Reframing Organizations, 4th ed.

Chapter 13

Organizational Culture in Action

Organizational Culture in Action

 The Eagle Group’s Sources of Success

 Leading Principles
The Eagle Group’s Sources of
Success
 Why do some groups produce extraordinary
results while others produce little or nothing?
 Play, spirit and culture are at the core of peak
performance
Sources of cultural success I
 How someone becomes a group member is
important
 Diversity provides a team’s competitive
advantage
 Examples, not command, holds a team
together
 A specialized language fosters cohesion and
commitment
Sources of cultural success (II)
 Stories carry history and values and reinforce
group identity
 Humor and play reduce tension and
encourage creativity
 Ritual and ceremony lift spirits and reinforce
values
Sources of cultural success (III)
 Informal cultural players make contributions
disproportionate to their formal roles
 Soul is the secret of success
Conclusion
 Symbolic perspectives questions traditional
views on team building
 Right structure and people are important, but
not sufficient
 The essence of high performance is spirit
 Banishing play, ceremony and myth would
destroy teamwork, not create it
 Team building at its heart is a spiritual
undertaking: peak performance emerges as a
team discovers its soul