Reflective Practice: Learning to Manage and Lead Human Organizations

1
Reflective Practice Learning to
Manage and Lead Human Organizations
MPA 8002 The Structure and Theory of Human
Organization Richard M. Jacobs, OSA, Ph.D.
2
The concept...

• reflective practice (Sergiovanni, 1989)

the intellectual exercise through which managers
and leaders focus upon events in order to
ascertain how ones beliefs and assumptions as
well as ones background and experiences impact
organizational functioning
Reflective practice inculcates the intellectual
discipline needed to discern what is in
practice episodes as well as to engage in the
self-growth necessary if one is to manage and
lead others.
3
The elements of reflective practice...
antecedents
theories of practice
practice episodes
4
antecedents
theories of practice
practice episodes
intentions
actions
outcomes
5
Practice episodes...

• an interactive cycle of factors (intentions,
  actions, and outcomes) providing the substance of
  each practice episode

6
Management and leadership intentions...

• objectives

• priorities

• preferences

• strategies

• decisions

7
Management and leadership actions...

• behaviors

• attitudes

• tactics

8
Organizational outcomes...

• situational feedback

• results

• consequences

• assessment

• evaluation

9
The substance of a practice episode...
outcomes
intentions
actions
objectives priorities preferences strategies decis
ions
behaviors attitudes tactics
feedback results consequences assessment evaluatio
n
The interaction between intentions and actions as
well as outcomes and actions is what
characterizes practice episodes.
10
Practice episodes as interactive cycles...

• A dynamic relationship where...

• actions reflect intentions

• realities reflect actions

• intentions reflect outcomes

11
intentions
outcomes
actions
12
Reflective practice...
antecedents
theories of practice
practice episodes
intentions
actions
outcomes
13
Reflective practice...
antecedents
theories of practice
practice episodes
mindscapes
action platforms
14
Theories of Practice...

• the bundles of beliefs and assumptions about how
  organizations work, the role of power, authority,
  management, and leadership, the organizations
  purposes, the role of competition, and the nature
  of human nature

• developed from human experience, books, courses,
  professional development programs, graduate
  degree programs

• function as mindscapes and action platforms
  governing management and leadership actions
  whether consciously or unconsciously

15

• mindscapes

• unitary

• sensate

• social

• mythic

People typically possess one strong mindscape
(or way of viewing the organization reality, the
what is) although their mindscapes may include
some elements of the other mindscapes (McWhinney,
1992).
16

• managers and leaders seldom discuss their
  theories of practice although these are powerful
  forces motivating management and leadership action

• the need is for managers and leaders to engage in
  learning about ones theories of practice

• conflictespecially the cognitive dissonance it
  engendersis the place where most managers and
  leaders can best learn about their theories of
  practice (Bolman Deal, 2003)

17
Reflective practice...
antecedents
theories of practice
practice episodes
mindscapes
intentions
action platforms
actions
outcomes
18
antecedents
theories of practice
practice episodes
cultural milieu
theoretical knowledge
craft knowledge
self knowledge
critical knowledge
19
Management and leadership antecedents...

• cultural milieu

• educational background

• social background

• religious background

• economic background

• historical background

The cultural milieu includes all of those
elements shaping how an individual looks at and
interprets the world.
20

• theoretical knowledge

• technical

• cognitive

• rational

Theoretical knowledge is factual in nature, based
in scientific rationality.
21

• craft knowledge

• tacit in practitioner

• provides the feel for what one does (Schön,
  1991)

Craft knowledge evidences itself in the refined
ability to interpret what is, to discern what
ought to be, and what one needs to do in order to
get there.
22

• self knowledge

• self-awareness

• self-understanding

• self-management

Though frequently overlooked, self knowledge
provides a vital lens through which managers and
leaders can better know, understand, and
interpret organizational reality and their place
in it.
23

• critical knowledge

• assumptions

• beliefs

• values

Critical knowledge (sometimes called
philosophical or ethical knowledge) is a
conscious awareness of that which is of
transcendent or ultimate value and which perdures
beyond the individual.
24
Reflective practice...
antecedents
theories of practice
practice episodes
cultural milieu
theoretical knowledge
craft knowledge
self knowledge
critical knowledge
25
antecedents
theories of practice
practice episodes
cultural milieu
mindscapes
theoretical knowledge
action platforms
craft knowledge
self knowledge
critical knowledge
26
antecedents
theories of practice
practice episodes
cultural milieu
mindscapes
intentions
theoretical knowledge
action platforms
actions
outcomes
craft knowledge
self knowledge
critical knowledge
27
A challenge to traditional training programs...
While traditional training focuses upon informing
the managers and leaders theories of practice
which function as mindscapes and action
platforms in practice episodes
theories of practice
practice episodes
28
Reflective practice introduces a second dynamic...
reflective practice uses the information
gathered from practice episodes to influence the
managers or leaders theories of practice
theories of practice
practice episodes
29
Reflective practice is transformational...
One outcome associated with reflective practice
is a form of management and leadership practice
capable of evaluating the usefulness of theory
for practice given the facts and interpretations
present in practice episodes
practice episodes
theories of practice
30
But, this is not enough...
While integrating theories of practice and
practice episodes is an important contribution of
reflective practice, the antecedents out of which
managers and leaders operate have yet to be
incorporated into decision making.
theories of practice
antecedents
practice episodes
31
In traditional management and leadership
training...
Scientific rationalityand its inherent
objectivitydoes not deal with the philosophical
or ethical elements comprising ones antecedents.
Traditional training erects a wall to keep these
subjective elements out of the decision making
process.
antecedents
theories of practice
practice episodes
32
But, this is not enough...
How do these antecedents influence how managers
and leaders views practice episodes?
?
theories of practice
antecedents
?
practice episodes
33
Reflective practice incorporates the
antecedents...
by introducing a feedback loop so that what
managers and leaders learn in practice episodes
can directly inform ones theories of practice as
well as ones antecedents
antecedents
theories of practice
practice episodes
Through self change, then, ones antecedents can
better inform ones theories of practice.
34
The reflective practice model...
antecedents
theories of practice
practice episodes
cultural milieu
mindscapes
intentions
theoretical knowledge
action platforms
actions
outcomes
craft knowledge
self knowledge
critical knowledge
35
Reflective practice...

• Inquires into facts

• What is actually transpiring in the organization?

• What are people actually doing?

• What are the actual outcomes?

• What ought to be going on?

36

• Inquires into interpretations

• What do organizational events and activities mean
  to people?

• What are the personal meanings that people are
  accumulating?

• How do the interpretations of the organizational
  reality differ?

37
The outcome...
The desired outcome of reflective practice is the
development of professional knowledge (Argyris
Schön, 1974).
facts
interpretations
professional knowledge
38
Reflective practice...

• is constructed on the reality that professional
  knowledge is different from scientific knowledge

• accounts for the fact that there are no
  infallibly efficacious theories or skills to
  manage and lead human organizations

Reflective practice requires managers and leaders
to confront ill-defined, unique, and changing
problems as they decide on courses of action.
39

• asserts that managers and leaders confront an
  endless number of practice episodes

• managing and leading are behaviors learned in
  practice

Metaphors like white water rafting and
swimming in a swamp not laboratory or
MBATarzan not Einsteinbetter capture the
essence of managing and leading human
organizations.
40

• practice episodes provide managers and leaders
  data about the usefulness of theory in practice

• practice episodes put into question a managers
  or leaders antecedents

Managing and leading organizations is a matter of
learning, growing, and self-change.
41
This module has focused on...
reflective practice
...the intellectual exercise through which
managers and leaders focus upon events to
ascertain how ones beliefs and assumptions as
well as ones background and experiences impact
organizational functioning
42
References...

• Argyris, C., Schön, D. A. (1974). Theory in
  practice Increasing professional effectiveness.
  San Francisco, CA Jossey-Bass.
• Bolman, L., Deal, T. (2003). Reframing
  organizations Artistry, choice, and leadership
  (3rd edition). San Francisco, CA Jossey-Bass.
• McWhinney, W. (1992). Paths of change
  Strategic choices for organizations and society.
  Newbury Park, CA Sage Publications.
• Schön, D. A. (1991). Educating the reflective
  practitioner. San Francisco, CA Jossey-Bass.
• Sergiovanni, T. J. (1989). Informing
  professional practice in educational
  administration. Journal of Educational
  Administration, 27(2), p. 186.