Making Use of Organizational Identity - Authentic Organizations

efforts to articulate the organizational identity. Instead of starting from a blank slate and asking
the question “who are we”, other organization members could consider the relationship between
the organization’s identity – as represented by Carrie-- and the issues facing them with much of
this initial articulation work already done. With this foundation, organization members could
focus on updating, considering the specific situation, and solving local issues, without reverting
all the way back to the initial identity question. An already-articulated organizational identity, as
represented by Carrie, jumpstarted other efforts to invoke the identity. Although it was once
messy and difficult to articulate identity beliefs, having Carrie allowed members to pick up
where the managers left off without redoing the excavation work. The organization already had a
basic lexicon and a draft or their identity that could be edited and expanded to fit the current
situation.
An icon helps members to externalize their organization’s identity, making it easier
for them to analyze, critique and modify their shared self-understanding. Organizational
identity is a concept that is "about" the specific collective of people trying to come up with it.
That is, organizational identity is a property of the collective, not something produced to be
placed outside of the collective. In some ways, because organizational identity is about the
collective, it ought to be easy for them to talk about. After all, who would know more about
their shared beliefs than the collective itself But, it can also difficult to talk about our collective
selves, especially when the conversations address negative attributes, conflicts about the
collective’s attributes, or challenges to things that one or many members hold dear. This is why
conversations about organizational identity during a crisis can be so weighty and emotionally
laden (Albert & Whetten, 1985, p. 266).
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