Culture in Space Force

Space Force is a TV show starring Steve Carrell about the United States starting a new branch in the military. Even though it is a comedic TV show with many highly unrealistic scenarios within the organization, there is a lot of examples of culture in a federal organization. Steve Carrell plays as a four star general who was next in line to take over as the general in charge of the Air Force branch of the military. However, the military decides to create a new branch in the United States military called Space Force. The show navigates how the new branch is run by the four star general who has to deal with both scientists and military personnel.

The culture that is created in an organization can dictate its efficiency. Within cultures, metaphors can be utilized to illustrate the vision of a company to its workers and also people outside of the organization. A metaphor “clarifies what is unknown or confusing by equating it with an image that’s more familiar or vivid” (240). Information shared between employees within an organization can also affect the culture. There are three types of stories that can be used to define this sharing of information; corporate stories, personal stories, and collegial stories. I will focus on two of these for this particular example. Personal stories are “tales told be employees that put them in favorable light” (242). I will also focus on collegial stories, which are, “positive or negative anecdotes about others in the organization; description of how things ‘really work'” (242).

During the first episode of Space Force, the four star general played by Steve Carrell is tasked with launching a new militarized satellite which will orbit the earth equipped with a defense system. The entire episode leads up to the launch at the very end, but the process along the way is where the audience learns a lot about all of the characters. The lead scientist is in the four star general’s ear the entire episode talking about how the launch will be risky because of weather conditions. The general, however, attempts to create a culture in which the branch is not all about science. Him being ex-military makes him want to do things despite the risks, which is where some conflict is demonstrated between him and the scientists. His lead scientist gives him props at the end of the episode because despite all of the information and research him and his scientists had gathered as to why they should not launch on that particular day, the general forces them to launch anyways because of multiple factors and it goes according to plan. The culture of the new branch is very much in question early on because it is a brand new branch of the military. In the middle of the episode, the general has a lunch meeting with a few US Senators. His helicopter pilot does her job by the book despite him not wanting to be late so he scolds her. She then tells collegial stories about the general to others about how he wanted her to break the rule about landing the helicopter in the grass instead of the helicopter pad so he would not be late to lunch. At the end of the first episode after the launch goes well, the general sends a note to her apartment with a gift telling her she does a good job and to keep up her good work. This promotes a positive culture in the new branch, which is exactly what the general is trying to create with his experimental branch of the military.