As Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs recently noted, “Culture is fate.” Strong words from the head of a company that’s been around since 1869. Getting culture right is what distinguishes the Goldman Sachs from the Drexel Burnham Lamberts (remember them?). We help organizations communicate and inculcate culture in alignment with their brands. Our organizational development methodologies draw on the groundbreaking work of Professor Terrence Deal and Alan Kennedy.

Deal and Kennedy pioneered the ideas that the most successful cultures are not only cohesive but “committed to a deep and abiding shared purpose.” We agree with them that the foundational values and beliefs of organizations are manifested in cultural elements and reflected in ritual and ceremony that defines the inner truth of each organization.

In the book “Reframing Organizations” Deal partnered with Lee Bolman to explore what they called the “symbolic frame” that consciously and unconsciously reflect corporate culture through icons, myths, anecdotes, ceremonies, and other symbolic forms. In addition to the symbolic frame, Deal and Bolman also identified three other evaluative rubrics: the structural, human resource, and political frames of an organization.

The Structural Frame is a view from the perspective of the existence and necessity of coordination and control of the organizational working units. In this context, organizations exist to accomplish set goals, perform best through rationale decision-making, operate better with structure in all situations; and achieve optimum efficiency and performance through labor specialization. And if there are problems, a structural view suggests that you can overcome the obstacle by affecting (i.e. restructuring) the structure.

The Human Resource frame presents the organization from the needs of its people. Thus, an effective leader would align the organization to meet the human needs, desires, emotions, constraints, and skills of its employees. From this view, it goes to say that if you empower your employees and help them achieve their aspirations — you will develop a more effective and successful organization.

The Political frame addresses the reality of self-interest; the diversity of values, beliefs, interests, and perceptions; the existence of scarce resources; the inevitability of conflict; and the fact that people compete, negotiate, and compromise for power and limited resources. From this view, the leader recognizes the necessity of creating coalitions of consensus, support, and commitment around organizational goals.

The Symbolic frame is the closest to the traditional concepts surrounding social cultures in that it draws upon the basis of cultural and social anthropology. It sees organizations as ceremonies, theaters or tribes. The organization is made up of stories, folklore, and myths. Leaders believe that it is vital to provide a clear vision for the future and inspiration. A good leader seeks to create confidence for the organization through the use of ceremonies, symbols, tell stories, and rituals that give people something to believe in — a shared purpose — day in and day out. Symbolism illustrates and dramatizes the culture of the organization with a configuration of intertwined beliefs, values, rituals, and artifacts that provide members with a sense of who they are and how they are to do things.

The interrelationship between the four frames gives business leaders a way of looking at organizational events from different perspectives and the opportunity to move from one frame to the other in their strategic and day-to-day management activities. The framework initially provided by Deal and Bolman encourages leaders to view their organizations with a more holistic sense and see events from a variety of different angles. By embracing the tenets of the four frames, the leader is able to look at problems and possible solutions with a broader landscape.

The symbolic frame has a direct relationship to many of the principles of current branding practice. Once an organization defines their core values and shared purpose, it can transform, nurture, and strengthen its corporate culture by drawing on the influence of the symbolic frame — symbols, ceremonies, rituals, myths, stories, etc. By building on your internal strengths and addressing any weaknesses, we can ensure that your brand lives strongly in and out of your organization!