1. How to use storytelling
to facilitate change
“All the world’s stage, and all the men and
women merely players.”
Shakespeare, As You Like It
Ines and Rima
2. Storytelling definitions
Storytelling is humanity’s oldest form of literacy, art of
portraying real or imagined events involving words,
images and sounds.
Wikipedia
Organisational storytelling are valuable windows into
the emotional, political and symbolic lives of
organisations. It also helps us in understanding culture
and change in an uniquely illuminating way that’s going
on in an organisation.
Gabriel (2000)
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3. Narratives and stories
Narratives are plotted, directed and staged to produce
linear, coherent and monological rendering of events,
whereas ‘stories’ are self-deconstructing, flowing,
emerging and networking, not at all static .
(Boje, 2001)
A creative narrative blends the dialogue told in specific
stories to form a composite, interpretive narrative that
relates an impressionistic account of the concept under
investigation – through a ‘fiction writing’.
(Brown and McMillan, 1991)
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4. Storytelling and modern
organisations
“When faced with the task of persuading a group of
managers and front-line staff in a large organisation
to get enthusiastic about a major change, I found that
storytelling was the only thing that really worked.”
Stephen Denning
ex Programme Director at the World Bank
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5. Type of stories we can apply in
modern organisation:
1. The anecdotal or biographical story (feelings or
assumptions about the organisation)
2. The creative characterisation (problem or
challenge transformed into a new stories)
3. Story as a metaphor (creating a metaphor for a
situation taking us into a more imaginative
level)
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6. Approached in this wider context,
organisations are using stories:
To communicate corporate values and ideals
To adapt to change
To define and better understand the organisational
culture
To communicate the essence of a complex message
Explore and develop leadership styles
To develop communication and presentation skills
Developing employees relationship to a product or the
organisation
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9. Storytelling helps in
relationship building
motivating employees
integrating employees
sense of belonging to the organisation
guiding through change
driving organisation to success
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10. Example: How story telling can drive
strategic change
Problems of San Juan Regional Medical centre
Hospital-sponsored health plan facing bankruptcy
Unions trying to organise nurses
Operational and management changes
Lots of anxiety and uncertainty among staff
New mission and vision developed
Let’s make a story
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13. Link to scenario planning
Storytelling can act as an important tool in
scenario planning
It helps in giving new insights to available
information
It helps to explore alternative futures
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14. Conclusion
If you want your change message to be
communicated to employees – if you want it to
transform the way they perceive the organisation
and their roles in the organisation – then weaver
your message about the new strategy into a
compelling and memorable story
Different stories for different audience and
different purpose
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