Flourishing Cultures In Silicon Valley Teams: An Appreciative Inquiry Project Informed By Integral Theory
Format Type
Plenary
Format Type
Paper
Start Date
12-1-2021 2:00 PM
End Date
12-1-2021 2:20 PM
Abstract
This session presents research from my doctoral dissertation inquiry addressing how one team at a Silicon Valley technology company engaged with their cultural contexts to provide an impetus for transformation. Tech company cultures have a longstanding and complex history, evidencing many contesting narratives: while some companies purport their cultures as desirable and advantageous, some critics assert these same cultures as disadvantageous or even detrimental economically, socially, and to both organizations and the employees that comprise them. Situated in a constructivist and participatory paradigm, this study drew upon many diverse areas of study and infused Integral Theory's four-quadrant model into specific methods in fashioning an appreciative inquiry project as a series of four progressive meetings, to demonstrate how one established tech company team of eight people engaged with their cultural contexts to construct new knowledge about their team culture, present and future. In this session, I will present the strategy and design of this appreciative inquiry project, discuss my rationale and process for infusing integral theory into the methods, and share the new knowledge constructed about this team's culture. In addition, I will share my perspectives on the ways this qualitative study's design and execution help inform the growing body of knowledge concerning appreciative inquiry's efficacy and applicability, both when infused with integral theory and when employed in the study of culture, generally, and tech company culture, specifically.
Keywords
tech culture, Silicon Valley organizations, appreciative inquiry, transdisciplinarity, integral theory, organizational transformation
Flourishing Cultures In Silicon Valley Teams: An Appreciative Inquiry Project Informed By Integral Theory
This session presents research from my doctoral dissertation inquiry addressing how one team at a Silicon Valley technology company engaged with their cultural contexts to provide an impetus for transformation. Tech company cultures have a longstanding and complex history, evidencing many contesting narratives: while some companies purport their cultures as desirable and advantageous, some critics assert these same cultures as disadvantageous or even detrimental economically, socially, and to both organizations and the employees that comprise them. Situated in a constructivist and participatory paradigm, this study drew upon many diverse areas of study and infused Integral Theory's four-quadrant model into specific methods in fashioning an appreciative inquiry project as a series of four progressive meetings, to demonstrate how one established tech company team of eight people engaged with their cultural contexts to construct new knowledge about their team culture, present and future. In this session, I will present the strategy and design of this appreciative inquiry project, discuss my rationale and process for infusing integral theory into the methods, and share the new knowledge constructed about this team's culture. In addition, I will share my perspectives on the ways this qualitative study's design and execution help inform the growing body of knowledge concerning appreciative inquiry's efficacy and applicability, both when infused with integral theory and when employed in the study of culture, generally, and tech company culture, specifically.