Organizational Metaphors

This section uses metaphor to illustrate dysfunctional organizations, including the impact of dysfunction upon organizational trust, performance, and longevity. Defined as the abnormal functioning or unhealthy functioning within an individual or an organization, dysfunction leads to the inability of the organization to fulfill its purpose. Recognizing dysfunction is key, as it may allow organizations to build resilience or create systems which prevent or remove dysfunction, thereby building organizational strength.

The immune system is a complex system of cells and organs that function as an identification system with the simple function of recognizing dysfunctional cells within the host and recognizing exogenous infections. White blood cell behavior brings together the understanding of threat identification, an appropriate response to the level of the threat, creation of memory to that response, and a return to a basal state after the threat. Both organizations and the immune system need to identify and create boundaries and core competencies. When organizational rules are created, they must include appropriate level of communication relative to the threat, corrective action plans to stop the error or threat, and the use of critical incident reports to describe the situation, mitigating factors, and successful conclusion of the event. For organizations, the metaphor of lymphocyte behavior allows for specific structural rules and processes that will allow it to respond appropriately to threats or error. This organizational metaphor is in keeping with our understanding of Scripture and its specificity to the world. As Christian leaders, we can use this organizational metaphor, both to better understand biologic behavior, organizational behavior, and to marvel at the specificity of creation.

This chapter suggests the concept of the zombie enterprise as a metaphor to explain a toxic organizational environment. While zombies are typically portrayed as grossly disfigured, half-dead humans who prey on their victims to eat, infect, or kill them; in the zombie enterprise, these individuals use the characteristics of self-centeredness and power to infect and subvert an organization. This metaphor offers a way of illustrating the causes and effects of organizations that decline into unethical, immoral, and even illegal activities for the purpose of personal or institutional control. Through an examination of the organizational design, environment, boundaries, and culture, an understanding of the zombie enterprise comes to life. Christian leaders, however, possess the antidote in the form of scripture. By following the lessons that Christ taught us in the Beatitudes, Christian leaders can not only combat these soulless creatures but build an organization that is immune to their harmful effects.

Leadership has a profound effect on many aspects of our society. Often organizational dysfunction is a reflection on the direction of the organization. In Greek mythology, Pygmalion was a sculptor that became fascinated with his work. He admired his work so much that he fantasized it was a living and breathing masterpiece. An extension of Morgan’s (Images of organization (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2006) metaphors is a “Pygmalion Mirage.” In considering extensions of Morgan’s metaphors of organizational dysfunction, there are some corporate examples and biblical insights to the proposed new metaphor. A Pygmalion Mirage is when the organizational culture, often influenced by the leader, becomes overly confident with their perception of a situation without gaining the full details of the environment and circumstances. The illusion of success as the result of a mismatch between the organization’s design strategy and the environmental conditions for the approach to users can be very detrimental for an organization that has blurred vision. It is important to note that such a mismatch and lack of sight do not occur overnight. Leadership’s escalation of commitment can also contribute to a Pygmalion Mirage. This is when leaders rationalize their decisions and actions even with increased adverse outcomes rather than recalibrate their course (Staw, Knee-deep in the big muddy: A study of escalating commitment to a chosen course of action. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 16(1), 27–44, 1976).

Business transformation, innovation, lean six sigma methodology, modernization, and operational excellence are all buzzwords used in the workplace to make things better in terms of automation and business process improvement. However, all of this effort to increase production and reduce expenses may sometimes come at a cost to the morale and emotional aspect of the employees. As companies are searching for ways to remain competitive in the marketplace, workplace spirituality is an answer many are turning to. Spirituality does not necessarily mean religious, but for many believers in faith, spirituality is part of their practice. This chapter focuses on turning a dysfunctional organization into a functional workplace by using spiritual practices; some refer to them as soft skills. The instruments used in this study measured altruistic love, hope/faith, inner life, meaningful work, sense of community, and vision. All of which are focused on people more than business processes.

Unlike charismatic, transformational, transactional, authentic, servant, or spiritual leadership theories, the shepherd leadership theory has received limited attention and, mainly, in the context of church leadership. Looking at an organization through a “flock” metaphor, this study endeavors to expand the boundaries of understanding of what constitutes shepherd leadership behavior and how it can be effectively applied to multi-cultural organizations through historical socio-cultural analysis of Biblical examples of shepherding and Jesus’ leadership (Averin, 2015). Specifically, analysis of social-cultural topics of the New Testament is employed to identify Jesus’ calls for conversion, cross-cultural unity, and noble sacrifice. Building on these calls, this study makes several propositions about effectiveness of shepherd leadership in the multi-cultural environments by emphasizing clear communication, prioritizing relationships over tasks, and exemplifying a leader’s sacrificial behavior toward the followers.

For decades, the metaphor of climbing a corporate ladder was used to infer starting one’s career at the bottom and taking steps toward the top. The climb was expected to be progressive, challenging, and rewarding. The anticipation was that once at the top, the employee would have reached his or her summit where they could be proud of their accomplishments, including status, money, and title. The climb was different for different people, as some moved up the rungs faster than others and some even skipped a rung or two at a time. Over time, though, this metaphor may have taken on new meaning to different generations and different genders. This chapter will examine the role of the corporate ladder throughout recent generations, as well as the ascent for men versus women. This chapter will also compare the corporate ladder to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. And, this chapter will evaluate scripture with regard to climbing the ladder in pursuit of selfish aggrandizement as opposed to obedience to God in pursuit of eternity.

The vineyard as a metaphor examines factors of organizational adaptation and linkages between strategic choice and environmental determinism. Vineyard management incorporates important concepts such as terroir that ranks and defines high quality wines based on soil, climate, and canopy management. The examination of three companies from different industries—IKEA, Intel, and Barnes and Noble—serve as examples of how to adapt to a rapidly changing environment. One of the key takeaways from applying the vineyard metaphor to organization adaptation relates to the ability to produce high quality performance in poor environments. The pruning and vine training demonstrates the importance of divesting healthy vines to allow maximum adequate nutrients to flow to selected vines to yield a higher performance. The rich metaphor of the vineyard provides an opportunity for organizations to explore innovative strategies to adapt to changing and complex environments.

Music serves as a form of transformative expression that creates harmony while delivering inspiring messages. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Colossians 3:16 King James Version). Music is drenched in symbolism that manifests through the creative expression of the composer. This work explored how music parallels the degree of interchange between organizations and complex environments. Results found music parallels the expressive organization. Firstly, music genres and organizational culture utilize symbolism in expression. Secondly, the expressive organization and music composition remain in a state of becoming. Thirdly, the millennial cohort influences organizations and evolution in the delivery of music.

The purpose of this study involved the development of a new metaphor to describe organizational societies with dysfunctional behavior: dystopias. This study incorporated Presthus’s (The organizational society: An analysis and a theory. New York: Alfred Knopf, 2012) definition of organizational societies to compare utopias with dystopias. Based on the findings, two themes emerged from the secondary data: (a) a consistent emphasis on the mentioning of precarious employment in order to influence workers to maximize their output and (b) a dehumanization of service members through devaluing of their emotional and mental labors. The study included the truth-oriented theory and social identity model proposed by Barentsen (Emerging leadership in the Pauline mission. Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2011). In order to incorporate Scriptural wisdom into the paper, this study involved a reference to Deuterocanonical writings found in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox canons. The book of Ecclesiasticus contained the exegeted verses. The pericope pertained to the concept of a house or institution organized by one’s continuous desire for gain at the expense of others’ welfare. When the social and infrastructural foundation of an organization has roots in the pursuit of excessive gain, the effects of that foundation often lead to eventual destruction of the organization as wrongdoings escalate, thus resulting in dysfunctional work environments and decreased quality in organizational performance.

Infamous boxing legend Mike Tyson once declared, “Everyone has a plan until they get hit.” Simply put, even the best laid plans often come up short in the heat of the battle. Organizations are not exempt from these realities. Although it seems unorthodox on the surface, research suggests that organizations have a lot in common with combat athletes such as the mixed martial artist. One could argue that organizations that are prepared to overcome environmental uncertainty share three qualities with mixed martial artists: flexibility, adaptability, and reliability. This chapter explains how in the same way that mixed martial artist must prepare for the unknown of the combat environment, organizations must also strategically prepare for disruptions and change. For the organization, preparation involves both an offensive and defensive approach to change. The metaphor presented in this chapter serves as a conceptual bridge between organizational theory, the Christian scriptures, and organizational practice.

The book metaphor depicts parallels between books and organizations. The Bible is an example of a book with significant metaphorical representations, with numerous lessons. Books come in different forms and sizes and so do organizations, thus different types of books can figuratively depict or represent different types of organizations. Book authors and publishers can represent organizational leadership, while the structure of a book can depict organizational structure. Organizations meet different needs just as different books meet different readership needs and interests. Nevertheless, though the symbolism of the book metaphor can be a powerful tool in organizational leadership theory, as a single metaphor it has limitations and will not depict everything about an organization – thus a combination of metaphors can be much more effective.

This chapter concludes the Organizational Metaphors: Faith as Key to Functional Organizations book with a synopsis of each chapter in a high-level overview of moving from dysfunction to organizational convergence. The purpose of this book is to show how dysfunctional organizations with characteristics of germs, disease, zombies, and confusion can transform into fit, high-performing workplaces on mission with tools that address the entirety of the organizational body. It is our prayer that this book offers hope that a workplace struggling to survive may ultimately thrive with the proper diagnosis and prescription for spiritual maturity.