A632.3.4.RB_FogartyShawn

             Framing sounded a bit peculiar at first as I think in terms of bubbles. The biggest issue I observe within my organization associates to “Frame Blindness.” It’s difficult to teach everyone that each part of the organization works like a gear and that all the gear connects to spin the dial toward success. We cannot have one section exceed expectations and receive awards while another section fails miserably. The myopic framing is the leading element to stand in the way of ultimate success. This can be overcome I think by establishing cross functional teams to audit particular systems. When you have a fresh set of eyes from a non-stakeholder view audit a system you uncover problems, which can be tweaked to keep the gears turning forward. Recently I was on a team to audit the accountability of equipment. Each unit was doing something separate, which worked at their level but did not support high level efforts. The cross functional team was able to take objective stances and report issues, concerns and most importantly – recommendations.

            The second “frame trap” I find myself in occasionally is to develop a system with my focus in mind. This leads to the systems that provide the information that I need, but may not be useful to others. The frame conflict that arises could be overcome if I were to involve others. This concept is similar to the myopic frame trap but the important aspect of this frame trap is that it conflicts with the progress of other frame or in my example people.
            The last frame trap to overcome would be that of overconfidence. I think back to when I would write a book report in high school. This occurred often at the last minute, pulling out all the stops to complete before catching a few hours of sleep. I thought that the first words to hit paper were magical and like Shakespeare just flowed from the tongue. After a fee not so good grades and a recommendation to read what is written before turning in an assignment I learned to overcome the overconfidence.  Everyone is guilty of this, overconfidence in the project, information, or workmanship is a leading cause to mission failure. Everyone thinks that what they produce is the, Best ever! However, without a checks and balance approach the organization is unable to self correct deficiencies before they evolve into major problems.
            Overall, I’ve learned from this exercise that two heads are better than one. Three heads is better than two. You shouldn’t work in a vacuum; this will have negative consequences on your performance and that of your organization.