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The Stories Told by Chief Petty Officers in the United States Navy, Explored Through a Complexity Lens Patricia Joanne Reily

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The Stories Told by Chief Petty Officers in the United States Navy, Explored Through a Complexity Lens Patricia Joanne Reily The University of San Francisco USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center Doctoral Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, Capstones and Projects 2009 "So there we were--" : the stories told by chief petty officers in the United States Navy, explored through a complexity lens Patricia Joanne Reily Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.usfca.edu/diss Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation Reily, Patricia Joanne, ""So there we were--" : the stories told by chief petty officers in the United States Navy, explored through a complexity lens" (2009). Doctoral Dissertations. 207. https://repository.usfca.edu/diss/207 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, Capstones and Projects at USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The University of San Francisco “SO THERE WE WERE…” THE STORIES TOLD BY CHIEF PETTY OFFICERS IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY, EXPLORED THROUGH A COMPLEXITY LENS A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the School of Education Department of Leadership Studies Organization and Leadership Program In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Education by Patricia Reily San Francisco, California May, 2009 THE UNIVERSITY OF SAN FRANCISCO Dissertation Abstract “So there we were…” The Stories told by Chief Petty Officers in the United States Navy, Explored Through a Complexity Lens Since the later part of the 20th century, there has been growing recognition that story telling might be of value as organizations grapple with challenges regarding how to communicate with people, both inside and outside of organizations, and manage change. While there is tacit recognition of the value of a skillfully told story in the Navy, a systematic study of story, or narrative, has never been done. It is the premise of this paper that there is a missed opportunity with respect to the study, and use, of story in organizations. This was a qualitative study that applied both narrative theory and complexity science theory to an analysis of stories told by 34 Navy Chief Petty Officers. Two methods of data collection were used, semi-structured interviews and participant observations. Data were collected at two different locations, a leadership training academy and onboard a Navy ship at sea. One hundred and twenty nine stories, along with the discussions that accompanied them, were audio recorded and supplemented with observation memos. The data were analyzed by searching for reoccurring phrases, themes and patterns. It was found that the participants, as individuals and as a group, functioned like complex adaptive entities, and that their narratives helped them to adapt to constantly ii changing environments. Seven primary themes—called dominant narratives in this study—emerged from the data. The dominant narratives, and their attendant schemas, indicated that a cycle of narrative meaning develops as people use stories to make sense of the past, cope with the present, and navigate into the future. This cycle of narrative meaning repeats itself as the present becomes the past, and the future becomes the present, with stories ebbing and flowing between sense making, defining reality and prescribing schemas for how to proceed into the future. The conclusion of the study was that through increased awareness and understanding of narrative in organizations, leaders and managers in the Navy, and in other human organizations, could purposefully use story to enhance the adaptability of their organizations, in an ever-changing world. This study also found that complexity science theory was particularly well suited to explain the dynamic—almost living— quality of story. While there is growing recognition that studying narrative provides deeper access to organizational realities, study of organizational narrative is underdeveloped and an area ripe for future research. iii This dissertation, written under the direction of the candidate’s dissertation committee and approved by the members of the committee, has been presented to and accepted by the Faculty of the School of Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education. The content and research methodologies presented in this work represent the work of the candidate alone. Patricia Reily 4/29/09 ________________________________________ ___________________ Candidate Date Dissertation Committee Deborah P. Bloch 4/29/09 _________________________________________ ___________________ Chairperson Patricia A. Mitchell 4/29/09 _________________________________________ ___________________ Richard W. Stackman 4/29/09 _________________________________________ ___________________ iv DEDICATION This paper is dedicated to The deck plate leaders who make the Navy work: The Chief Petty Officers v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Special thanks to the men who made this study possible: the directors of the Senior Enlisted Academy and the executive leadership of the ship (especially the Commanding Officer, the Executive Officer, the Public Affairs Officer and the Air Department Master Chief.) Special thanks to the friends who encouraged me to pursue this program and patiently endured my unbounded enthusiasm for this topic, especially: my gal pals—the Booklettes and the Acorns, the Navy’s Old Girls’ Network, my aviator buddies who were always enthusiastically willing to share their knowledge, the foodies groups, my exercise partners and my fellow classmates. The pursuit of this goal has been a personal epic journey. On that note, sincere thanks to my committee: Dr. Deborah Bloch, Dr. Patricia Mitchell and Dr. Richard Stackman for their patience, wisdom and for helping me grow immensely. Special thanks to my advisor, Dr. Debby P. Bloch, for her tenacity and patience. Of course I would not have been able to complete the requirements for this degree, and write this paper, were it not for the love and sacrifice of my family. Special thanks to my children James and Aimei, I could not have done this if they were not the independent, responsible, intelligent, considerate, totally awesome young people they are. Jim, the love of my life, words can only begin to express my thanks to you for bringing home the bacon while I pursued a dream. Thank you for your patience and love. Thank you for being my best friend and sounding board. Thank you for being my technical support. Life with you has been a romantic epic that continues to get better and better every day. vi Finally, special thanks to my mother, Norma Wappel, who passed away while I was in the process of collecting and analyzing data. I moved my home office into Mom’s bedroom as I worked to complete this project and felt as if she was with me, every step of the way, helping me through the difficult times and cheering my accomplishments—just as she had done throughout my life. Thank you Mom for listening to me, believing in me and being my number one cheerleader. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT........................................................................................................................ ii DEDICATION.................................................................................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. vi LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................ xii CHAPTER I - THE RESEARCH PROBLEM ................................................................... 1 A Sea Story: “Smith’s Cranial” .................................................................................... 1 Statement of the Problem.............................................................................................. 3 Story Defined................................................................................................................ 7 Purpose of the Study ..................................................................................................... 7 Background and Need for the Study............................................................................. 8 Theoretical Foundations.............................................................................................. 11 Overview................................................................................................................ 11 Proper Narrative Theory ....................................................................................... 13 Story in Organizations Through a Complexity Lens ............................................ 18 Antenarrative Theory....................................................................................... 19 Storied Spaces as Complex Adaptive Systems................................................ 20 Summary of Theoretical Rationale ....................................................................... 22 Research Questions..................................................................................................... 23 Definition of Terms..................................................................................................... 24 General Terms and Narrative Terms....................................................................
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