Fairhurst Slides - SLA...
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7/15/2015 1 The Power of Framing Tues. 6/16/15 8-9:30am Dr. Gail Fairhurst University of Cincinnati #leadlanguage 1. Do you frequently lack an “edit” function? Speak without thinking? 2. Do you always try to say what is appropriate to the situation? Studiously adhere to politeness norms? 3. Do you choose your words very carefully? Have a heightened sensitivity to language as you pursue your communication goals? 2
Transcript of Fairhurst Slides - SLA...
7/15/2015
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The Power of Framing
Tues. 6/16/158-9:30am
Dr. Gail FairhurstUniversity of Cincinnati
#leadlanguage
1. Do you frequently lack an “edit” function? Speak without thinking?
2. Do you always try to say what is appropriate to the situation? Studiously adhere to politeness norms?
3. Do you choose your words very carefully? Have a heightened sensitivity to language as you pursue your communication goals?
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“What the hell is water?”3
Communication Models:◦ A. Simple Transmission◦ B. Top down◦ C. Meaning-Centered
Employee Boss
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Meaning-Centered Communications:
“[The] dual capacity…to make sense of things and to put them into language meaningful to large numbers of people gives the person who has it enormous leverage.” (Pondy, 1978)
“Framing” involves the ability to shape meaning—to choose one meaning over another when we communicate.
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Tim Armstrong◦ CEO of AOL◦ “distressed babies” and
401K costs
Tony Hayward◦ CEO of BP◦ “I want my life back”
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Which communication style do you use?
A. Expressive
B. Conventional
C. Strategic
*Based on the work of B.J. O’Keefe
Go to www.leadershipframing.com to find out which style you are.
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Lacks an “edit” function; least sensitive to “framing” as a skill.
Primary goal is to express one’s self and react to others. Language is simply the means to expression.
Messages are edited only when negative consequences are readily apparent.
Upside: Appears more trustworthy.
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Ted Turner (“Mouth from the South”) Bobby Knight, basketball coach Linda Wachner, former CEO of Warnaco Joe Biden, Vice-President
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Communication is cooperative and governed by social rules and customs.
Language involves expression in terms of the social effect one wants to achieve, rather than the thoughts one has.
Possible upside: Good sensitivity to “framing.” Possible downside: Merely reactive to context.
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Most managers Bill Gates, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation George Pataki, former 9/11 NY Governor Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, George H.W. Bush
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What do you see?
A Conventional sees the context as fixed.
Now what do you see?
A Strategic sees the context from multiple angles—and thus open to shaping.
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People and situations are not fixed; rather, they are created and negotiated through language.
In difficult situations, the context and situation are redefined to be appropriate.
Heightened sensitivity to language; the most sensitive to “framing.”
Possible downside: Manipulators?
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Marc Andreessen, Founder of Netscape and Board Member of Facebook, tells the story of a “Strategic” with an idea that sounded a bit preposterous
Wondered if social networking might help him defeat the overwhelming odds against him
This was 2007, and the Strategic was…
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Andreessen:“It was like a guy in a garage who was thinking of taking on the biggest names in the business. What he was doing shouldn’t have been possible, but we see a lot of that out here (Silicon Valley) and then something clicks. He was clearly super-smart and very entrepreneurial, a person who saw the world and the status quo as malleable.”
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Bill Clinton Martin Luther King Jr. Steve Jobs Oprah Winfrey
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Effective framing is the ability to define “the situation here and now” in ways that connect with others.
Through framing, we create the realities to which we must then respond.
It is the ambiguity of “the situation here and now” that opens it up for interpretation—and thus an opportunity to emerge as a leader.
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LEADERS WHO UNDERSTAND THEIR WORLD CAN EXPLAIN THEIR WORLD.
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From Fr. Graham, XU President:“Dr. King is typically
remembered in a kind of soft and fuzzy way that tends to blunt his message, effectively domesticating him and, for many, making his memory less troublesome and easier to bear.”
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Easy Answer:◦ Age◦ Experience
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Military aircraft carriers, police and fire units, NASA, airlines, mining operations
•High reliability organizations (HRO’s) emphasize safety and reliability, not efficiency and bottom -line success.
•They train incrementally and engage in massed practice by repeatedly surfacing their mental models when mistakes or potential mistakes occur, which they do regularly.
•They are preoccupied with failure; success is best reframed as “near-failure.”
•Such an effort “primes” the HRO for effective “spontaneous” future performances.
From The Power of Framing by Gail T. Fairhurst. Copyright © 2010, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.22
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The plastic human brain: ◦ Use it or lose it!
Conscious recall leaves an unconscious imprint
We vastly underestimate the value of priming because we don’t do it systematically:◦ Practiced golf swing◦ Speech rehearsal◦ Studying for a test
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Marin Alsop Boston Symphony Orchestra
Told: “be the music” by Leonard Bernstein
“Felt like a massage!”
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Framing is not achieved by verbal means alone.
Humans have a tendency to mimicthe expressions and emotions of others.
High energy framing is instrumental to positive emotional contagion.
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From monologue to dialogue
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Conflict is only over the issues:
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Conflict is over the issues and the other person’s style:
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How does our knowledge of framing help us understand reframing—and civility?
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Pew group says we are more partisan and divided than we have been in the last 25 years
Americans are more contemptuous of our major institutions: government, big business, unions, Wall Street, media
We live in ideological zones and surround ourselves with those who support our opinions
When we come across someone with different views, they are often dismissed and vilified
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No matter what’s happened before and no matter how bad things currently look, you always have the option to try a next step. No matter how many times the same insult has been repeated, the next response can be creative rather than retaliatory... No matter how ingrained and toxic the pattern is that groups are caught in, the next move one side makes could be positive.
John Stewart
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Set “style” aside, affirm as much as you are able:◦ Acknowledge ("I hear you…”)◦ Reflect back (“It sounds like…”)◦ Request help in understanding (“Help me understand…”)
Neutralize emotionally charged statements (“I can see you care deeply about this issue…”)
Consider mutual gain and shift an “either/or” argument to a “both/and” (“Does being strategic preclude dialogue? Strategy and dialogue go together for me.”)
Use humor, if playful, to disarm and open lines of communication (“Seeing you here reminds me of the story…”)
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“Francis may not be telling the church’s scolds that they have to relinquish their dogma, but his manner and diction are telling everyone else that he’s not going to harangue them—that it’s neither his inclination nor his place. And that’s huge. “Who am I to judge?” (the question he posed on gay priests) he said. This, from a pope, is like Streisand saying, “Who am I to sing?” It’s a bit of self-effacement you never saw coming.”
Frank Bruni, New York Times, 2/29/14
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I’ll start by responding to some questions:For librarians there has been a lot of research on how they’re often disconnected from the organizations they’re charged to support.
Can you tell us more about understanding different “cultural discourses” to frame communications? In particular understanding the “mental models” of a different culture in a work environment?
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The head of a company’s very successful Information Resource Services group feels it’s important for her team not to identify themselves as librarians but information professionals. As she pointed out “we are focused on results not what we’re called.”
What are your thoughts about this communications strategy?
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In a world of Google and constant information access, librarians are staking out new roles for themselves.
How can they use these framing techniques to their advantage in positioning themselves in the new information landscape?
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These slides will be posted to the B&F website after the conference.
