Walking into my favourite fast food joint, Nando's, on Monday I noticed a poster on the door that said something to the effect of, "Please take note that we'll be closed on 13th November 2007." Hardly noticing it, I thought to myself that they'll probably be having a staff training day, or at the very worst some form of refurbishment. How wrong I was!  read more »

One of the anecdotes I'll tell in support of using narrative techniques within the organisational culture realm is this one, gathered from an anecdote circle in the banking sector:

A client relationship manager needed to meet face-to-face with a client regarding a query on his account. This client had a reputation in the business for being grumpy, insolent and very volatile. Knowing this, she asked her manager to accompany her into the meeting ... for backup. During the course of the meeting, for some reason, the client got so angry that he stood up and lifted his arm to hit the employee. Fortunately, her manager was quick enough to intercept his strike and held his arm at bay. The CEO of the business heard about this incident and invoked a restraining order against the client - he could remain a client of the bank, but he was never to set foot again on the premesis.

Now, you draw a parallel between this story and the often-found statement on a company's Our Values poster: We care for our staff. Which one says more? The statement, or the story? Which one provides context for the value? The statement, or the story? Pretty clear, isn't it?

And so, when punting the use of narrative in organisations I'll often say how narratives are high in context ...  read more »

I facilitated a workshop recently that used the issue of Climate Change as an example of how to create invitations for change within teams, organisations and communities. We watched Al Gore's acclaimed An Inconvenient Truth as a way of looking at how to go about creating an invitation for change. After the viewing, the group seemed to have some mixed reactions to the issue of climate change. I decided to share a story that Graeme tells about his daughter, Hannah.  read more »

If there was a space in which narrative is used that both Left and Right-Wing practitioners of narrative techniques come together in a face-off, it is the Leadership context. It is also in this space that the most misrepresentation and misunderstanding of narrative techniques (and their purposes) has taken place. From my perspective, I have seen three uses of narrative techniques for Leaders:  read more »

Research has shown that we make sense of our world through the use of narrative processing. Psychologically we process what happens in our world in sequential narrative segments – these structured sequences of imagery are the most natural way we know to describe and ascribe meaning to that which gets our attention.

Perhaps the key then to capturing attention lies in the extent to which our message or brand connects with a person’s understanding of themselves – their own narrative. In this age of abundance the key to capturing people’s attention and in engaging them with your brand, one needs to understand the role of narrative and how the role of narrative marketing creates self-brand connections.  read more »

Walking into a lift the other day, I was greeted by one of those people who cannot bear the overwhelming silence of a group of people in a confined space. I had barely pressed my floor number when she shot a question at me, "What do you do?!" Trying to regain the precarious balance of a pile of booklets in my arms, I just looked at her. I knew this moment would come. I had spoken about it before. I had even encouraged others to develop it. Now, it had actually happened! In the metallic flash of the greasy, finger-printed, closing lift doors, I had experienced a phenomenon move from the hypothetical to the real. It was ... the Elevator Statement.

Fortunately for me, she got out at the next floor (does one floor up or down qualify as enough time for an Elevator Pitch?), shortly after I had spluttered out some garbled answer that clearly left her dazed and confused. That spaced-out, glazed look people get in their eyes is one that I'm becoming quite accustomed to as I've explained the narrative work I do. Now, it may already be too late in this post to redeem myself from the intuitive question emerging in your head, "Have you wondered if that look is a result of how badly you communicate what you do?" Well, sure. While I may not be an uber-salesman, I know damn well that I'm a strong communicator (most of the time) who on an average day can capture what I do in some fairly logical sentences.  read more »

UPDATE:The videos are no longer on YouTube due to an internal issue within the client. Shawn has promised to upload others soon.

This video is a great example of how sharing stories, across geographical boundaries, can be used to share knowledge and impact the bottom line. Thanks to the Anecdote crew.

Sitting in an Story Circle yesterday, a fairly up-front and direct manager responded to a question I had asked with, "BOHICA!"

• BOHICA (military acronym) Bend Over, Here It Comes Again.

My question? Well, I asked about the way the company has been traversing the multiple changes they've had to their organisation of late. Simple answer it was. It makes me wonder about how well we are doing in building organisations who know that change is part of their DNA?

Amber at Breathless Noon has posted a series of well written childhood memories delving into the escapades that lead up to her brother and her being baptized. Let me not say more about them, lest I spoil their hilarious nature.

The Egypt Game: A Childhood Memory

Speaking in Tongues: Part 2 of a childhood memoir

A few months back I wrote a fairly scathing post on Debora Patta and the shoddy job she did in a 3rd Degree interview with a megalomaniac on eTv. Having returned from a PR Net event she hosted this evening I now write with a slightly different perspective on her. Besides the insight she provided on her show, it seems her in-person persona (excuse the possible redundancy) is a whole lot easier to digest than her on-screen presence.

Am I getting soft? Nah ... I still maintain that she did a shoddy job. Hearing her speak outside of the blood-thirsty investigative journalism mode is slightly refreshing and has done some work in shifting my perspective on her.

Before you write this post off as a pseudo-apology and quit reading, know that I'm going somewhere with this and that there is some backbone and relevance around narrative to be explored below.  read more »