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.

There are annual reviews going on within my organization. For context, I am in

the United States Air Force and these reviews are called Enlisted Performance Boards
(EPBs). This process can be tense since your results can determine whether or not you get
a “promotion statement”. These statements allow members a certain number of points,
extra, for when they go to test for promotion.
The EPB is a new system since the previous rating forms we used last year.
However, there has been some disconnect as to what is the most important information to
capture from the previous year. Certain people, such as my superintendent (a person in
charge of multiple work sections), feels as though it should be direct work related to the
mission. For example, how many jobs you completed. Whereas “Big Air Force” feels
we should be still capturing the extracurriculars to include volunteer activities and
education. This has left people at the shop level, such as myself, in an odd position since
we are at the mercy of the superintendent’s corrections to our EPBs even if this will
render them non-competitive at the squadron level.
This has left me and two fellow Noncommissioned Officers (NCOs) in a weird
place where I wasn’t considered due to a preexisting reputation regardless of my strong
paperwork, another member was told to leave off his extras and became non-viable, and
the third was competitive and was mainly extra stuff.

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

Symbolism is alive and well in the United States Air Force. Unfortunately, people use
this to their advantage to cater to their own interests in certain situations. There are two
main points where symbols played into this type of scenario. The first is “the hero” type
of mytology found within organizations. At my level, a front line supervisor, we are to
expect our superintendents know better than us. They have that power ad knowledge as
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 they are in charge of two to three different career fields. For example, mine oversees us,
HVAC/R, and pest management. However, he is a civilian who left the USAF after 8
years and doesn’t fully know what it is like to serve as long as we have. Him utilizing
this almost god-like authority led him to make decisions on who was worthy to compete
for these statements and who wasn’t.

Secondly, the ritual of the entire Enlisted Promotion Board process was abused.
Typically, you write your own EPB, then send it to your boss. It then gets sent back and
forth between you for edits until it is pushed to the superintendent. There may be some
revisions at that point, but typically it is accepted that once the superintendent touches it,
it is going up for signature. Yet, with the new system being so competitive, we must
have feedback on what to improve or if there was any information missing that could
make ou packages stronger. Yet, we are not allowed to ask questions either due to rank,
or because we don’t question how it is done. “Events and processes are often more
important for what they express or signal than for their intent or outcomes” (Bolman &
Deal, 2021).

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

When it comes to using symbols to create an alternate course, I would utilize the heroes
we have. Many of the greatest members of the USAF were people who were unafraid to
challenge the status quo, or do what must be done. We have three core values in the
USAF that these greats always seem to represent: integrity first, service before self, and
excellence in all we do. I would push to highlight integrity first to come to the answer as
to why certain members were chosen for the higher board to get a promotion statement,
and others were not.

“Culture forms the superglue that bonds an organization, unites people, and helps an
enterprise to accomplish desired ends” (Bolman & Deal, 2021). Although this strategy of
the symbolic framework is used to keep the subordnates in order, it doesn’t seem to be
applied upwards. To create that desired course, I would lean heavily on this fact and try
and create some sort of pseudo-guilt that would perhapds socially pressure my leadership
into being forthcoming. Beyond that, there isn’t much I can do in the way of changing
their behaviors. Yet, perhaps facing agains the entire organization and seeing you [they]
are the one to be the odd-man out might change their approach.

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

I don’t believe that, beyond asing more questions, there would be much I could honestly
do differently. However, I would utilize these happenings as a valuable teaching point

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 for my troops. I would show them the negative consequences that could occur if you act
in such a way that questions the cemented symbolism that drives most of our actions and
behaviors. This would, in essence, allow for me to create ethe next generation of leaders
who might walk the walk, so to speak.

Perhaps, if I were to try and act differently, I would utilize some of the heroes of our
storied past. I would highlight the importance of service before self amongst their tales.
Although this wouldn’t necessarily alleviate my situation, it would build a sort of
resilience amongst my team. I would show them that even if I didn’t reach my desired
outcomes, it will not prevent me from still acting correctly and working diligently. You
cannot let negative results stop you from progessing personally and professionally. This
is an odd conundrum as this scenario does directly impact my eligibility to promote, but it
does not outright stop it completely. This is what I would, and do, focus my attention on.

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 Reference

Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2021). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership.
Jossey-Bass.