Customer Reviews

Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice, and Leadership

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Without a doubt, this book is the authoritative source for applications of psychological motivations and group behavior analyses to how an organization views and reacts to change attempts. It also analyzes different change initiative styles and presents guidelines on how to see them through the eyes of each of the different frames.

The low rating on this book is because it's more useful as a reference than an immediate how-to guide or problem-diagnosis. To apply it, read cover to cover, perform an in-depth observation of your organization and your own skills, and then come up with a plan. So, like I said, it's comprehensive, but neither reads smoothly nor is it immediately applicable for most people.

The fact that Reframing Organizations is often used as a university textbook should be a subtle warning that this is not a quick-read or how-to book. However, it is THE overview of the broad practice of organizational theory. Bolman and Deal utilize models based on four different views of the organization to show how to analyse and comprehend the dynamics of organizational structure and function. As a software engineer I found this "multi-model view to understanding" similar to how we model software systems from a variety of perspectives.

While comprehensive, the book is yet readable and accessible to the layperson, and quickly gives the reader a broad understanding of organizational dynamics and structures viewed through the lenses of the four "frames." This book won't give you quick practical fixes for your organizational problems - but it will give you a broad base of understanding for thinking about the problems you face in organizational life and understanding why your organization functions (or dysfunctions!) the way it does.

Often when a book focuses on two distinct audiences (in this case, managers and students - future leaders as the authors say) it fails to satisfy either. Not the case with this classic, as it does a good job of providing a large body of theory and it makes the reading interesting and useful for a practitioner. The four organizational viewing frames - Structural, Human Resources, Political, & Symbolic - help the process of making a textbook readable, but the straightforward writing style, story examples, and real-life illustrations keep it alive, and maybe even keep the student reader awake.

Constantly reminding the reader of the need to `reframe' - look at the situation from a different window frame or pane - may be a useful way to understand a particular problem, but (and there is one but, besides the +430 pages of reading) because the book covers everything from structure to ethics you may not find it as useful to solve the particular problem you identify. The book is recommended for anyone interested in learning about organizations and how and why they function or dysfunction, as the case may be. Dennis DeWilde, author of The Performance Connection

This is an outstanding book for people who want to figure out what is really going on in the organizations in which they work. If you cannot make sense of things at work these days, read this book. It is an excellent book on organizational reality.

This book should also be required reading for all "managers." If you are trying to "run an organization," do yourself, and the people who work for you, a favor. Read this book!

Finally, college and university professors should consider this book for their organizational behavior courses.

I bought this book for a masters course in 1996. In ten years, this is the book I return to more than any other. Indeed, it is perhaps the only book out of all the books in the management coursework I return to again and again. I have bought it for friends going into their first jobs where they have to think about leadership and team-building, power and the drama of the workplace. It has value for me in that it goes beyond the content per se and invites and entrains my mind to stay flexible, because it asks the reader to see "reality" through multiple perspectives which are well-researched, critiqued and articulated in this book. Congratulations and thank you to the authors.

If you're new to an organization or just new to the top position, this is a must read. It's straight to the point and very informative. I wish previous managers had read this prior to their promotions. I went through a management change at a previous job. While much of the new management had been well trained, my direct boss, however, was greatly lacking in management skills. This should be a must read for all new managers.

My prof used it as a required text in the course I took. It's great! Through this book I can understand why things didn't work at my previous work experience at a higher ed. institution. I definitely recommend the book to everyone, including those who work at the social sectors as you'll understand why you need to use politics, pay attention to human resource and organization structure!

This book is still very timely, but I also highly recommend "Growing Great Employees" by Erika Andersen as an addition to this book. Growing Great Employees: Turning Ordinary People into Extraordinary Performers

I just started management school and this is the first book I had to read. I must say that if nothing else, this book was enlightening! I really liked the way the author broke down any given corporate scenario in 4 different viewpoints.

Personally, I really liked the HR Frame, followed by Political Frame. Those two were the ones I really thought helped me at my work place. The Structural frame, I thought was kind of boring.....nothing to really look forward to. The Symbolic frame really talks about corporate culture; something half the corporate world never thinks about any more!

Wont be bad if you have to read it for your MBA!

This was a book that was required for one of my Master level courses. It was a terrific learning experience that helped to guide me through all the different ways that leaders can frame and re-frame any issues or problems that they are dealing with so that they can try to work through them and resolve the issues.