Guidelines for the Personal Case Description

Guidelines for the Personal Case Description (PCD)

I recommend you pick the subject of your PCD at the beginning of the semester and address each frame in your PCD as we address each frame in class.

The Personal Case Description (PCD) is about an incident or circumstances you experienced in an organization that was a significant or challenging event for you. Preferably, but not necessarily, this experience should be about any activity in which you or someone else tried to effect a change. (Circumstances of change are usually triggered by leadership actions and can provide a focus for your analysis.) This could be a change in a program, a policy, a person, or any activity in which it was necessary for you or someone else to try to influence an event, an activity, or another person (or group of people). The PCD should be an interpretation or explanation of what happened in terms of the four frames. The PCD should be at least 8 pages long or at least about 2000 words. Pick an interesting and reasonably complex story. It is more fun to write about (and read).

Any organizational experience will do. I can't buy the argument from those students who say they have never had an organizational experience worthy of analysis. Students with limited work experiences have written about athletic teams, college sororities, church committees, the view from working at the counter of a McDonalds, etc. (Family organizational experiences are not appropriate subjects for the PCD.)

First person is OK as you tell the story.

Let your story describe the ups and downs of the circumstances, e.g., what went smoothly, what did not? You might want to describe the obstacles or dilemmas addressed and overcome or not overcome. One possible subject matter might be how you would describe the leadership actions associated with the culture of an organization.

Then analyze what happened in terms of the frames. The following are suggestions for organizing the story although you should feel free to prepare it any way that helps you tell your story.

Set the stage by providing a relatively brief description of the organization setting, the key players and your role in it. This should take no more then a page or so.
Change the names to protect the innocent if you like. If you are concerned about confidentiality, put the word CONFIDENTIAL on the cover page.
Provide information that will help the reader understand the most important elements of the situation. Be selective and share only the most essential facts a reader needs to know them.
When possible, focus on direct description. For example, if there was a critical meeting, provide a description of what people said or what they did. (A script representing part of the conversation is helpful in such cases.)

Conduct a four-frame retrospective analysis of the incident, that is, tell your story by carefully examining what happened from the perspective of each frame.

Use each frame to analyze what happened in your PCD. Examine what happened in terms of the insights provided from each frame. Use "theory" or ideas from each frame to explain your experience. Draw upon specific theoretical material found in the book Reframing Organizations.

Think about the following: (1) structural issues (for example, goals, technology, size, tall-flat, integration/differentiation, environment etc.); if it would help me understand, include an organizational chart; (2) "people" issues (for example, the issues of leadership/management style, group processes, informal human systems, interpersonal relations); (3) politics (was there conflict? what were the sources, about what? between/among whom? what sources of power did the various players have? how did they use their power? can you map the political terrain? ) (4) symbols (think about organizational culture, symbols, myths, and rituals; were their questions or different interpretations about what really mattered or what the incident really meant? how might you describe the stage on which this "theatrical" event occurred?)

Remember, frames do not reside in organizations. The four frames are perspectives and ways to diagnose. They help explain more fully what goes on in organizations. The incident happened, you are to explain what happened in terms of the frames.

Be sure to think of your role in light of your frame analysis. What might you now do differently if you could relive your incident based upon your insights from your reframing the incident? Why? Describe what actions you might have taken that are suggested by the book Reframing?

In summary, be sure to answer this question: "How useful are theories and ideas from each frame in helping you clarify alternative courses of action for yourself in this incident?

In summary, the purposes of the PCD paper are to : (1) provide an opportunity to integrate perspectives from the four frames as useful tools for diagnosis and action, (2) use the theoretical material from the frames to help you understand what happened, (4) integrate your learning from the book/class discussions about frame and apply them to this real-life situation, and (5) reflect on your own professional practice/experience using frames. The analysis should be reasonably thorough to allow you to demonstrate your full grasp of the four frame.

Criteria for Grading the PCD

Quality and thoroughness of the analysis. Clarity of focus and organization. Coherence of the story. Have you taken pains to make the story unclear and unambiguous for the reader?
Writing
Common problems with the PCD:

Not using the frames as a retrospective set of perspectives to explain what happened in the incident.
Treating the frames as "something" that resides in organizations, not as tools to make sense of what happens in organizations. You can not say, for example, that the symbolic frame did not exist in the organization. What you can say is that from the point of view of the political frame, this is what did or did not happen in the organization.
Providing only description rather than analysis from the perspective of the frame. Remember, you are focusing on the "why" of what happened not just the "what."
Trying to cover too much, every single aspect of the case. Address a few well defined topics.
Ignoring theory and writing only about your opinions. The best PCDs demonstrate the value of multiple frame diagnosis and the material covered by this course in shedding light on your experience.
Stating only theory from the readings without casting new light on your experience in the incident, which a proper frame analysis should provide.
Forgetting to rethink your role in light of your frame analysis.