Bolman & Deals Four-Frame Model - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages The power to reframe is vital for modern leaders. The ability to see new possibilities and to create new opportunities enables leaders to discover alternatives when options seem severely constrained. It helps them find hope and faith amid fear and despair. Choice is at the heart of freedom, and freedom is essential to achieving the twin goals of commitment and flexibility (Bolman & Deal, 2003, p.433)."
In the contemporary times, change within the organizations is an expected and normal phenomenon, though the pace of chance has been manifold accelerated by the IT revolution and the digitization of the economies. Corporate organizations more then often consist of a highly complex framework that can make the task of managing change really challenging and unpredictable. Every organization undergoing a change represents a unique scenario that may have multiple facets such as the popping up technical challenges, existing political framework and the rampant cultural ethos (Tichy, 1983, p.17). The multiple dimensions inherent in the functional efficiency of the organizations call for astute management responses and seasoned administrational efficacy. Also the attitude of the employees towards the inbuilt values and ethical moorings within the organizations more then often gives way to immense resistance from within and without (Lewin, 1947). Thus the complexity involved in managing change may further be aggravated due to a friction between the gamuts of opposing elements within the organizations (Charles, Bastein & Hostages, 1991). In such a scenario, the top leadership within the organizations often gets bifurcated into managers who insist on the relevance of existing maintenance procedures and the managers who aspire to play a leadership role in facilitating the inevitable change (Zaleznick, 1977). Change management undeniably calls for a visionary perspective on the part of a leader and demands an ability to visualize the overall process of change from a vantage point that is seldom distracted by the humdrum of everyday activities (Bums, 1978, p.42). The ability of a leader to visualize change in the context of multiple frames facilitates a linkage of the experiences of the people working within an organization with the requisite transformational behaviour (Avolio, 1994). These intrinsic connections between experience and behaviour yield the stimulating driving force that transforms organizations (Schuster, 1994). Hence Bass was not wrong in tracing a direct correlation between the ability of a leader to visualize change from multiple perspectives and team effectiveness (1985). The ability of a leader to dissect the predominant influences within an organization into constituent frames helps in unravelling the vision, beliefs, assumptions and goals that aught to be dealt with on a priority basis to facilitate change (Schein, 2004, p.22).
Over the years there has occurred a sea change in the way managers and administrators are expected to visualize change within organizations. From the anachronistic perspective of seeing change as a monolithic phenomenon, managers today are encouraged to ...Download file to see next pagesRead More