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.

My organization is an entertainment theme park that provides attraction

experiences for the public to enjoy. They can enjoy these rides and shows that tell some
of their favorite stories with the use of some of the latest industry-led technology. My
role is the senior leader of the maintenance team which is required to perform specific
routine inspections to keep the attraction systems operating and available for the public to
enjoy. The problem we are faced with is how to best certify that all required maintenance
against our manufacturer’s requirements is completed each day before turning over the
attraction to our operating partners. What tools do we have? How do we record findings
and corrective actions and how do ensure a safe operation for those who want to enjoy
the attraction?

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

The symbols of our greater company are very recognizable to many throughout
the world. The company symbols are important to our culture and what is important for
us to capture regarding the story of our company, its origin, and how we stay grounded
on our core values. Internally to our maintenance and engineering organization, we have
a couple of specific symbols that represent who we are. We utilize our main company
symbol/character representing the use of tools, drawing, wearing PPE, and a hard hat. We
love it and use it for many things.

We also utilize important symbols of this same character in a 2D wireframe

artwork embedded into a sprocket. This is a symbol of how we keep things moving with
our company symbol at our core. Our job is to keep the attraction systems available to the
best of our ability. We have targets or goals that we use to measure performance and key

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 indicators of how we work towards continuous improvement as we sustain them for their
lifetime. The gear also represents a single cog in the system of many other factors that
allow our business to operate. Storytelling is the biggest factor of why we have the job
we perform currently. We want to ensure we can provide a safe and fun experience for
the guests who visit our park.

3) Recommend how you would use organizational symbols for an alternative course of
action regarding your case.

These symbols give us a reminder and back story to why we can do the work that
we perform. They are widely used to help tell our story and how they can relate to the
specific work we do or any other internal organization throughout the company. These
symbols are very well understood by all who work for the company and what they mean,
especially for those of us that work at the original theme park, this was his park, and it
has a lot of nostalgic to it as well.

We need to continue to embrace these symbols to help figure out how to empower
our maintenance and engineering team to perform all their work with the understanding
that what they do ensures families (theirs and all others) can safely enjoy these
attractions. We need to reinforce that the work they perform is a vital function for the
guest experience to the storytelling we are trying to convey. We can best ensure
compliance with our regulations and laws when can tell the whys behind what we are
trying to do with our business. We should make our work enjoyable to do so people will
want to do it well. “In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun” (Mary
Poppins). Even though our culture is already full of themed phrasing and a distinct
language is embedded into our daily routine, we can continue to provide the team with
the concept that we are all part of the show and we are here for the entertainment of the
guests.

4) Reflect on what you would do or not do differently given what you have learned
about this frame.

In my role, I think our company is working at the top of how an organization

works as a theater. There is always a component of a story or show that we are trying to
convey to our employees and our guests. I feel it is our company that others try to copy
what we do as mimetic isomorphism because of our success and the content that we
continue to develop across many different platforms. It makes our culture feel strong and
influential and that we are at the top of our game.

Our attractions are that also. Some of our recent attractions are top-notch with a
mix of technology and system that provide our guests such a different experience that
support telling the story we want to tell. We utilize these storylines to help us decide that
adjustment we have made, will help tell that story properly. We want the show effects to

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be working to the best of their ability, the lighting, the projection, the motion base
profiles, animation, etc. All of it is there for a reason and to support the best guest
experience to tell the story of each attraction. I would continue to promote the story side
of our technical work with our teams to continue to embrace that our work is not just
turning wrenches and getting dirty maintaining the machines. There is a storyline we
have to finish telling, every day, hundreds of times a day.

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 Reference or References
Mary Poppins. Walt Disney Studios, theatrical release, Mary Poppins, quote retrieved from
https://sarahscoop.com/the-10-best-mary-poppins-quotes-to-brighten-your-day/