Organizational cultures and systems patterns

Part 1

o Summarize your understanding of the causal loops, the balancing and reinforcing loops, and the archetype patterns.

o Describe the value of these and the use of these predictable patterns for a team improvement conversation.

▪ Why are they valuable to help teams see dynamics that are counterintuitive?

Part 2

Progressive Leader Arrives in a Legacy Organization

For this part, assume the role of vice president for human resources of a large U.S.-based construction equipment corporation. The organization has just welcomed a new CEO who is informal and focused on effectiveness. This organization is among two major players in a small market. The company you work for has 60% of the market and is doing well, as it has for the last five years. You have heard the gossip from managers and senior professional staff (an attorney and engineer) about the youthful new CEO and his open approach to leadership. As HR VP you want everything in the transition to go well, and you also want all members of the organization to welcome and work well with the new CEO. The previous CEO was not the founder but the founder’s protégé and was committed to tradition and a highly structured managerial approach, which rewarded attention to detail and efficiency and frowned upon innovation. The previous CEO is not retiring but has been removed by the board because of poor organizational performance.

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o What can the HR VP do to make the new CEO transition a positive one from his perspective?

o What can the HR VP do to make the new CEO transition a positive one from the perspectives of the employees, managers, and professional staff?

Part 3

For this part, the new CEO comes to you and tells you that he is a positive person, but there are things he wants you to know that he is very much against. Among them is tolerance for highly capable employees who are bullies or insensitive to others.

When he tells you this, you know right away things are about to get really difficult for you, because you have two senior leaders, both division chiefs with over 60 employees, whom you suspect meet the CEO’s criteria for undesirable behavior.

One of the division chiefs is a quiet, highly focused professional who never raises her voice but consistently has employees coming to your office to tell you that this supervisor is persecuting them. The complain that she checks all they do, goes through their cubicles, is highly critical in meetings, and gives them special duties requiring them to stay late and come in early. There has been a rumor that this supervisor was making employees inspect bathrooms to insure the custodial staff did their job, but you never could confirm it.

The other supervisor has an effective organization and seems to have divided his organization into two groups. One group he seems to like and identify with. The other group he consistently complains about to peer leaders, because he thinks they cannot seem to do anything right, although you know the second team is equally as productive as the preferred group.

• What can the HR VP do to present these leadership challenges to the new CEO as they are and take a rational approach to the situation that balances the new CEO’s leadership philosophy with effective employees? Please do not use standard transactional approaches in your response, such as progressive discipline for both supervisors.