questions...

Listen to Reframing Organizations — Free Audiobook

Key Takeaways from Reframing Organizations

Learning Tools

Mind Map

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Reframing Organizations — Full Chapter Overview

Reframing Organizations Summary & Overview

Who Should Listen to Reframing Organizations?

About the Author: Lee G. Bolman and Terrence E. Deal

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