must follow the instruction..

ORGANIZATIONAL OBSERVATION - (10% of overall grade)

Basic Overview Description: Observe behavior in an organization, describe it, and analyze it.

One important skill to develop is the ability to analyze an organizational issue. An initial

component of that is the ability to suspend judgment and observe. I find that many

organizational issues (problems/opportunities) can be understood as they are often causal in

nature. If one thing occurs then it leads to another. I often make the comment that you can’t

fight gravity and compound interest. It is much easier to have them working for you. In the

martial arts this is like ju jitsu or judo as opposed to karate.

In this assignment you are going to observe and analyze. And it comes in three major steps:

Pick an organization

Observe it

Analyze it

WARNING!!! Do not include any proprietary or confidential information. It is not my intent to

share this information with anyone. HOWEVER, you should assume that anything that is in an

electronic form is available to the world!

FORMAT

You should follow the following format:

Your Name Date

NAME: The Name of the Organization. NOTE: Use the real name unless you need to keep it

confidential.

WHY: Why did you choose this organization: A sentence or two about why you picked it:

NOTE: The fact that you had access to this organization can be one of the reasons, but not the

only one.

BACKGROUND: A brief background description about the organization. A short paragraph is

fine here. NOTE: This can come from the company website or other organizational literature.

Or you can write it yourself.

ORGANIZATIONAL CHART or “PLAYER ROSTER”: This does not have to be the full

organizational chart, it can be, but a mini chart is fine if you are describing some subset of the

organization. If an organizational chart is not appropriate, then a roster (use FICTIONAL

NAMES or FIRST NAMES ONLY) with brief descriptions of the individuals.

OBSERVATIONS: Describe at least three interesting components or issues in the organization.

Each one should be 2 or 3 paragraphs up to ½ to ¾ of a page

OBSERVATION 1:

2 or 3 paragraphs

OBSERVATION 2:

2 or 3 paragraphs

OBSERVATION 3:

2 or 3 paragraphs

ANALYSIS: About a page. What does it all mean; try to make sense of your observations. But

do not repeat your observations. What do you think is happening in the organization? Try to do

this clinically, take it beyond observations, but not all the way to opinions.

OPINIONS: About a page, really tell me what you think and how you feel, do not repeat the

analysis or the observations refer to them, but don’t just repeat. Do not forget to both trust your

instincts and challenge your assumptions.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS: Optional, a paragraph up to half a page. Any last thoughts or

summary statements you can put here