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The website for business and organizational storytelling |
January newsletter |
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Gemini Ernst & Young
Business Innovation Newsletter January 3, 2001 By Rudy Ruggles
WHAT'S THE STORY? I have been interested in the power of stories
and storytelling for several years. Although this interest can be traced
back to my childhood, it arose again as I studied how knowledge is recognized,
stored, and shared in the human mind. I led the research the CBI conducted
on knowledge management for several years, and knowledge representation
and "transfer" was always one of the most interesting and difficult issues.
While there is no one "right" way to represent knowledge, stories are
particularly powerful. For one thing, the mind prefers narrative structures.
The work done in such fields as cognitive science and artificial intelligence
has given us great insight into how the mind clusters complex linear and
non-linear sets of data (experiences, sensory perceptions, ideas, subconscious
structures), into narratives. Roger Schank (director, Institute for Learning
Sciences) has even written a very academic book on the topic called Tell
Me a Story (Northwestern University Press, 1998).
In recent years, stories and storytelling has been gaining influence in business circles as well. In fact, the talk that I gave at the CGEY GuruSchool (see last issue of this newsletter), was on storytelling. If you are interested in this topic, let me recommend two great places to start: A Book -- The Springboard: How Storytelling Ignites Action in Knowledge-Era Organizations (by Stephen Denning, Butterworth-Heinemann, 2000). In this book, Steve writes about how he was able to use stories to create real change at his organization. Well that's nice, you might say, but why should I care? To give some sense of perspective, I should mention that he did this as the Chief Knowledge Strategist of the World Bank, not a small institution! And if you are wondering how big a difference he made, he was recently named one of the Most Admired Knowledge Leaders, along with people like Jack Welch (GE), John Seely Brown (Xerox), and John Chambers (Cisco). The book goes through the story of his efforts at the World Bank, drawing out useful lessons and suggestions along the way. It is particularly powerful because it is drawn from real world experience, good times and bad, and written so as to be both entertaining and useful. A great book to start with if you are interested in the story/business intersection. An Organization -- The Storytelling Foundation International (http://www.storytellingfoundation.org/). The Storytelling Foundation International (SFI) grew out of the National Storytelling Association, the group which supports the art and craft of storytelling through grass-roots activities and a yearly event, The National Storytelling Festival. The SFI was created to enhance the practical application of storytelling in areas such as health and healing; conflict prevention and resolution; leadership and management; and children, youth, and families. In the Leadership and Management area of the SFI site ( http://www.storytellingfoundation.org/resource.htm) there are pointers to both their on-line Journal of Storytelling and Business Excellence and their Bibliography on the topic. This is the best single group to get in touch with if you are looking to get involved or informed about these ideas. If they can't help you, they'll know who can. As always, if you would like to discuss or want more information, please let me know (rudy.ruggles@us.cgeyc.com)." |