OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I: PCA-Symbolic

Frame Worksheet
Worksheet Objectives:

1. Describe the symbolic frame

2. Apply the symbolic frame to your personal case situation

Complete the following making sure to support your ideas and cite from the textbook
and other course materials per APA guidelines. After the peer review, you have a
chance to update this and format for your Electronic Portfolio due in Module 6.

1) Briefly restate your situation from Module 1 and your role.

I am a Starbucks Partner(employee) and have worked with this company in some

capacity or another for a little over ten years. My most current position is in Global Supply

Chain. As you can imagine during a pandemic, it has some challenges. My situation stems from

the internal and external pressures to support getting stores their product and communicating any

potential delays that may arise. Historically, my position is filled within the talent pool of the

existing logistics team. Given the complexity of the pandemic and the workload on partners, the

decision was made to bring in a partner for a six month time frame. Since this partner could not

be pulled from the pool, the search to fill the role began. I was ending my assignment as a

coordinator and applied to the role, due to my interest in learning something new and the timing

was almost perfect. Fast forward, I accepted the role and this brings me to my situation. I have

no supply chain background, I am willing to learn but there was also no one with the capacity to

train me. This resulted in a lot of long hours, a lot of tears and frustration. The inability to slow

down and properly support my training journey has impeded my ability to actually support the

team and the work. Showcasing that a solid foundation of supply chain and logistics is crucial to
supporting the tasks being asked of the team. It overextended those who had to support me and

me. At the moment, it was the only option. This is not what Starbucks is known for, we are a

people based company. We have an operationally solid training program for roles, to set people

up for success.

2) Describe how the symbols of the organization influenced the situation.

There are a couple of different symbols that impact my situation. The first being the

Siren, it is a well recognized symbol to not only our partners but our customers. The Siren acts as

a symbol for Starbucks, it tells our partners more than it is a job. The Siren is a relic of our

culture and represents our mission and values. The green apron is also a strong symbol, “In the

face of uncertainty and ambiguity, symbols arise to help people resolve confusion, find direction

and anchor hope and faith” (Bolman & Deal, 2017, p. 242). Starbucks is one of those places

individuals look to for comfort and support in times of uncertainty, the pandemic is the latest

example of this. As a partner, we knew that we could look to the Siren for help, guidance and

support because we wore a green apron. We (the partners in Global Supply Chain) serve the

partners wearing the apron, bringing the customer experience to life. We are in service to those

partners, we work hard to make sure that they have what they need. My role was created in part

due to the apron, the need to make those partners' lives easier. The partner pressure was so great

that a role was created.

Symbols tend to evoke emotions and are reinforced during story telling. My role and the

urgency in which it was filled was as a result of those stories, “Stories are deeply rooted in the

human experience” (Bolman & Deal, 2017, p. 248). Our mission statement is also rooted in

human experience. This comes to life when thousands of store managers are pleading to know
where their product is. At one point about a year ago, I was one of them, so they can stay open

and serve their customers. We wanted to stay open to support the community, to bring the third

place alive more than ever before. To be the symbol of a reprieve from a trying and difficult

situation that the pandemic brought. My role was created as a response to the emotion that our

mission and values evoke from partners and customers.

3) Recommend how you would use organizational symbols for an alternative

course of action regarding your case.

This frame hits really close to home for me. It is the frame that really leans into emotion

and how symbols and stories can impact or detract from a situation. Starbucks is so fluent in

storytelling that it is hard to separate emotion from logic. Emotion was so relevant in the

decision making to create my role. I think that using storytelling and bringing our mission and

values to life, is important to the success of Starbucks. The issue is the use of the story in a way

that can have a negative impact. It was the best of intentions to support getting the support to not

only the team but to the partners wearing the apron everyday, being a bright spot in our

customers days. We could have used storytelling to lead people into the future, it was an

unprecedented time, that phrase has become a cliche within Starbucks. We are navigating

through issues that many companies are facing.

Leaning into logic and not emotion would have been a better way to support the stores.

Taking the stories and the challenges that store partners were facing and making a logical choice

instead of an emotional one. Symbols played a role in the way that decisions were made to not

pull from the existing talent pool. The team was the first line of defense for the stores and helped
them navigate product issues. The argument was made that this would negatively impact the

partner experience. Pulling on the need to make sure the stores were the first priority, when in

reality, it would have been easier to train me to backfill someone transitioning to the team that I

currently sit on.

4) Reflect on what you would do or not do differently given what you have

learned about this frame.

For this frame, I do not think I would have done anything differently except for the

execution of how to use the stories and our mission and values to get work done. I think that

there were some shortsighted emotional decisions that were hugely impactful to the smaller

group, but had some great benefits for the larger organization. I am a product of ten years at

Starbucks, the stories and the symbols have become a part of me. It is a part of why I have stayed

so long. The good stories and the bad. The symbol of the green apron and the Siren are a sense of

familiarity for me. It makes sense why we lean into it so much, it really does provide support for

partners and customers.

Where I would have made some adjustments is my leaders using the power of symbols

and storytelling to support their needs and not letting their peers out shine the needs. Being able

to tell the story about how pivotal the team I currently sit on and being able to share the scope of

work and the impact that having a more seasoned partner on the team can have. There is an art

and a science to being able to tell an impactful story that has the ability to influence others. I am

extremely grateful to have the role and learned what I have learned and it will be a story for me
to share later and a cautionary tale so to speak. I would have used the partner experience as the

key take away as to how to serve them in the best way possible.

Reference

Bolman, L. G. & Deal, T. E. (2017). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership

(6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass