Normalization: How Organizations Socialize Newcomers to Make the Extraordinary Seem Ordinary

How does an organization take a raw recruit and have them dispose of bombs, slaughter animals, or work in polar research stations? I argue that the answer is through socializing them so that they come to view the extraordinary as more ordinary. This “normalization” typically entails: (1) setting the context by creating a strong situation in the form of a social cocoon with high normative control; (2) setting the content by providing a clear frame and ideology, conveyed through various forms of discourse; and (3) setting the process of socialization in motion by recruiting and selecting promising individuals and subjecting them to synergistic combinations of divestiture and investiture and of incrementalism and immersion, routinizing the work, and facilitating stress coping. These practices are mutually reinforcing such that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. The outcome is newcomers who can take in stride and accomplish what may have once seemed unthinkable. However, the socialization process is largely the same whether the goals are socially desirable (e.g., pursuing a grand challenge) or socially undesirable (e.g., extremism), and whether the means are socially desirable (most work) or undesirable (e.g., “dirty work”). I conclude with a discussion of the ethical implications of normalizing, a summary of common managerial practices for normalizing, and directions for future research.