Storify Group Project

Here's the link to our final group project and presentation on Storify! Thanks for reading!

http://storify.com/comm305dbq/significance

Digital Badge Quest 6: Crisis Communication

There are many aspect of crisis communication that are imperative when preparing for and dealing with a crisis situation. Through a crisis workshop that we did in class, I learned not only how important it is to plan as much as possible in advance, but I also discovered that open communication and having a “game plan” is crucial in dealing with a crisis that can hit almost immediately. In our scenario, we worked together in teams to deal with a meningitis outbreak at a university; my group was Student Life involving the Dean, RAs, Student Life staff, and Health and Wellness Center. We had to come up with plans once the crisis began and communicate with the other aspects of the university, including the President’s Office, Academic Affairs, and PR/Marketing. It was a great workshop and really taught us a lot about crises and how best to handle them with preplanning and open communication. A crisis is an unforeseen situation that has the potential to hurt or destroy the organization’s reputation; it can occur unexpectedly and very quickly. Dealing with a true crisis in a reputable way requires intense organization and communication amongst its members, because one incident has the potential to completely derail a project or organization.

Adequate planning for a crisis before it even happens can be difficult, especially if you’re not entirely sure what could happen. The best thing to do is go over the possibilities for problems and plan what to do when they occur or something occurs beyond what was originally imagined. Make sure that the leaders of the organization or corporation are honest during the crisis and foster an environment of open communication amongst themselves and their employees. Establish a team that will serve as a “home base” during the crisis, who can meet to decide what is released to the public/media and what needs to happen to solve the problem. Plan, plan, plan! Not all crises can be prepared for, but having a pretty good idea of things that could possibly go wrong is the best method when planning to solve an issue. Also, recognize who the stakeholders are and focus messages on them when dealing with the problem. Ensure your stakeholders and employees that everything is being done to the best of your ability, and make sure to use the proper mediums when messaging them. Choose effective ways of communication, and make sure that messages are sequenced in a timely manner that allow you to analyze the situation while also giving regular updates to the public. Identify who the spokesperson for your group or corporation is; having one regular person who can provide messages and updates will help keep trust in your company and put a face to the name. Write down your plans, and make sure that everyone knows who or where to go to when a problem arises. The best method of planning is to simulate a crisis and figure out how to handle it through coaching and communication. Make sure that all crisis plans are regularly updated and will provide the best ways to deal with a situation as soon as it arises.

The most difficult aspect about planning for a crisis is following the plan when the situation hits. During an emergency or huge problem, the plan can easily be forgotten over the hectic and stressful situation, which can lead to more problems down the road. As a leader, it’s crucial that you keep everyone calm, lead by example, and analyze the situation for a moment before immediately responding. Our simulation showed us that going crazy with a plan as soon as a problem arises is not a good tactic; some groups wanted to alert parents, send out emails and press comments, and cancel classes as soon as one student got sick before truly knowing what was going on. While the meningitis outbreak did get worse, it’s very important to take a minute to breathe and think before following the plan. Keep communication open so that if improvising needs to be done, it can be done in the most effective way possible with a team.

One aspect of dealing with a crisis that my team specitically learned about is dealing with other groups and social media during a situation. We had to communicate with other teams who wanted to take different routes and even tried to take over some of our responsibilities, so we can to stay calm and think about a game plan before overreacting. Also, since we were in the department of Student Life, it was our responsibility to alert and communicate with the RAs, Health and Wellness, and the students themselves. What created even more of an issue were students who used social media to tweet and post about the crisis from their own opinions, creating rumors that swirled out of control based on information that wasn’t 100% true. With the connectedness of today’s society, everyone has camera phones that can capture evidence and have apps that allow them to text, tweet, post, and message about anything and everything. That was a huge part of dealing with our crisis, since it wasn’t nearly as contained as we would have liked it to be.

One person who has learned about the impact of social media during a crisis is Toronto Mayor Rob Ford. He tried to be honest about his history of smoking crack cocaine, thinking that his admission would win him bonus points and voters’ appreciation for the next election. However, that tactic completely backfired on him, and his absolute refusal to step down as Mayor, saying that he intended to do his job despite his past, only made things worse. The City Council voted to take some of his mayoral privileges away, and it looks unlikely that he will win reelection. It’s obvious that he will have to do a lot of image restoration if he wants to gain voter approval yet again by building up his reputation. Despite apologizing for his actions and insisting that he wouldn’t let the past interfere with his position, it’s crucial that he works on gaining back the trust that he lost and shifting attention away from his mistakes to how to improve Toronto for reelection.

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, involved in a scandal regarding crack cocaine

Crises can’t always be predicted, and they often come very quickly and can devastate an organization. However, with proper planning and open communication, navigating a problem can be done effectively in a way that keeps stakeholder trust while also positively building up the company’s image. Having a strong executive team who is constantly communicating with each other and continuously updating the public is very important in dealing with a crisis. I really enjoyed the simulation workshop in class and think that it taught me and my group a lot about what it feels like to deal with a crisis from the inside.

Digital Badge Quest 5: Leadership

Leadership is not for everyone. True leadership isn't about taking control of every group or situation because you feel it's your duty or obligation; it's about motivating a team, leading by example, and encouraging others to be goal-oriented and able to work together. Leading an organization can be difficult, especially when put to the test in a crisis or in a tough situation. 

3 Signs You’re Meant to Be a Leader from Inc. by Les McKeown gives three qualities of a leader: leading only when you have to, seeing more than doing, and changing people to achieve outcomes. A natural leader isn’t someone who takes control of every situation or presumes that he/she will always lead every group that he/she’s a part of. Good leaders assess the situation and see what’s needed at the moment; they will take charge if the situation demands it. Leaders “understand the value of action,” but they are not always in constant action. According to McKeown, leadership is about see “answers, solutions, patterns, problems, opportunities, threats.” Analyzing a situation and completely understanding it before taking action is just as important as the action itself, and this thinking process can make all the difference. Also, a great leader builds up a team that can accomplish goals instead of doing everything individually. Inspiring your team members to do and achieve more is exactly why a leader is important- to motivate and build a strong team that is goal-oriented.

For the article Follow the Map to Find Your Leadership Style from Inc., I selected a few answers in a flowchart-like fashion to find out my leadership style. I’m a Populist, and I join the ranks of Kim Jordan, CEO of New Belgium Brewing among others; according to the style, I value employee ideas and the democratic process, though I can suffer from indecision. I took the quiz a second time and came out as a Team Builder, who makes strong relationships with employees and gives them lots of freedom while encouraging open communication and fierce loyalty. I can see both of these leadership styles in myself, and I know that sometimes I can be indecisive. I value teamwork when working with others, because it allows for a multitude of good ideas and allows me to bounce those ideas off of others. However, I do need a leadership position when working with others, because it can sometimes bother me to work underneath someone whom I feel isn’t qualified for the job. In my opinion, working together, fostering an environment with open communication, and being open to fresh ideas and constructive criticism are keys to leading a great group.

Gary Hamel discusses lessons of leadership from W.L. Gore & Associates, a company that makes over 1,000 products and has 9,000 employees in over 50 locations in W.L. Gore: Lessons from a Management Revolutionary. W.L. Gore is an extremely innovative company that doesn’t use job titles, bosses, or formal hierarchy, yet it does have a CEO by the name of Terri Kelly.

7 Tough Leadership Lessons from a Navy Seal Commander, written by Shawn Parr for Fast Company, is just that: a great list of seven qualities of leadership that addresses it from a militaristic point of view that is responsible “for our country’s security and fighting wars.” The Navy SEAL’s list includes: 1. teamwork is your top priority, 2. early leaders are good leaders, 3. excel at ethics, 4. stay calm, 5. hard times help you adapt- quickly, 6. ambush the competition, and 7. study Darwin. Through meticulous planning and clear expectations, good leaders put the team above personal agendas and are very adaptable to unexpected situations. Sometimes, a “leader” is seen as the manager in a business suit behind a large desk who is in charge of a group and a company’s production; however, a true leader unites a team and can help the group take risks while also be adaptable to hard times.

In Leigh Buchanan’s article entitled Between Venus and Mars: 7 Traits of True Leaders for Inc. magazine, she discusses qualities of leadership as being masculine and feminine, as well as characteristics of good leadership in a group environment. John Gerzema, author of The Athena Doctrine, argues that “traits classically considered feminine are essential to effective leadership today.” He surveyed 64,000 people in 13 counties on things included the government, the economy, and leadership; two-thirds “said the world would be a better place if men thought more like women,” and some of the most desirable traits of leadership listed were feminine words like patience, expressiveness, intuition, flexibility, empathy, and more. Although the majority of the corporate world is still considered to be a “man’s world,” feminine traits are considered necessary in leaders and can help provide a competitive advantage. Many consider the ideal leader to have both masculine and feminine traits, though it’s agreed that a “softer” leadership style- like that of former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln- can be extremely effective. Having traits such as strength, decisiveness, and tenacity, combined with those such as empathy, openness, and patience, can lead to a respected leadership position within any group or organization.

This Digital Badge Quest was particularly significant to me because of my interest in being a leader and desire to work together with others. That's one of the main reasons I joined a sorority here on campus; finding my niche and leading by being on council is a very rewarding experience, since I am part of a team that has direct say in what goes on in our chapter. Leading any type of organization can be trying, but true leadership at its core has the power to motivate and inspire others to accomplish a goal together. 

Leadership in my sorority includes council; this is a silly photo of our 2013 council last school year!

Works Cited

Bluestein, Adam. Follow the Map to Find Your Leadership Style. Inc. Mansueto Ventures LLC. 2013.

Buchanan, Leigh. Between Venus and Mars: 7 Traits of True Leaders. Inc. Mansueto Ventures LLC. June 2013.

Hamel, Gary. W.L. Gore: Lessons from a Management Revolutionary. The Wall Street Journal. March 18, 2010.

McKeown, Les. 3 Signs You’re Meant to Be a Leader Inc. Mansueto Ventures LLC. June 18, 2013.

Parr, Shawn. 7 Tough Leadership Lessons from a Navy Seal Commander. Fast Company. Mansueto Ventures 
     LLC. 2013.

Digital Badge Quest 4: Organizational Culture

What is organizational culture? I’m in four Communication classes here at Queens this semester, including Organizational Communication (this class) and Intercultural Communication. In my Intercultural class, my professor gave us one definition of culture that I think can be perfectly applied to organizational culture: “it’s a set of material practices that indicate who people think they are.” Organizational culture is the behavior of individuals in an organization and the meanings, values, symbols, etc. that they attach (culture is made up of the values, belief systems, rituals, ethnicities, religious/spiritual systems, language, symbols, and more). It can be found in any type of organization based on what the group thinks is important and places value on.

The Denison Culture Model regarding organizations

The article Conflict in the Workplace: Why Can’t We Just Put Everyone in Time Out? by Roberta Matuson for Fast Company discusses more effective methods to use when dealing with fighting employees and conflict at work. She states that by using a few techniques, such as clearly defining boundaries and roles, addressing communication, and solving power struggles and conflicts of interest, leaders in the workplace can be more effective coaches rather than referees. This is very important to take into consideration at work, because an organization where individuals spend so much time and energy is bound to have conflict. By giving employees the tools to solve their own problems and acting as a mediator, a leader can help to solve issues and put the focus on harmony in the workplace. Asking each side to describe the issue and how they’re feeling, as well as what outcome they’d like to see, can take care of conflicts effectively and maturely.

For one of our classes, we went outside to do a group ball exercise with four tennis balls each given to two groups. I was the “leader” of my group, though my only instructions were to let my group figure out the best way to accomplish the task while repeating the instructions, “same order of balls, same order of people.” The task of the activity was to have every person in the group pass or touch the balls in the same order, though how we did it was up to us. I didn’t instruct any of the people in my group on how or what to do, so everyone was throwing out ideas- some were worth trying, and others were pretty silly. We started with a time of 22 seconds which soon turned into 18, and then 15. The group wanted to give up once we hit a pretty good time, and I encouraged them to try again because we could do better. Eventually, we made it down to 12 seconds and then 6; soon, we had it down to under a second with our innovative ideas on how to efficiently and quickly accomplish the goal. We ended up making a tube with our hands stacked on top of each other. Since I was the first one to start it, I dropped the ball at the top of our tube, and we let gravity take the balls down in order as each person touched them as we were told. The other group in the class came up with a completely different way to accomplish the task, and we both did well in different ways.

For my “Cultural Explorer Activity,” I analyzed my sorority here on Queens’ campus, Kappa Delta. I am on council currently as Vice President-Member Education, which means that I teach our new members and sisters, plan and execute a successful Bid Day and new member period, and focus on our ritual and ceremonies. I’m second in command behind the President, so I have plenty of experience firsthand of seeing how things are run in our chapter. I also was on council last year as Vice President-Membership, so I planned our entire Recruitment for that year. Compared to last year, our council this year runs so much more smoothly and communicates much more efficiently. We still have a ways to go to be our absolute best, but there have been some issues in the past couple of years when some council members didn’t do their jobs completely. When certain members of the group didn’t pull their weight, things didn’t get done and it really dragged the entire council down. This year, we’ve really focused on open communication, proper training, and using each other as resources, so things have improved and brought us all closer together. We value communicating and bouncing ideas off of each other, which has really boosted sisterhood and friendships amongst our chapter. Last year, some council members rarely did their jobs accurately or participated, so it was often a tense and uncreative environment; it was difficult to accomplish anything of value when it seemed as if no one cared. This year, with a completely new council and fresh ideas to go along with the fresh faces, almost everyone has given 100%, and it’s a much more supportive environment. Our meetings run more smoothly and everyone participates, so open communication amongst those on council helps provide a united front to the rest of the chapter. More than ever (thanks to my position), we value our ritual and our sisterhood through our ceremonies, alumnae reunions, and various sisterhood events.

Alpha Omicron Chapter of Kappa Delta Sorority on Bid Day 2013!

In chapter 16 of Weaving Complexity and Business: Engaging the Soul at Work by Roger Lewin and Birute Regine, emergent teams are discussed as quickly-organized groups of people who join together usually during times of crisis in the spirit of goodwill and care. During emergency situations, such as natural disasters or accidents, teams of people organize very quickly to solve problems, and they become very trusting of and reliant on each other. These groups of people are self-selected, which is significant because leaders emerge from the groups and individuals each focus on accomplishing different tasks to help achieve the goal together. In normal organizational environments, there are often people who refuse to work together or cause problems for the group as a whole; the difference with emergent teams is that the life-or-death crisis situations bring people together who are highly organized in a very short period of time and all work together. Their intentions are not to make money, build up a company, or focus on the bottom line, but they are to help each other and solve crisis situations. It’s crucial to have these groups of people in emergency situations because the genuine nature of care are major motivators that cause humans to help each other out instead of helping themselves.

The case study on Spellman Gardens discusses the small business of Jean and John Spellman, two former bankers who started their own company following the 2008 credit financial crisis. Their business sold seeds and gardening tools to people who were looking to grow some of their own food in a tough economy, and it took off like wildfire. The dilemma arose when the Spellmans considered hiring many more people to help fill orders faster, even though they wanted to keep it a small family business. In my personal opinion, since they value family and a close-knit company, they can hire more people while still maintaining these norms. It’s necessary with the growth of their company to hire more employees so that they don’t get a negative reputation of filling orders slowly, but they don’t have to hire so many random employees who aren’t close to the business. In order to do this, the Spellmans needs to encourage a fluid and effective model of company policies and team building to foster a dynamic and flexible family. This supportive climate will not only mean success financially, but also be successful in maintaining their team-based values. By continuing their family feel and values of a small business while also meeting their customers’ needs, I think that the Spellmans will be very successful in the future.

In How Intangible Corporate Culture Creates Tangible Profits by David Lapin for Fast Company, Lapin talks about organizational culture and how it constantly develops (whether you want it to or not). Conflict in the workplace, if left unresolved, can become “cancerous” and hinder “the free flow of information.” He discusses how tangibles and intangibles are often interchangeable, and both can make money for a company. Lapin uses Southwest Airlines as an example; by eliminating frills such as assigned seating, focusing on things such as customer service, and applying their intangibles to their flights, they grew exponentially. This tactic has been applied by other companies, proving that even learning the values and wants of people can improve business and make money.

I think that it is possible to “manufacture” a particular organizational culture, though it develops and changes whether you want it to or not. It’s important as a company to learn what your employees and customers value so that you can accommodate and better serve them to create the perfect business environment, but the culture may shift if you’re not careful. By manufacturing the organizational culture per se, you can actually become that culture since we are products of our environments. In order to do so, you must completely develop those attitudes and aspects of culture that are important, changing the climate of your organization and the values associated with it.

Works Cited

Eisenberg, E.M., Goodall, H.L., Jr., & Trethewey, A. Organizational Communication: Balancing Creativity and 
     Constraint (6th Edition). Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s. 2010.

Lapin, David. How Intangible Corporate Culture Creates Tangible Profits. “Fast Company.” Mansueto Ventures, 
     LLC. 2013.

Lewin, Roger and Birute Regine. Weaving Complexity and Business: Engaging the Soul at Work. Texere LLC 
     Publishing: New York, NY. 2000-2001. Print.

Matuson, Roberta. Conflict in the Workplace: Why Can’t We Just Put Everyone in Time Out? “Fast Company.” 
     Mansueto Ventures, LLC. 2013.

Digital Badge Quest 3: Critical Theory

Critical Theory makes use of criticism to prevent abuse of power and oppression in institutions. The purpose is to point out and eliminate practices that oppress the marginalized within organizations by constantly criticizing the practices of institutions who abuse their power. For example, a minority group within one organization may be taken advantage of or not given benefits that the majority is; critical theorists would encourage criticism of this institution so that the minority would receive full rights and benefits and be treated equally to ensure a better work environment. Some employees may not even realize that they are being taken advantage of or exploited if they’ve worked in the environment for a while for “bullying” managers who have no one’s best interest in mind but their own. These corrupt “leaders” are merely looking to further their own interests at the expense of others; critical theory deals with this abuse of power and promotes criticism of organizations to prevent the victimization or marginalization of employees.

In the 2012 film The Hunger Games starring Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson, the government forces people from each district to “play” to the death against each other as a way of controlling the people using fear and manipulation. Eventually, groups of individuals begin to fight back as a way to break free from the tyrannical system, which gives the film its plot. In the “real world,” this can be applied to modern institutions using Critical Theory. For instance, sometimes those in positions of power will force those underneath of them to do something they don’t want to, simply as a way of showing and exerting their power. This method of control is used by managers who exploit their workers or require them to do things in a work environment that they may not be trained or prepared for. In some instances, the people join together and fight back; and while rebellion is not always successful, Critical Theory would encourage employees to constantly be criticizing their work environment as a way to point out its flaws to hopefully change the situation for the better.

Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) from The Hunger Games

Criticizing authority can be done in many different ways. A Russian band, known as “Pussy Riot,” protests patriarchal Russian society and Putin through their music and demonstrations. The members of this group, who all wear bright masks in an effort to conceal their identities, resist and protest the government, even from prison after being arrest for “hooliganism.” Their obvious dislike of government actions from political leaders above them has led them to anonymously speak out and demonstrate against it, because revealing their real selves could land them in prison for criticizing Russian society.

Pussy Riot band members during a demonstration to free fellow bandmates from prison.

The article #Activism by David Carr for the New York Times addresses the use of social media as a tool to bring awareness to and further social issues present in our world today. Simply “liking” or “favoriting” something via social media on Facebook or Twitter isn’t enough activism to actual do anything about a subject or conflict, but it can bring mass awareness to a cause. For example, the #Kony2012 campaign on social media brought awareness to over 100 million people about Ugandan war criminal Joseph Kony and the violent LRA (myself included). Although the trend eventually died out as 2012 came and went, the campaign was wildly successful in a short period of time. Evgeny Morozov, the author of “The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom,” said regarding social media trends, “My hunch is that people often affiliate with causes online for selfish and narcissistic purposes.” It’s very easy to “like” a Facebook page about a particular event or campaign instead of actively learning about or supporting the cause. What is particularly interesting about the #Activism article that is related to Critical Theory is that it criticizes this form of passive “activism” and points out that, while it does bring attention to certain social issues, it lacks any real action to do anything about them.

In Greece, there’s an act of throwing yogurt at someone who is disliked, like political figures. Known as “Yaourtoma,” this act originated in the late 1950s by a group of rebellious male youths who sported unique and inspired fashions, known as Teddy Boys. Although Law 4000 was passed in 1958, which made “yogurting” a punishable crime, it was withdrawn by Andreas Papandreou’s government twenty-five years later. However, the act of throwing food (which wasn’t just limited to Greece) has resurfaced as a popular form of public protest against political figures. This practice can be applied to Critical Theory, because yogurt-throwing is a way of criticizing leaders in public office. Corrupt government officials and politicians frequently try to push their own agenda or take money in the form of bribes from wealthy corporations or donors; in Greece, pointing out some of these problems with their leaders and expressing disapproval in a dramatic gesture. Forms of public humiliation and criticism of political figures has occurred throughout history, and with the modern technology and social media that is readily available today, expressing disapproval is much easier and less personal. I think that these types of practices will continue to occur (maybe not yogurting specifically, but that’s just an example) for as long as individuals have free speech and feel the need to express their criticisms of their public leaders.

Critical Theory’s use of criticism to point out abuses of power made by those in leadership or powerful positions helps to eliminate practices that oppress and abuse the marginalized.  Constantly looking at an organization or institution from an objective point of view and criticizing what is wrong with it can help conditions improve for those who are downtrodden in society. Through this Digital Badge Quest, I’ve been able to learn about Critical Theory and how it can not only be applied to workplace environments, but it can also be applied to almost every institution that is present in our lives.

Works Cited

Carr, David. "Hashtag Activism, and Its Limits." The New York Times, March 25, 2012.

Eplett, Layla. "Culture of Resistance: Protesting Greece’s Politics With Yogurt." Scientific American, September 
     16, 2013.

Digital Badge Quest 2: Systems Theory

Systems Theory holds that an organization is made up of functioning, interdependent parts that work together to accomplish a goal. An organization should be viewed as an open system, according to this theory, and is composed of its internal and external parts. All of these factors are interrelated in an organization that survives by Systems Theory, and the hierarchal ordering is dependent on communication with its subsystems.

Margaret Wheatley’s article entitled, “Goodbye, Command and Control,” addresses how organizations are no longer composed like machines with working parts in a traditional hierarchal system; instead, “…self organized teams are far more productive than any other form of organizing. There is a clear correlation between participation and productivity; in fact, productivity gains in truly self-managed work environments are at minimum thirty-five percent higher than in traditionally managed organizations.” Policies, procedure, protocols, laws, and regulations paralyze employees because they are limiting and over-controlling. Wheatley states that, “People organize together to accomplish more, not less.” Giving self-organized systems the ability to adapt and work together is a major draw of these new systems of organization, which is causing traditional command and control systems to be used less and less.

“Prepare Your Organization to Fight Fires” is an piece from Young Men and Fire by Karl Weick that addresses the Mann Gulch Disaster. A horrific event, the disaster began as a small forest fire that firefighters thought would be an easy problem to solve. However, their system of organizing themselves had them defeated before they even began; with a new leader who wasn’t fully trusted by his men and a system of thinking that wasn’t flexible enough for a life-or-death situation, the problem came from the firefighters themselves. When foreman Wagner Dodge told his men to drop their tools, he lit a fire so that they could lie down in the place it had burned and survive the fire quickly surrounding them. However, no one listened, and instead tried to run to escape. Thirteen perished in the fire because of a lack of organization and communication that took place among the group. Systems Theory can be applied to this situation, because if the group had worked interdependently, trusted their authority, and had open communication with each other, the disaster could have been stopped and loss of life prevented. This issue can be applied to the disorganization found in some companies today. Weick states, “To point the way to safety, leaders need to develop resilient groups.” These groups need to be able to work together and depend on each other; unfortunately for the firefighters involved in the Mann Gulch Disaster, they were doomed before they even reached the fire because of their lack of interdependent organization and communication.

The Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland is a fun, fantastic example of a self-organizing system as its best. The festival is one of the largest arts gatherings in the world, with artists and performers who express their creativity and willingness to shine. Finding someone who will let them perform at one of the 250-plus venues in the area in front of a live crowd that focuses on friendly competition and collaboration. William Taylor for Fast Company writes, “Essentially, the Fringe is a self-organizing system governed by the self-interested calculations of four key constituencies: the performers, the venues, the audience, and the press.” The Fringe festival is an amazing event each year that generates more than $225 million in annual economic activity for Edinburgh and the Scottish economy. The many interrelated parts of the festival- from the performers to the audience and more- all balance and work together for an explosive, artistic event that is unlike any other around the world.

Edinburgh's Fringe Festival is a major, self-organized event

Apple is a billion-dollar company with great products and fresh outlooks on traditional organizational systems of the past. It’s ultramodern appeal and communication makes it one of the most famous companies in the world. According to the Wall Street Journal’s piece entitled, “Secrets From Apple's Genius Bar: Full Loyalty, No Negativity,” Apple’s company relies on each invididual store’s intense control of how employees interact with customers, including scripted training for tech support and an eye for detail- all the way down to how products are arranged and able to be used while in the store. There’s no place for negativity or individual motives; Apple succeeds by using a highly skilled team that relies on each other to get each job done efficiently and well. While at the Apple Store, I noticed that the system of the employees was very flexible and open. Employees worked together to create one unit to help customers and were very good at communicating with each other and those there to look at and buy products. I think that the interactions are both pre-arranged and fluid; I’m sure that their managers had some intense, preplanned ideas of how to organize employees and scripts for employees to use to make a sale, but the workers also have a lot of freedom and responsibility that allow them to adapt and change to help customers. It’s a very unique approach because traditionally, those in power in organizations have a very tight hold on those below them in an organization, and workers are completely controlled on what to say to customers and how to act. Apple Inc. is very flexible while still using some of these successful techniques, and this fluidity allows the employees to rely on each other as a team in an open system. It’s very interdependent because everyone, including managers and the employees, are working together for the best possible outcome; this responsibility to each other forms a great bond among the team. I think it’d be a very fun, fresh place to work in comparison to other jobs with traditional systems and top-down approaches.

Apple Stores are incredible examples of a company that uses Systems Theory approaches

Margaret Wheatley’s article entitled “Leadership of Self-Organized Networks: Lessons from the War on Terror” was fascinating to me because it addressed the organization of terrorist groups and how small bands of violent people can throw huge governments off track because of their system of organization.  The flexible systems communicate a “powerful vision to motivate people to work hard, to achieve results, to innovate, and to implement change.” These open, living systems are highly adaptable and are very unlike the hierarchal organization of the traditional, top-down approach used by big governments. Our U.S. military has acknowledged that they are fighting a new kind of enemy, one with “spectacular” attacks and quick thinking. Wheatley explains it perfectly when she says, “It is a world of interconnected networks, where slight disturbance in one part of the system create major impacts far from where they originate.” This sums up Systems Theory; organizations are no longer marked by their traditional approaches but instead are making use of strategies (like the terrorist groups) that are applicable to real-world situations.

Works Cited

Kane, Yukari Iwatani and Ian Sherr. "Secrets from Apple's Genius Bar: Fully Loyalty, No Negativity." The Wall 
     Street Journal. June 15, 2011.
Taylor, William. "How the Seemingly Chaotic but Wildly Successful Fringe Festival Makes it Work." Fast 
     Company. Mansueto Ventures, LLC. 2013.
Wheatley, Margaret. "Self Organized Networks." Performance Improvement Quarterly: 20(2). Pages 59-66. 
     2007.