Taking the time: remembering values-based legacy to serve organizational purposes

Figures & data

Figure 1. Possible connections between theoretical ideas of remembering legacy and values.

Table 1. Interpretations and reflections stemming from the first leaders and the contemporary leaders identifying time, values, actors, objectives, and processes. The pioneers are marked with gray and leaders from the contemporary period with white.

Time	Values	Actor	Extract from coding	Processes and working objective(s)
1868	Openness	Cathinka Guldberg	‘It was for the poor I went to Germany to study nursing’ (Guldberg in Ebbell 1940, 126).	Reaching out to the poor and marginalized
1906–1917	Tolerance	Cathinka Guldberg	‘There is a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak.’ (Guldberg referring to Ecclesiastes 3:7 in letters to the sisters)	Religious inspiration
1906–1917	Faithfulness	Cathinka Guldberg	‘When we see each other’s doubts, deficiencies, sins we should take them on as our own and carry them to our Saviour.’ (Guldberg in letters to the sisters)	Religious inspiration
2014	Openness	Section leader 1	‘History is something you become hooked on when you start at our hospital. You become a sailor in this historical boat of the deaconesses.’	Historical inspiration
2014	Loyalty	CEO	‘We have to be open … We are in the world and part of the world … We should never forget [whom] we are here for. It is our users.’	Historical inspiration
1906	Responsibility	Cathinka Guldberg	‘We have to stand wide awake housekeepers on duty, keeping an eye on each other and constantly working to do what Jesus would do.’ (Guldberg in letters to the sisters)	Anchoring
1868– 1918	Responsibility	Cathinka Guldberg	‘We should always ask: How is our House going to be?’ (Guldberg in Ebbell 1940, 93)	Expectation and interpretation
2014	Engagement	One of the last working deaconesses	‘Cathinka Guldberg said she did it for “the sake of the poor,” or for those who suffer. That’s why we’re here today, too. There are many poor people in our sector.’	Anchoring
2013	Loyalty	CEO	‘Today, in our organization, we express clear expectations of each other inspired by those who have walked in front of us. Actively we take a position on how we want to appear. We’re talking about this, expecting loyalty.’	Expectation and interpretation
2014	Respect	Section leader 1	‘This is discussed in the recruitment interviews before employees are hired. We don’t ask about the Christian faith, but we expect them to live up to the organization’s values.’	Expectation and interpretation
2013	Accountability	CEO	‘We have to look for critical blindness. We have to discuss our faith-based values critically in relation to our practices … ’ ‘St. Francis of Assisi has said: Life is about preaching the gospel at all times, and when necessary, [using] words. This sounds like us…’	Critical blindness
1877	Compassion and quality	Rikke Nissen	‘They who are united in love can accomplish much in nursing….Our purpose is not to educate deaconesses into half or quarter [doctors], but into whole nurses who can show compassion, courage, silence, cleanliness and obedience.’	Values presented in the first textbook in clinical nursing
2014	Compassion and quality	Section leader 2	‘Our core values, quality and compassion are bringing forward our heritage … However, we have to think of how we should take care of them when they are not going by themselves?’	Constant interpretation
2014	Self-disciplined	CEO	‘We’re careful about self-proclaimed dutifulness. It’s the worst … ’	No self-proclaimed dutifulness
1868	Compassion	Cathinka Guldberg	‘[Leadership is to have] … open eyes and not [act] unfairly. The leader should know each sister personally and not be dominant.’ (Guldberg in a letter to the chairman)	Relational practice – leadership
1870	Compassion	Cathinka Guldberg	‘Who should help if not us?’ (Guldberg in Ebbell 1940, 129)	Relational practice of taking care of the marginalized
2015	Relational	Chaplain 1	‘When psychiatric patients are entering the hospital they are very ill. It is anxiety, fear, and confusion. Hope is far away, but we invite them to group discussing “How is it to be here today?” and “What do you think about your situation?”’ (Chaplain 1, January 7, 2015)	Relational practice and taking care of the marginalized and existential needs
2015	Concerns	Chaplain 2	‘When approaching patients, we have to think through what the next two minutes should be about concerning being a faith-based hospital?’ (Chaplain 2, April 21, 2015)	Threat of losing time

Table 2. The structuring of the data analysis. First-order concepts from the pioneers are marked with gray and contemporary leaders with white. The dark boxes are critical aspects of the work proclaimed by the contemporary leaders.

First-order concepts	Second-order themes	Aggregated dimensions
Openness, tolerance, faithfulness	Openness	Remembering institutional practices
Openness, loyalty
Responsibility and religious inspiration	Anchoring
Engagement, loyalty, respect Historical inspiration and interpretation
Accountability and critical blindness
Compassion and quality	Realizing values	Circulating value discourses
Quality and compassion
Self-discipline, no self-proclaimed dutifullness
Care and taking care of the marginalized	Relational practice
Care and taking care of marginalized and existential needs
Threat of losing time

Figure 2a. A model figuring micro-processes recontextualizing the past, presenting the remembering of the institutional values of the pioneers and contemporary leaders of the case organization. The figure is followed by Figure 2(b).

Figure 2b. Extension of the model in Figure 2(a) figuring micro-processes and related processes that remember the institutional values work of the pioneers and contemporary leaders.

Ebbell, C. T. 1940. Cathinka Guldberg. Banebryter. Den Norske Diakonisses Mor [Cathinka Guldberg. Pioneer. The Norwegian Deaconesses Mother]. Oslo, Norway: Lutherstiftelsens Forlag.

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