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 »

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 »

The line between narrative work and storytelling in organisations is a very blurry one. It is a regular occurrence for me, in going to visit prospective clients, that I need to tell them that I'm not a storyteller.

Crash!

That's the sound I hear as they fall off their chair. "Well, why did we get you in here? We need someone who tells a great story for our conference. Why do you punt yourself as a storyteller?"  read more »

Today I picked up my eagerly-awaited copy of Christopher Booker's The Seven Basic Plots: Why we tell stories. It has been on my to-read list for what seems like aeons. Guilt has driven me: for someone so passionate about narrative, you'd be forgiven for thinking that it should already have dirty, dog-eared, coffee-stained pages as it lies at the bottom of my bookcase.

Barely a few pages in, I have this uneasy feeling that I recognise as the same feeling I've had when friends have offered to show me how they do the little magic tricks they know.

Know that feeling?  read more »