7 Habits in Workplace

Running Head: Workplace Identity 1

Shaping Workplace Identity through Covey’s 7 Habits:

Investigating the “Effective” Characteristics of Enterprise Discourse

“Enterprise discourse”(du Gay, 1996) exerts a powerful influence on shaping the

identities of organization members. This case study analyzes the implementation and

negotiation micropractices of a specific program of enterprise discourse, Stephen R.

Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (1989). Through the lens of discursively

influenced identity, we focus on the intersection of discourse and organizational practice

to explore what characteristics of the enterprise discourse make it so effective at shaping

the identities of organization members.

This paper offers important insights for three reasons. First, we study The 7

Habits of Highly Effective People (7 Habits). Since its publication the 7 Habits by

management guru Stephen R. Covey has sold more than 12 million copies in 38 countries

and spent more than 250 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list (Time 25, 1996).

Covey, according to Time one of the 25 most influential people in the US (Time 25,

1996), lectures to more than 750,000 people each year (Strauss, 1998). More than 17.5

million people use Franklin Covey planners and other personal effectiveness products.

Despite this success, Covey’s ideas have received little critical attention from scholars of

organization (see Jackson, 1999 for an important exception).

Second, through our analysis of the 7 Habits we focus on a specific program of

enterprise in a specific organizational context (e.g., Cohen & Musson, 2000; du Gay,

1996) in contrast to those analyses that tend to examine the broad discourse of enterprise

at a macro-level (e.g., du Gay, Salaman, & Rees, 1996). This allows us to attend to the

potentially controlling characteristics of the discourse as it intersects with practice rather


than exploring these in the abstract. Third, examining the nexus of organization members,

The 7 Habits program, and the organization context allows us to attend to the arbitrary

nature of placing boundaries around an organization when trying to understand the

shaping of workplace identities.

We illuminate key characteristics of the discourse of enterprise for identity

shaping and organizational control by examining micropractices at SkyWatch, a high-

tech, defense-oriented government facility in the western United States. SkyWatch

members, in response to Congressional budget cuts, reorganized themselves into a more

competitive, market-oriented organization. During this period of change, facility leaders

turned to Covey’s 7 Habits as a way of teaching “trust” and “character” to the members

of the SkyWatch workforce. This case thus provides an excellent opportunity to assess

the implementation of a specific program of the enterprise discourse and to see what

makes this particular discourse successful at shaping organizational identities.

Specifically, our findings indicate that Covey’s change program shows the

simultaneously general and specific nature of value-based identity discourses, blurs the

boundaries between the internal and external organization, functions in multiple contexts,

and takes on the character of a mandate.

The paper proceeds as follows. We begin by discussing the discourse of enterprise

as a form of control in that it shapes the identities of organization members. We next turn

to our own case study of one high-tech, defense-oriented organization that demonstrates

the adoption, implementation and effects of Covey’s 7Habits. We then describe four

important characteristics of the enterprise discourse that emerge from the case. Finally,

we discuss implications for the practice and theorizing of workplace identity.


Discourse, the Discourse of Enterprise and the Shaping of Identities

Critical management scholarship suggests that enterprise culture plays a

significant role in shaping the workplace identities of managers and employees (Cohen &

Musson, 2000; Delbridge, 1995; du Gay and Salaman, 1992; du Gay, et al, 1996). While

some have questioned the hegemonic power of such discourses in particular contexts

(Cohen & Musson, 2000; Ezzamel, Willmott & Worthington, 2001; McKinley & Taylor,

1996, 1998; Wendt, 1994), most scholars agree that these discourses influence identity

formation in contemporary organizations. On the other hand, questions persist at the

intersection of ideology and practice regarding why such discourses are effective and

ineffective in shaping the identities of organization members. To show specifically how

Covey’s 7 Habits shaped the identities of SkyWatch members, we first elaborate on the

role of discourse in shaping knowledge and identity, and on the influence of the discourse

of enterprise specifically.

The Role of Discourse

Discourse plays a crucial role in our analysis since, as Foucault argues (1972),

discourse produces objects and subjects. For example, Foucault (1979) demonstrates in

his examination of the creation of prisons that the discourse of penology produces

subjects different from those produced by a regime of sovereign power. Discourse

possesses this productive quality because discourse refers to the use of language to

produce knowledge as well as the transformation of knowledge into technologies and

practices that influence thought and behavior (Foucault, 1972; du Gay, et al). We treat

managerial ideas and theories as a discourse about humans and human activity, with

managerial discourse at least partially centered around questions of how to use people


and other resources for particular outcomes, such as profit accumulation or workplace

“harmony.”

Managerial discourse, then, includes knowledge, in part, about “the employee” as

well as practices related to how an employee should act. This knowledge may be used to

lay out preferred modes of conduct for employees, managers, and other subjects of

organization. Thus, the employee of managerial knowledge is more than conjured image.

The employee subject becomes material reality through the application of management

knowledge in specific settings. Though the ideal employee as imagined by management

knowledge may never be realized, some negotiated, concrete, and local version of that

imagined ideal will come to exist. This localized employee is born out of interaction with

managerial texts, training courses, and co-workers. Thus, to understand better the effects

of an event such as enterprise discourse, we must attend to the micropractices through

which the discourse is “operationalized.” Within the broad discourse of management, we

examine the discourse of enterprise.

The Discourse of Enterprise: Taking a Closer Look at Covey’s the 7 Habits

Since the 1980’s the discourse of enterprise has become a dominant discourse in

western organizations (Cohen & Musson, 2000). The discourse of enterprise refers to a

broad range of subtly similar corporate change programs such as the excellence

movement (Peters & Waterman, 1982) or business process reengineering (Hammer &

Champy, 1993), and in lean manufacturing systems like total quality management (TQM)

or just-in-time manufacturing (JIT). The essence of such programs is the (allegedly)

radical redefinition of the organization along lines of flattened hierarchies, devolved

central authority, increased structural and processual flexibility to respond to changing


conditions of competition, and close relations to the customer to meet quickly her/his

demands.

These transformations of the organization explicitly seek to transform employees

and managers, as well. Du Gay (1996) argues that enterprise discourse is concerned with

“changing people’s values, norms, and attitudes so that they make the ‘right’ and

necessary contribution to the success of the organization for which they work” (pp. 57-

58). These contributions include the “enterprising qualities—such as self-reliance,

personal responsibility, boldness and a willingness to take risks in the pursuit of goals—

[that] are regarded as human virtues and promoted as such” (p. 56). The enterprising

subject embodies continual self-improvement and monitoring with respect to acting

creatively, responsibly, and in a manner that responds to customer demands (du Gay,

1996).

One particular discourse of enterprise that, surprisingly given it popularity, has

received very little attention from critical scholars is Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly

Effective People. Much of the interest in Covey has been driven by businesses

organizations that see the values espoused by Covey as consistent with good business.

While other discourses of enterprise, such as TQM, have received considerable attention,

Covey’s 7 Habits remains largely unexplored as a shaper of identities and, subsequently,

as a mechanism of control. Several reasons are likely for this neglect. First, as Covey

himself articulates the 7 Habits as focused on the “individual” rather than the

organization, scholars may overlook Covey as a significant voice of the discourse of

enterprise. Even though Covey is chiefly used in business contexts and his ideas clearly

have important benefits for organizations, the 7 Habits are often portrayed as self-help


rather than business system like TQM or JIT. Second, most specific authors have been

neglected in favor of macro-level analyses (May & Zorn, 2001). To some extent, the

works have been “too popular” to warrant attention.

As the book title suggests, the highly effective person performs seven habits:

• Habit 1—Be Proactive;

• Habit 2—Begin with the End in Mind;

• Habit 3—Put First Things First;

• Habit 4—Think Win-Win;

• Habit 5—Seek First to Understand Then To Be Understood;

• Habit 6—Synergize; and

• Habit 7—Sharpen the Saw (Covey, 1989).

According to Covey the first three habits represent the “Private Victory,” and

claim to move a person along a “Maturity Continuum” from a state of “dependence” to a

state of “independence.” Habits 4-6 represent a “Public Victory,” and move the

individual from “independence” to “interdependence.” Habit 7, finally, has both private

and public dimensions and focuses on “personal renewal.” Each habit leads to the next,

building along the way.

Covey offers these habits in the service of his book’s subtitle, Restoring the

Character Ethic. During the 20th century, he claims, the “popular success literature”

provided people with the techniques and strategies to be successful. This focus on

technique, he argues, represents a shift from the success literature of the 18th and 19th

centuries which taught people that success stemmed from a moral character.


Much of the popularity of the text may stem from the familiar and reassuring

content of the message. The 7 Habits builds upon deeply held American cultural beliefs

in the individual, work, and family, for instance. In his study of the 7 Habits, Jackson

(1999) found that the text centered around three powerful themes. First, the book evokes

nostalgia for farming life, helping people identify with the principles of the habits.

Second, the book offers a method for attaining self-improvement. Third, the book

provides us with a role model whom we should emulate and become. By tapping into

deep-seated desires and models, the 7 Habits resonates with us, gathering rhetorical

force. We build upon Jackson’s study though a focus on the micropractices of themes

such as these.

So we turn to study Covey’s 7 Habits as a particular type of discourse of

enterprise that promises to further inform our theorizing about the shaping of the

entrepreneurial self. The following research questions guide our analysis: 1) How does

Covey’s 7 Habits move from a broad movement to micropractices of identity

construction in a particular context? 2) What characteristics of the discourse make it

effective at shaping the identities of organization members?

Below, we briefly introduce the organization studied for the case and describe our

data collection and analysis methods.

Method

The SkyWatch setting at a glance

SkyWatch (pseudonym) is a US federal, defense-oriented high-technology

organization in the Western US. SkyWatch provides telecommunications and intelligence

systems and support for the military. Commanded by a military officer, federal civilian


employees, employees of private weapons contractors, and military personnel comprise

SkyWatch.

During the period of this study the members of SkyWatch were immersed in a re-

organization necessitated by a deep Congressional budget cut. One component of this re-

organization required all members of SkyWatch to attend the 7 Habits training. The

SkyWatch facility commander mandated and endorsed this training and provided the

resources necessary to fulfill the initiative. The training costs include $90 per attendee for

materials, three days of training time, and the salaries and re-certification courses for four

trainers, making the commander’s commitment to the training to be not inconsequential.

Data Collection and Analysis

Consistent with case study research (Yin, 1994) participant observation and

interviews were used to gather data for this analysis. These methods are particularly

useful for exploring questions that focus on an in-depth understanding of a phenomenon.

In this case, participant observation provided direct insight into the interactions of

organization members as they were introduced to Covey’s ideas in the context of a

training seminar. Participant observation was especially useful here as it gave us insight

into “interpersonal behavior and motives” (Yin, 1994, p. 80). Interviews, in the form of

accounts, provided insight into the sensemaking of individuals as they communicated

their verbal understanding of the 7 Habits and its influence on their daily lives. Interview

accounts have proven effective in past research at uncovering the principal values and

premises that shape identities in organizational contexts (Tompkins & Cheney, 1983).

Similarly, Lindlof and Grodin (1990) argue that the use of some media, such as self-help

books, tends to be a solitary act leading to internal changes. Still, through accounts


provided by interview participants, “the researcher can witness the purposeful embedding

of media experience in the construction of self” (p. 21).

We have drawn data for this case study from a project by the first author. In

October 1999 He participated in the 3-day 7 Habits training workshop. He engaged in

group discussions, completed the individual activity workshops, and observed and spoke

with other seminar participants. Approximately 30 people attended this seminar. He

subsequently conducted 12“respondent interviews” (Lindlof, 1995, p. 171) with

SkyWatch members who had attended the training during the previous two years. The

interviews elicited information about a person’s use of and relationship to the 7 Habits.

Using Spradley’s (1980) taxonomy of categories of meaning He coded the

fieldnotes and interview transcripts. Using QSR NUDIST, a qualitative data

management software program, he compared and contrasted the interview excerpts

within and across codes. He then identified patterns within a category and combined

categories or codes when appropriate. For example, under the category, “X is a result of

using the 7 Habits,” he could print a report that listed all interview excerpts under that

title. Some categories produced reports of only a page, while others produced reports of

15 pages. This iterative process of data analysis allows us to ground our claims in this

paper in the observation and interview data.

The Discursive Production of Identity at SkyWatch

We have arranged our analysis of the case chronologically. We begin with a

discussion of how the 7 Habits program came to be part of the SkyWatch reorganization.

Here we highlight the collusion required between internal and external forces that

brought Covey to SkyWatch. We then analyze elements of the training seminar,


highlighting how the value-content gains credibility by being simultaneously general and

specific. Finally, we discuss some of the effects of the training, demonstrating how the

discourse of the 7 Habits shape the identities of SkyWatch members.

Justifying the 7 Habits: Transforming SkyWatch by Transforming its Members

The implementation of the 7 Habits training program occurred only after a fair

amount of lobbying of the facility commander by the lead HR professionals. A close look

at this lobbying illustrates how the implementation of this training program required a

kind of “collusion” among a variety of actors.

SkyWatch has a small, core group of human resource specialists who provide

training and development classes to organization members. These classes tend to focus

on topics such as time management and TQM. A private defense contractor employs the

lead trainers at SkyWatch, who are then deployed to SkyWatch to provide training

expertise. According to Charles and Debra, the lead trainers at SkyWatch, organization-

sanctioned use of Covey materials developed after the US Congress ordered a re-

structuring of SkyWatch by cutting the facility budget in 1997. The budget cut, in the

tens of millions of dollars, forced SkyWatch to embark on “a budget review, a re-

structuring, a re-engineering, and a downsizing.” The transformation process began in

late 1998 and neared its conclusion at the time of this study, in winter 2001.

At the time of the re-structuring announcement Debra and Charles had been

conducting TQM training seminars with SkyWatch employees. According to Debra and

Charles this initiative had not gone well. Many training participants saw the quality

initiative as unachievable, as not linked to specific SkyWatch goals, and as neither


possible nor desirable in their specific units within SkyWatch. One departmental leader

went so far as to tell Debra that he would never implement the quality program.

Debra and Charles explained that SkyWatch members wanted little to do with

“the quality stuff” because they “lacked trust.” Charles and Debra pitched The 7 Habits

class to the facility commander as part of the remedy for the general problems facing the

organization, and the specific problem of the failed TQM initiative. They argued that

while TQM addressed some structural issues, it did not address the internal and external

needs and issues of “the individual.” Reflecting Covey’s language, Debra and Charles

argued that changing SkyWatch first required changing the people within SkyWatch. For

them the 7 Habits training addressed one of the crucial flaws with the TQM effort. The

initiative had failed, they argued, because SkyWatch members did not trust one another

enough to engage and implement fully the necessary changes. Debra and Charles argued

that for the reorganization to be successful, trust had to be a vital component in the

transformation efforts. The commander agreed and made The 7 Habits training

mandatory for all members of SkyWatch.

This beginning of the 7 Habits at SkyWatch illustrates, first, how the trainers

themselves are shaped by and, subsequently, shape others through the discourse of the 7

Habits. Debra and Charles were both Covey certified trainers who had gone through

extensive training and regularly taught others about Covey’s ideas. As such, Covey’s

discourse shaped the way they interpreted the world. For instance, the trainers framed the

problems of SkyWatch within the discursive formation of the 7 Habits. Debra and

Charles used Covey’s emphasis on “trust” to define the failure of the TQM program to

the commander. Although many other plausible explanations for this failure existed, the


trainers drew upon a discourse that they themselves identified strongly with. As they

worked with the commander and ultimately convinced him to define the problem within

the context of Covey, they (re)produced the discourse of “effectiveness” as characterized

by Covey.

The history of the 7 Habits at SkyWatch also illustrates how this enterprise

program required a high degree of collusion among agents internal and external to

SkyWatch. In some ways it seems that the 7 Habits is a solution in search of a problem.

Finding the requisite problems to be solved requires connecting the general 7 Habits

discourse and trainers (the remedy) to specific sites and their problems. Debra and

Charles performed this articulation when they drew upon their Franklin Covey-certified 7

Habits expertise to persuade the SkyWatch commander. As this military site succumbed

to “market pressures” to justify itself the work of a guru like Stephen R. Covey became

more attractive, particularly after a key outcome of the reorganization was framed in

terms of aiding “trust and responsibility.” In that gurus develop solutions detached from

specific problems in specific organizations, they require some degree of collusion with

internal agents to implement their ideas. In many ways gurus always remain apart from

their clients and thus must rely on others to sell their ideas.

The 7 Habits training seminar: Shaping identities

A discourse such as the 7 Habits frequently applies to a wide number and variety

of organizations. Thus, the values embedded in the program are simultaneously general,

in that they are widely applicable and widely accepted, and specific, in that they advocate

a specific course of action. The simultaneous general and specific quality of the 7 Habits

makes it appealing and difficult to resist during the Covey training seminars.


Jackson (1999) and Clark and Salaman (1998) argue that understanding the

appeal and effects of management gurus and their works requires scholars to attend to the

symbolic, emotional, and aesthetic dimensions of these works. This advice proves useful

in analyzing the 7 Habits in relation to identity and power. Covey frequently argues that

what he preaches in the 7Habits is simply “common sense, not common practice.” To

some extent, Covey is correct; his ideas do seem common. As common sense, they

resonate at a general level with deeply held American cultural values (Jackson, 1999).

In the training class such articulation between the 7 Habits and American

common sense positioned the content of the course as consistent with widely held values.

This fieldnote excerpt illustrates the point.

Charles, our trainer, related the purpose of the habits: “To lead our lives in a truly effective way.” Charles emphasized that the development of effective habits requires a personal journey, for “We first make our habits, then our habits make us.”

We must develop habits that allow us to develop good character. Living by inner principles defines good character. According to Covey, Charles said, people today focus on personality manipulation, on “how to appear to be, not on actually how to be.” For Covey, we must live according to principles.

Living according to principles requires and results in people developing trustworthiness. Trustworthiness leads to trust among people.

As Charles introduced the premise of the 7 Habits training he subtly laid out an

agenda with which few people might effectively argue. For many in the US, a desire to

develop good habits is not unusual, particularly when good habits help define and

improve one’s work (Weber, 1958). Thus, when Charles suggested that we must seek

those habits that lead to a principled life, he found no objections. Even in the most

successful organizations, let alone one undergoing the transformations experienced

SkyWatch, members are likely to welcome a course that teaches people to develop “good

habits” to lead “principled lives.” Charles’ ability to frame the training symbolically and


emotionally in terms of American “common sense” helped smooth the movement of this

discourse into SkyWatch by mitigating any objections we might have had toward the

training.

As the class progressed the principles advocated did become more concrete. In

short, the prescribed habits and their often-implicit values required large amounts of work

on one’s self. In this way the content of the training subtly shifted from a general

articulation of common values to a mandate to SkyWatch employees to change. One such

shift came during the “Mission Statement” workshop in which the trainers helped “align”

the personal mission statements of training attendees with the SkyWatch mission. As

Debra explained, “I create an umbrella that says, ‘How do you fit in here? And if you

don't, you are going to have to ask yourself some hard questions, then.’” With SkyWatch

in the privileged position, the mission statement workshop helps sort out the overlaps,

gaps, and incongruities between personal and organizational values, at times leading to

some people leaving SkyWatch. We can see quite clearly that as the 7 Habits functions

internally, key organization figures attempt to direct members to SkyWatch-sanctioned

values, thus exercising control.

Throughout the seminar, the trainers coach the employees to reshape their

identities in line with Covey’s discourse. During his interview Doug, another Franklin

Covey certified trainer, spoke of the purpose of the training.

We want to culturally change things and we want to get to that fire within each employee so they're excited to come into work, not plodding through life… I mean, that's what we're doing with this whole cultural thing, you know. What's our end in mind, you know? To make work a more inspiring and motivating place. Period. …We tend to focus on processes and systems and structure and we don't focus so much on Mission, Vision, and Values.


While Doug remained silent on how specifically to achieve these goals, his comments do

reveal that though Covey might frame the 7 Habits as universal and applicable to any

organization, this obscures a content that is hardly “neutral.” The motivations of the

trainers and the premise of the 7 Habits point to a set of values that require SkyWatch

members to modify who they are and what they do. In fact, the added dimension of the 7

Habits that requires self-work may make this enterprise program somewhat unique when

compared to TQM or ISO initiatives. The self-work embedded in the 7 Habits may

heighten the mechanism of discipline by inculcating the guiding values not only for

decision making, but also within his/her fundamental consideration of him/her as a self.

The Practice of Covey at SkyWatch

Though the effects of the discourse of enterprise on organization members may be

uneven, perhaps even contradictory (Ezzamel, Willmott, & Worthington, 2001), it is

likely that they influence the daily, often mundane, practices of organization members.

For many SkyWatch members who had completed the training, the 7 Habits came to

serve as a resource for navigating the daily affairs of work at SkyWatch, and for handling

the activities of one’s life away from work.

Janet, an HR professional, shared how the 7 Habits helped her address a work

problem. In this instance, taken from fieldnotes, she “concealed” her use of the program

from her colleagues, even as she embodied the ideals.

Janet frequently handles personnel issues. On one occasion she worked with someone in Personnel and another SkyWatch employee. The employee was to travel to Maryland for a three-week training course. His daughter would have a birthday during this time; he did not want to miss this. Also, federal government regulations stated that his per diem would be lower than normal due to his extended trip. In short, this employee did not want to go to Maryland, placing him in conflict with the personnel officer.


Janet told me that she used The 7 Habits to mediate, though she did not tell the other participants. She asked each person several questions to understand better his/her position. For example, she asked the employee if he could do the training in less time. He replied that he could. She continued like this to understand and engage both parties in the solution. The result was that the employee traveled to Maryland, completed the training in reduced time, and received his full per diem. From Janet’s perspective, “the win-win approach” of The 7 Habits paid dividends. With resolution achieved Janet told them that she had used The 7 Habits to solve their problem. They were quite impressed with her and the 7 Habits. Janet expressed great pride and satisfaction as she shared this story; she had used

the “Public Victory” habits (Habit 4—Think Win-Win, Habit 5–Seek First to Understand,

Then to Be Understood, and Habit 6—Synergize) to settle a potentially negative

situation. In her role as a potential mediator she drew upon her knowledge of the 7 Habits

to intervene in this dispute in an appropriate way. Janet’s actions here demonstrate that at

least some SkyWatch members use the values and behaviors embedded in the 7 Habits as

guides for their workplace decisions. As well, Janet’s story suggests that the 7 Habits is

more than a private individual self-improvement program. It is a highly interactive

endeavor in which performance is crucial for implementing and reinforcing the 7 Habits

program.

The performance of effectiveness told by Janet, did not require “informed

consent” from all actors; only Janet knew of her use of the 7 Habits. Thus, the 7 Habits is

a technology that does not require agreement from all potentially affected to be

implemented. A discourse such as the 7 Habits may “make people up” (du Gay, 1996)

even when they choose not to use the program (Cohen & Musson, 2000).

Like Janet, other SkyWatch members also used the 7 Habits to address workplace

conflicts or differences. For instance, Henry, a computer software engineer, used the 7

Habits to manage his engineering team.


DAVID: In those situations where you might push team members to modify their software, do you draw on the 7 Habits?

HENRY: Uhmmm. I think the answer would be “yes.” But it’s… subtle in that the 7 Habits in some ways are kind of a philosophy, like I said, where, you know, you want to get a “win-win” situation. You want people to work things out and you are kind of a facilitator sometimes in the interaction. Even if it’s a one-on-one kind of thing, you have to facilitate between yourself and that person by using the 7 Habits philosophies.

Henry’s characterization of the 7 Habits as a “philosophy,” as a subtle mechanism of

facilitation again indicates that the 7 Habits may work “in the background” as people

interact. As a philosophy it provides core values or basic assumptions concerning how to

approach and work with others.

In addition to serving as decision premises in times of conflict, the 7 Habits

helped people in other ways. For example, Luke, an engineer, described how he used the

Emotional Bank Account (Covey, 1989) to foster and maintain authentic relationships.

Luke maintains a list of family members and friends whom he periodically contacts. He

records when he last spoke to the person and then telephones that person every few days

or weeks, depending on who it is. While he does this for the sake of family, friends, and

business he sees this as different from a salesman who might call people “only to make a

sale.” Luke maintains genuine and frequent contact with these people “out of sincerity.”

“I am building my own village in the 20th Century,” he said.

The 7 Habits helps Erika, a systems analyst, address instances of

“misunderstanding.”

Even if I despise the person and I know they’re wrong, I just really try to give them a chance to speak, and let them say what they want to say. And… it’s challenging… with some of the people I work with. But just making a conscious effort… because I realize that when I don’t and when I’m just attacking them… you don’t get anything accomplished. Sometimes I’ll paraphrase so they know


that I’m hearing them correctly, because often times what I hear and what they’re meaning to say aren’t the same things.

Here, using the 7 Habits clearly requires “effort.” Again, we see that The 7 Habits

program helps direct the mundane elements of work at SkyWatch. We also see that it

helps people in what we might call “trying” circumstances, those instances when

conflicts must be managed, problems addressed, and challenging people engaged

productively.

Some SkyWatch members used the 7 Habits not only at work but also in their

private lives with family and friends. Janet shared this story, taken from fieldnotes.

During the last couple of years her son, now 10, has had problems “being proactive” and “beginning with the end in mind.” About a year ago her son had to demonstrate his Cub Scout knowledge to graduate from the Scouts. Believing that the project would be easily completed, he became upset when he learned that he would have to do a great deal of work on his own. Janet sat down with her son and explained to him that the project could be done well “if he had a vision and plan.” She asked him what he wanted his display to look like, what he wanted to include, and what he would need to do the display. This helped him plan his work. In the end, he produced a great display, she said. He just “needed to learn how to be proactive.” “I know this sounds odd, but it is true,” she said.

Janet’s story, first, involves her young son, a member of a population we might normally

consider to be beyond the scope of the 7 Habits, particularly when we conceive of such a

change program as a work program. Second, as she helped her son construct the display,

or, really, his vision for the display, Janet framed the situation and the possible outcomes.

Through this framing she helped craft her son as a 7 Habits subject and demonstrated the

applicability of the program to his and her personal lives.

In these various examples, the 7 Habits serves as a resource for “doing”

effectiveness with others. Quite often, performing effectiveness makes up not only the


individual striving for the quality but their interactional partners, as well. As

performances of specific values, these interactions help disseminate the 7 Habits

program. The 7 Habits affects subjects’ internal states, their “being,” and affects their

outward behaviors and interactions with other people. In this outward dimension, people

“do,” or perform, actions that they understand to constitute effectiveness. Thus, the

discourse, in terms of its values, subtly shapes members of SkyWatch.

DISCUSSION

This case study contributes to our understanding of the construction of identity

through the discourse of enterprise by focusing on characteristics of the discourse that

allow it to make up managers and employees (du Gay, 1996; du Gay, et al, 1996). By

looking at Covey’s 7 Habits, we were able to show how this discourse of effectiveness

was selected, implemented in practice and, ultimately, shaped identities in particular

ways. Grounded in our case study data, we find that the 7 Habits as a discourse of

enterprise reveals: 1) the general/specific nature of value-based identity discourses 2) the

blurring of internal and external discursive boundaries, 3) the multi-contextual nature of

such discourses, and 4) the “mandate” character of such discourses.

General/Specific Nature of Identity Discourses

The simultaneously general and specific nature of the Covey’s 7 Habits training

discourse facilitates the shaping of organization member identities. The general nature of

the discourse, as evidenced in Covey’s appeal to American “common sense,” creates

enough ambiguity so that the values do not readily conflict with other widely held values.

In a sense, this strategic use of ambiguity allows for “unified diversity” (Eisenberg, 1984,

p. 230) as organization members must negotiate acceptance of the Covey discourse in a


way that does not conflict with one’s hierarchy of identity framing discourses (Cohen &

Musson, 2000). A large number of people can, thus, be shaped by Covey’s values, but do

so in relatively unique ways. On the other hand, the training at SkyWatch shows that

these values are specific in that they demand changing one’s self in exacting ways as

defined by the organization. As SkyWatch members aligned their mission statements

with the organization mission, individuals were forced to make specific decisions as to

how, at least publicly, to discursively frame their own identities. As studies of accounts

suggest, the act of writing and verbalizing your own mission, especially after listening to

Covey’s principles, serves to create and reinforce individual identities (Tompkins &

Cheney, 1983). We put forward that this simultaneously general/specific character of

Covey’s 7 Habits, and discourses of enterprise more broadly, makes these discourses

more readily palatable, difficult to resist and powerful at shaping identities in particular

ways.

Internal/External Discursive Boundaries

As a second contribution, we suggest that the discourse of enterprise blurs the

boundaries between internal and external discourses of control and, by doing so, critiques

the container metaphor so often used to study organizational identity discourse (Cheney

& Christensen, 2001). Today’s employee faces a barrage of value inducements from

corporate, social, educational and government institutions that are separate from the

organization in which he/she works. In fact, many of the core values in U.S. businesses

may currently be derived from extra-organizational sources rather than originating

organically from the organization culture. In many cases, such as with “customer

service,” core values are presented as universal axioms (Cheney, 1999) that are


reinforced through business school curricula, popular management literature (May &

Zorn, 2001), and by leaders in almost every organization in which an employee might

work in a career. As a result, studying such discourse requires abandoning traditional

distinctions between internal and external, and instead focusing on how these discourses

are adopted, adapted and resisted as they fluidly move between contexts.

We specifically see a blurring of boundaries in the collusion of the commander,

trainers and outside forces as they adopted and implemented the 7 Habits at SkyWatch.

At SkyWatch, trainers worked in concert with the commander to bring The 7 Habits to

the facility. This relationship is significant because although various societal leaders

frame enterprise discourse as being imposed or as inevitable, these discourses are in

reality invited into and encouraged in most organizations. In fact, the rise and success of

corporate gurus like Covey has been shown to be a mutually negotiated and beneficial

relationship between guru and CEO (Clark & Salaman, 1998).

While our results show how Covey’s discourse of effectiveness blurs internal and

external boundaries, we believe it is significant that this discourse is often framed as

external to the organization. For critical management studies, the important insight is that

the seemingly “external” character of these discourses often masks the agency of internal

managers in introducing and implementing these control systems. As these discourses are

positioned and accepted as beyond the control of organization managers and owners,

these figures are removed from the consequences of these discourses. The seeming

external nature of these discourses creates a sense of detachment from any particular

organization and increases their overall power. As employees accept the discourse of

enterprise, internal events like laying off workers, are justified in the minds of even those


being laid off as uncontrollable consequences of larger forces which control their

managers. As one high tech employee said of her managers after being laid off in the

recent economic downturn, "I felt horrible they had to do this" (Roth, 2002). Rather than

recognizing her managers had decided to let her job go (rather than their own) she placed

the blame squarely on the “economy” and the “market.”

Multi-contextual

Related to the above argument, Covey’s discourse of effectiveness is multi-

contextual in that it cuts across organizational, political, social, familial, and personal

boundaries and influences all forms of individual conduct (Burchell, 1993). The 7 Habits,

for example, transcend organizational and personal boundaries when Janet drew upon it

in her interaction with her son. The values espoused by Covey allegedly represent a type

of universal ethical guide that is as relevant in one’s business life as in one’s personal

life.1 Importantly, then, a discourse of enterprise such as the 7 Habits is not only about

control at work, but also control at home and at play. This is important because as the

boundaries of discipline diminish between home and work (Aryee, Fields, & Luk, 1999;

Deetz, 1992) it complicates efforts at resistance. If a discourse of identity functions in

multiple contexts, then resisting that discourse may require resistance in multiple

contexts.

The multi-contextual nature of this discourse also suggests that regardless of

one’s employer, Covey’s program may be a prized commodity. In a changing, global

economic world, multi-contextual values based on “effectiveness” that employees may

carry from job to job offer considerable reward to the employee and the employer. The


employee with the universal skill set may more easily adapt him/herself to the needs of

the employer. The employer hires a “known” commodity.

Mandates

As a final contribution, examination of the SkyWatch case shows how discourses

of enterprise are often positioned as “mandates” that demand action. We have

strategically chosen the term “mandate” to stress the seemingly required or unavoidable

nature of most of these discourses of enterprise. We see this happening in three ways.

First, the discourse itself reflects the urgent nature of adopting the prescribed reforms of

the discourse. For example, Covey agues that habits are drawn from practices of

“effective” people. The unstated alternative is that ineffective people do not follow such

practices. Faced with such a choice, many people, managers especially, see Covey as

necessary for business success. Second, as each new management fashion grows, the

momentum of the movement itself often forces even skeptics to jump on the bandwagon

less they be viewed as out-of touch with current trends, non-rational and, subsequently,

risk losing stakeholder support (Meyer & Rowan, 1977; du Gay, 1996). Third, these

movements build on each other to create a series of value premises, such as “norms of

rationality and progress” (Abrahamson, 1996), that condition managers to look

continually for the next great management trend. Combined, these arguments suggest that

discourses of enterprise are more often seen as mandates that must be acted on rather than

neutral management discourses. Although we acknowledge that managers do actively

consider and resist such fashions or trends, we point out that it is increasingly difficult to

do while maintaining the appearance of being at the forefront of management thought,

practice and, especially, effectiveness.


Limitations/Conclusion

One clear limitation of this research is that we focus on reasons as to why these

discourses are effective and not also on ways that they are ineffective. Although it did not

fit within the scope of this paper, we must emphasize that Covey’s 7 Habits were not

simply adopted by all members of the organization we studied and some individuals

resisted this discourse of enterprise. Further work should attend to this observation, and

attempt to determine why and how some people may resist discourses of enterprise and to

what extent they are successful. In fact, our own research traces the introduction of

Covey at SkyWatch to the resistance to a previous TQM effort. While we choose to focus

on what enables discourses of enterprise to shape identities, a growing body of literature

does examine resistance to control efforts in the context of enterprise culture (see

Collinson, 1994; Ezzamel, Willmott & Worthington; 2001; Jermier, Knights and Nord,

1994; McKinley & Taylor, 1996, 1998). Such research may be key to informing our

understanding of the conditions for acceptance and rejection of external mandates.

Although we advocate examinations of specific instances of enterprise discourse,

as we have done here, a second limitation of our study may be found in our generalizing

from the specific 7 Habits program back to the broad enterprise discourse. Future

analyses of programs of enterprise should build upon and revise the observations we

make above. Finally, more extensive participant observation may be useful for further

detailing the subtleties of identity formation.

In this essay, we drew attention to a widespread trend in management practice that

has significant implications for our understanding and theorizing of workplace identity.

Specifically, we suggested four insights from a grounded case study of Covey’s 7 Habits


that may inform our understanding as to what characteristics of the discourse of

enterprise make them so effective in shaping identities in organizations. We hope that

these insights from practice provide direction as scholars continue to revisit enduring

questions of identity and control. We also hope that this research prompts others to

examine specific programs of the discourse of enterprise as they are enacted to further

inform our understanding of the shaping of organizational identities by the discourse of

enterprise.


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1 Since the publication of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Covey has published The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families. His son, Sean, has published The 7 Habits of


Highly Effective Teens. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People has appeared on best-seller lists in Japan and South Korea, among other countries.

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7 Habits in Workplace