Monica C. Worline Emory University May Meaning Meeting April 24, 2009.

EXPLORING EMOTION IN CAPABILITIES FOR ORGANIZING

Monica C. WorlineEmory University

May Meaning MeetingApril 24, 2009

Dedicated, with gratitude, to my collaborators:

Jane DuttonPeter FrostJason KanovJacoba Lilius Sally Maitlis

What is the role of emotion in generating and sustaining capabilities for organizing in human communities?

How I arrived at this question: Part 1 Dutton, Worline, Frost, & Lilius (2006) ask:

how do people organize in response to suffering?

Worline, Lilius, Dutton, Kanov, Maitlis, & Frost (2009) ask: how does organizing in response to suffering become sustainable?

The expression of empathy, and its limitations, plays an important and understudied role in sustainable organizing in response to suffering

How I arrived at this question, Part 2 Worline (2004) asks: how is courage

expressed in contemporary work life? Quinn & Worline (2008) ask: what enables

people to organize in the face of unexpected, fearful, or threatening developments?

The regulation of emotions such as anxiety and the creation of emotions such as inspiration play an important and under-studied role in organizing under conditions of duress

Seeing Emotion in the Everyday

This view offers a way of seeing the landscape of everyday activity in organizations suffused with emotion

Four things stand out:Emotion is central to collective capacity for actionEmotion refers to both emotional expression and

emotion regulationEmotion in practice is not simply individual or

psychological, but inheres in both activity and structure

Different kinds of capabilities are likely to be associated with different types of emotional expression and emotion regulation in context

What is the role of emotion in generating and sustaining capabilities for organizing in human communities?

Organizing What is the role of emotion in generating

and sustaining capabilities for organizing in human communities?Organizing is central to understanding the

patterning of human action in organizations (Weick, 1979; Heath & Sitkin, 2001)

A theoretical emphasis on processAn eye to how structures and actions

interrelateFocus on situated, everyday activities in a

community

Capabilities What is the role of emotion in generating

and sustaining capabilities for organizing in human communities?Organizations develop ways of doing activities,

which, through iteration, create the capacity for competent organized action in particular domains (Eisenhardt and Martin, 2000; Orlikowski, 2002; Weick

and Roberts, 1993; Zollo and Winter, 2002) Organizational scholars use the term capability in

different ways, but overall it suggests competent organized action that arises from bundles of practices that are coherent and purposeful (Levinthal, 2001; Dosi, Nelson, & Winter, 2001).

Emotion What is the role of emotion in

generating and sustaining capabilities for organizing in human communities?Embodied psychophysiological responses to

events and situations that comprise everyday life and thus central to human activity

Emotions are also instantiated by structures such as a workplace’s feeling rules, display rules, or character (Barley & Kunda, 1992; Birnholtz, Cohen, & Hoch, 2007; Callahan, 2004; Rafaeli & Sutton, 1987).

Emotion & Organizing Huy (1999) theorizes that collective emotional

capability is manifest in an organization’s routines

Huy (2002) suggests that a capability for emotional balancing arises from activities by managers that demonstrate emotional commitment to change projects and that attend to the emotions of change recipients.

Structural conditions enable and constrain how employees draw upon their emotions in ways that make use of their embodied know-how or emotional intelligence (Callahan, 2004; Cetina, 2001; Cote & Huy, 2008; Creed & Scully, 2000; Schatzki, 2001).

Two performances of arriving

Tabitha’s latenessAttendance policyNo managerial attention Individual problemCoworker attention to

inconvenience Inattention or deliberate

disregard of mood Norm of non-disclosure

about personal issuesLack of knowledge about

helpLack of action to address

suffering

Brittany’s lateness Attendance policy Managerial attention Mutual problem Coworker attention to

inconvenience Coworkers pay deliberate

attention to mood Norm of inquiry into

personal issues Knowledge about how to

help Skilled action to address

suffering

Related to capabilities for organizing

Tabitha’s workplace Attendance policy No managerial attention Individual problem Coworker attention to

inconvenience Inattention or deliberate

disregard of mood Norm of non-disclosure

about personal issues Lack of knowledge

about how to help Lack of action to

address suffering

Brittany’s workplace Attendance policy Managerial attention Mutual problem Coworker attention to

inconvenience Coworkers pay deliberate

attention to mood Norm of inquiry into

personal issues Knowledge about how to

help Skilled action to address

suffering

Tabitha and her coworkers are separate emotional selves who manage their personal and professional suffering in their own ways, which go largely unnoticed or unaddressed in the workplace.

Tabitha’s workplace demonstrates very little capability to harness emotion in organizing to meet challenges.

Brittany and her coworkers are connected through emotional bonds to manage their personal and professional suffering collaboratively as part of the legitimate activity in the workplace.

Brittany’s workplace demonstrates a remarkable capability to harness emotion in organizing to meet challenges.

What we don’t know How the expression of specific emotions like

empathetic concern throughout a human community contributes to capabilities for organizing

How capabilities for organizing that rest on expression of specific emotions become sustainable

How the regulation of emotions such as empathetic concern through a community contributes to capabilities for organizing

Differences in specific emotions as they relate to distinct capabilities for organizing

MMM Help - What do you see…

About ways that the expression of emotion contributes to capabilities for organizing?

About ways that capabilities for organizing that rest on expression of emotion become sustainable over time / across episodes?

About the regulation of emotion through a community and capabilities for organizing?

About differences in specific emotions as they relate to distinct capabilities for organizing?

BACKGROUND

Compassion Organizing Compassion is a three-part human

experience, consisting of: Noticing suffering Feeling empathetic concern Responding to suffering in some manner

Compassion organizing is a distinct form of organizational capability aimed at extracting, generating, coordinating, and calibrating resources to direct toward those who are suffering (Dutton et al., 2006)

Compassion Organizing Resources are construed broadly and

in a dynamic fashion (Feldman, 2004)

Empathetic concern is central (Clark, 1997)

A combination of empathy, an affective response stemming from comprehension of another’s emotional state and feeling similarly

And “sympathy,” or comprehension of another’s feelings and sorrow or concern for them, which may involve cognitive perspective taking (Eisenberg, 2000).

How I will address these gaps

How the expression of emotion more broadly throughout a human community contributes to capabilities for organizingPrimary focus is not on managerial action

How capabilities for organizing that rest on expression of emotion become sustainableLooking at accounts that construe action over time and

accounts across episodes of suffering

Differences in specific emotions as they relate to distinct capabilities for organizingFocus on empathetic concern as distinct emotional

experience central to social life

Sustainable Expression of Compassion at Midwest Billing

Midwest Billing An ‘extreme’ or ‘positive deviant’ case

useful for elaborating theory (Eisenhardt, 1989; Starbuck, 2001; Spreitzer & Sonenshein, 2003)

Bounded unit with distinct practices is appropriate for capabilities focus (Levinthal, 2001)

Interacted with all members of the unit during a 2-week observational period

Formal semi-structured interviews with 26 of 30 members

Interview Protocol How long have you been here? Can you describe what a typical day is like? Tell us what life is like here in the billing

department. How is this unit similar to other units or other

places you have worked? In what way is this unit compassionate or

caring? In what ways is compassion or caring absent in

the unit? If you were describing to a newcomer what the

core values are of this group, what would they be? How do these values get expressed?

Descriptive Hints Responsible for generating claims for

reimbursement on behalf of all physicians affiliated with Midwest Health System

Unit members interact primarily with insurance providers, secondarily with patients

At the time of our observation, the unit comprised all female members (N = 30)84% Caucasian, 16% African AmericanRange in age from 20s to 60s.

Truly Describing Life at Midwest Billing

Interview Analysis Three analytic questions guided coding

Was the unit able to engage in the sustainable expression of compassion?

How was the unit able to engage in the sustainable expression of compassion?

What do particular activity clusters accomplish in the unit that members’ accounts of the workplace link to a capability for organizing compassion ?

Compassion at Midwest Billing

Overall, 62% of respondents described at least one unique instance of an expression of compassion in the unit

Span of 20 pain triggers across a variety of types of suffering An episode of domestic violence, a husband undergoing transplant

surgery, a mother’s sudden and unexpected death

Expressions of compassion continued beyond one-time offerings and run the gamut Hugs, phone calls, expressions of support Sending flowers and cards Checking on childcare, running errands Covering work tasks, Monetary donations Hospital visits, funeral attendances

Takasha “During that time there were a few people from

the department that I know on a personal level outside of work, they…came to the hospital the night that it happened and [one of them] stayed until they discharged me, while [another] periodically came by my Mom’s house to see how I was doing and if I needed anything. Of course, they passed around a card and everyone signed it. Pretty much everyone, I‘m sure, donated, because I was off for almost three months. So the money helped and the prayers and the well wishes and all that good stuff was something that I’ll never forget.”

Activities Practices

Analytic Question 2: “How was the unit able to engage in the sustainable expression of compassion?”

Analytic Question 3: “What, specifically, do practices accomplish in the unit that relate to members experience of compassion at work?”

Praise; Recognizing someone who is good at an element of the job; Attending to one another’s preferences or strengths

Acknowledging

Observations re: what practices accomplish Conditions

Celebrating, discussing personal circumstances, and orienting increase information about personal life; Engaging in community service increases information about needs and interests outside of work; Refocusing on work allows people to decrease flow of information about life outside work; Playing increases discretionary non-work activities; Refocusing on work decreases play when necessary;

Flexible Semi-permeable Boundary Between Work and Non-work

Addressing conflicts directly

Celebrating

Collective decision-making

Discussing personal circumstances

Engaging in community service

Help-offering

Orienting

Playing

Approaching someone who disagrees; Talking immediately about misunderstandings

Monthly birthday parties; Baby showers; Wedding showers; Potlucks to recognize life events; Parties

Daily meetings; Participatory hiringPod meetings; Discussions

Lunch breaks in common area; Updates in daily meeting about people’s status; Informal conversations

Fund raising, Pot of gold, Scarecrow contest, Adopt a family, Grandma Vera

Approaching others who appear to be in need of aid; Monitoring absences or other conditions that may make help necessary

Orientation; Job rotation; Training and socialization

Water gun fights; Joking; Decorating cubicles; Football rivalries

Refocusing on work

Interrupting breaks that go too long; Explicitly stating when one needs to focus; Stopping play when necessary

Acknowledging ,celebrating, discussing personal circumstances, orienting, and playing build relational knowledge; Addressing conflict directly helps mitigate negative emotion and corrosive connections; Help-offering increases attention to condition of the other; Refocusing on work allows people to keep relationships strong while setting limits with each other

Relational Strength

Addressing conflicts directly, collective decision-making, orienting builds initiative to bring up issues; refocusing on work builds initiative to correct one another; Acknowledging builds initiative to recognize one another; Help-offering builds initiative for quick action on behalf of others

Emotion-based Empowerment

Acknowledging

Recognizing and honoring individuals’ contributions to the unit in various ways

“One thing nice in here, I think everybody is very good about giving everybody credit for whatever part that they have in it. They’re very good about thanking somebody for helping them, or bringing to the attention that you’ve really helped us, or your job is as important as this one. Sarah [the manager] keeps that pretty much intact too. She’s very good about that. No one pod, no one person, no one group is more important than the other one.”

Playing

Engaging in fun diversionary activities, such as water gun breaks or practical jokes

“I have two pair of flat black shoes that are exactly the same level and feel and everything. One has a buckle on it and the other one is plain. I came in one day and I had one of each on. I looked down and saw my feet and I went, “oh my gosh!” Nobody in the world would have noticed, but of course I had to make a joke about it and I looked down at my feet and I said, “hey you guys – look! I got dressed in the dark.” They were laughing. The next day, they had all switched shoes with the other so each one of them had two different shoes on… I walked in, and I’m kind of looking around, trying to determine what’s going on, and then all of a sudden they were all kind of looking down at their shoes and I looked and everyone of them had two different shoes on.”

A . “ L u c y ” t h e M i d w e s t B i l l i n g M a s c o t

B . W a t e r g u n B r e a k

C . S t a n d i n g U n d e r t h e R e c o g n i t i o n S t a r s

Celebrating

Recognizing important milestones in individuals’ lives through sharing food, collective gifts

“You know when people’s birthdays are, you know when they’re having a bad day, and we all go around and give each other hugs, that kind of thing. … My immediate pod leader, if somebody is moving into a house, she makes sure she gets them some little thing. If it’s their birthday, she goes out of her way to do things, and everybody’s that way pretty much.”


Providing support to those outside the organization

“It’s not only within the group, it’s outside in the community too as far as the families that they adopted, the little pot of gold thing that we’ve got going right now.… And things in the news, we’ll hear something extremely horrible that has happened in the news, just in passing, not anything major, but let’s keep this in our prayers. Things like that…”

Help-offering

Monitoring the potential needs of others and proactively making offers of help

“I know they’re having a bad day, they’ve got all this work on their desk and I go over and help them. A lot of times I’ll go to Maggie and I’ve got a couple of hours and I’ll go, “is there somebody else somewhere that needs something?” And she’ll go find out who needs help and who doesn’t.”


Sharing information about what is happening in each other’s lives

“The whole group, we care about what happens to each other, but with 30 people it’s hard to keep track of who’s doing what, but with the smaller groups and the people that are friends, you generally … know some of their personal things, some of their work things that are happening inside and outside of work. You’re there for each other. There’s four of us in our group and we share some of our personal stuff if we need to, but if you don’t want to share, that’s OK too, but we do support each other in that and to me that’s compassion.”

Ecology of Activity

Attention to Suffering

Felt Empathetic Concern

Responses to Suffering

Acknowledging Addressing Conflicts Directly Celebrating

Collective Decision Making

Discussing Personal Circumstances

Engaging in Community Service

Help-OfferingOrienting

Playing Refocusing on Work

Expression of Compassion – in – Practice


Providing input and making decisions around a range of issues related to work and social aspects of the workplace

“We do have a lot a lot of say so in the decisions that are made in the department for the most part. Sometimes the results of it are not what we want, but the job that I came from, there was no [collective decision input]. … Like with the Medicare thing that we talk about all the time, we discuss it and agree on it. “

Orienting

Socializing newcomers in the unit in ways that expose them to new tasks and people

“I enjoyed being a Support person, but I wanted to learn. When I first started working here, actually I was going to college for physician billing … and so it was very neat that they allowed me come in and work as a Support person. You learned a lot of the basics and a lot of the groundwork in Support, and all of the pieces fall in together once you become a biller, from what you did in Support. You learn the registration, why the registration has to be right, why it doesn’t turn out right on the claim if the registration isn’t right, or if it isn’t billed right. You know the end result of what the work of the biller does, because you have to see it every day, you have to double check it, make sure it’s right before it goes out the door. It just lays a real basic groundwork that is a very good stepping-stone. It’s great.”


Dealing with conflicts immediately and in a straightforward manner

“There are stressful times, but with everyone’s help and encouragement you get by. I don’t think anyone really holds grudges up here. … Like I said, they don’t last. You have your disagreements, and it’s done and over with, and you go on. But you don’t have anyone up here saying, “Oh, I don’t like this person. They did this, this and this.” We don’t have that really.”

Refocusing on work

Redirecting attention (one’s own and others) toward work when deemed necessary

“We were having a good old time and Gia screams out of her cubicle, well actually she got up out of her chair, I think, and looked over the cubicle and she said, “Are you guys on break?” Of course we weren’t so we just went back to work.”

Ecology of Activity

Attention to Suffering

Felt Empathetic Concern

Responses to Suffering







Limits on Compassion-in-Practice

Activities Practices

Analytic Question 2: “How was the unit able to engage in the sustainable expression of compassion?”

Analytic Question 3: “What, specifically, do practices accomplish in the unit that relate to members experience of compassion at work?”

Praise; Recognizing someone who is good at an element of the job; Attending to one another’s preferences or strengths

Acknowledging

Observations re: what practices accomplish Conditions

Celebrating, discussing personal circumstances, and orienting increase information about personal life; Engaging in community service increases information about needs and interests outside of work; Refocusing on work allows people to decrease flow of information about life outside work; Playing increases discretionary non-work activities; Refocusing on work decreases play when necessary;

Flexible Semi-permeable Boundary Between Work and Non-work


Celebrating




Help-offering

Orienting

Playing

Approaching someone who disagrees; Talking immediately about misunderstandings

Monthly birthday parties; Baby showers; Wedding showers; Potlucks to recognize life events; Parties

Daily meetings; Participatory hiringPod meetings; Discussions

Lunch breaks in common area; Updates in daily meeting about people’s status; Informal conversations

Fund raising, Pot of gold, Scarecrow contest, Adopt a family, Grandma Vera

Approaching others who appear to be in need of aid; Monitoring absences or other conditions that may make help necessary

Orientation; Job rotation; Training and socialization

Water gun fights; Joking; Decorating cubicles; Football rivalries

Refocusing on work

Interrupting breaks that go too long; Explicitly stating when one needs to focus; Stopping play when necessary

Acknowledging ,celebrating, discussing personal circumstances, orienting, and playing build relational knowledge; Addressing conflict directly helps mitigate negative emotion and corrosive connections; Help-offering increases attention to condition of the other; Refocusing on work allows people to keep relationships strong while setting limits with each other

Relational Strength

Addressing conflicts directly, collective decision-making, orienting builds initiative to bring up issues; refocusing on work builds initiative to correct one another; Acknowledging builds initiative to recognize one another; Help-offering builds initiative for quick action on behalf of others

Emotion-based Empowerment

Semi-Permeable Boundary

Between Work and Non-Work







Sustainable Compassion-in-Practice

Capability for the Sustainable Expression of Compassion

A workplace’s capacity for continued willingness and ability to notice, feel, and respond to suffering in a manner that is purposeful and repeated over time and across episodes

“It’s OK. It’s OK to have problems and issues and basically it’s OK to be human. We may be at the workplace and most of us try and keep our personal life out of this place, but sometimes it spills over and you can’t help it and it’s OK. It just makes you feel comfortable enough that you can feel compassionate towards others.”

Relational Strength










“I used to hate my job. I love this job. I feel like I can be myself here. I feel like it’s even had an impact on my home. … I’ve become more myself. I’m not afraid to speak up. I’m not afraid to share what I feel with people, just that kind of thing. … I’m able to be open and if I have a problem, a lot of people will listen, and they will empathize, and they will do whatever they can to help. I’ve never been in a place like this.”

Emotion-Based Empowerment










“She’s been going through some really rough times in our group, and the other day I said, “She needs a card.” So I started out, I said, “I wish you happiness and lots of money!” And I taped a quarter with one of those trees on it, you know those money trees? And other people will tape on a piece of candy, or maybe a band-aid, or just some little thing, and send it around to everybody and everybody signs it.”

Contributions

What does Midwest Billing show us about the role of emotion in generating and sustaining capabilities for organizing?

Situated Empathetic Concern Many scholars acknowledge the situated

nature of empathetic concern and its susceptibility to contextual effects

Yet organizational scholars know very little about how workplace contexts enable or constrain people’s empathetic concern for one another

Or how the contextual expression and regulation of empathy relates to capabilities for organizing

Empathetic Concern & Organizing Midwest Billing shows us patterns of

activity that facilitate the feeling of empathetic concern among coworkers

Midwest Billing also shows us patterns of activity that allow people to place appropriate limits on the expression of empathetic concern

Both the expression of and regulation of empathetic concern are necessary in organizing the sustainable expression of compassion

Beyond Empathetic Concern Midwest Billing suggests that

emotion has a role in generating and sustaining capabilities for organizing more generallyGeneralized positive emotion is crucial

to organizing for learning and quickly distributing effort in the unit

Limits on expression of negative emotion may be crucial to organizing for reliably high productivity and well-being or satisfaction

Monica C. Worline Emory University May Meaning Meeting April 24, 2009.

Documents

Transcript of Monica C. Worline Emory University May Meaning Meeting April 24, 2009.