Uses of organizational stories in social research

Transcription

1 Uses of organizational stories in social research Systemische Forschung in Therapie, Pädagogik und Organisationsberatung Heidelberg März 2008 Professor Yiannis Gabriel University of London

2 Stories and facts Stories present events not as they happened, but as people wish to believe they happen In their very distortions, stories can be said to give us access to a deeper truth - the truth of how people experience events.

3 Why are stories important? they entertain, console and warn they help us make sense of events they help us express our emotions they enable us to learn from the experiences of others and transfer knowledge they enable us to influence others They become an important part of our identity

4 Some characteristics of stories sacrifice of accuracy for effect plots relatively simple characters the skill of the storyteller Narrative contract between storyteller and audience

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6 Stories and narratives narratives, e.g. movies, ballads, reports etc. myths fables, fairy-tales, children s stories and other stories in the public domain personal stories organizational stories

7 Poetic licence. The storyteller is not concerned with 'facts-as-information' but with 'facts-asexperience'. Stories and proto-stories Stories and reports

8 A definition Stories are narratives with plots and characters, generating emotion in narrator and audience, through a poetic elaboration of symbolic material. This material may be a product of fantasy or experience, including an experience of earlier narratives. Story plots entail conflicts, predicaments, trials and crises which call for choices, decisions, actions and interactions, whose actual outcomes are often at odds with the characters intentions and purposes (Gabriel, 2000, p. 239).

9 A definition Stories are narratives with plots and characters, generating emotion in narrator and audience, through a poetic elaboration of symbolic material. This material may be a product of fantasy or experience, including an experience of earlier narratives. Story plots entail conflicts, predicaments, trials and crises which call for choices, decisions, actions and interactions, whose actual outcomes are often at odds with the characters intentions and purposes (Gabriel, 2000, p. 239).

10 An alternative approach Ante-narrative a fragmented, non-linear, incoherent, collective, unplotted, and prenarrative speculation, a bet, a wager that a proper narrative can be constituted (Boje, 2001, p. 1) Stories in fragments, multiauthored, terse, fluid, polysemic (they contain multiple meanings) and frequently unfinished Struggle between official stories (the Nike story, the McDonald s story ) and emerging personal stories

11 Stories and images

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13 Does a picture tell more than ten thousand words?

14 Accident? Disaster? Tragedy? Murder?

15 Accidents: as ruptures in the order of things (blame, responsibility) as omens of good or evil as tests of character or strength as motivated acts by some superior intelligence

16 The four accounts: Raymond: factual report Maureen: personal attack Chris: test of character Peter: opportunity for retribution

17 Story-work Poetic interpretations and analytic interpretations How exactly is meaning 'infused' or 'discovered' in events?

18 Stories and Organizations a great deal of stories are told in and about organizations many of these stories are important in disseminating knowledge and enhancing organizational learning we can learn a lot about an organization by listening carefully to the stories told by its members stories can instigate processes of social and organizational change, for the better or for the worse; they can also block change good stories can have a profound effect on audiences, building solidarity, focusing energy and unleashing creativity leadership involves the management of meaning and emotions, both of which rely crucially on using stories, allegories, metaphors, labels and other narrative devices

19 Consider the following story: "[A] twenty-two year old bride weighing ninety pounds whose husband has been sent overseas and who, in consequence, had been given a job until his return... The young woman, Lucille Burger, was obliged to make certain that people entering security areas wore the correct clear identification. Surrounded by his usual entourage of white-shirted men, [Thomas] Watson [the IBM Chairman] approached the doorway to an area where she was guard, wearing an orange badge acceptable elsewhere in the plant, but not a green badge, which alone permitted entrance at her door. "I was trembling in my uniform, which was far too big", she recalled. "It hid my shakes, but not my voice. 'I'm sorry,' I said to him. I knew who he was alright. 'You cannot enter. Your admittance is not recognized.' That's what we were supposed to say." The men accompanying Watson were stricken; the moment held unpredictable possibilities. "Don't you know who he is?" someone hissed."

20 Can you think of two different ends to this story?

21 Stories and deep symbolism what do tell us about deeper desires that are acted out in organizations

22 What are the main types of stories, plots, characters, emotions and tropes

23 Types of story Comic Tragic Epic Romantic

24 Generic poetic modes MODE Comic Tragic Epic Romantic Protagonist deserving victim, fool non-deserving victim hero Love object Other characters trickster villain, supportive helper rescue object, assistant, villain Gift-giver, lover, injured or sick person Plot focus misfortune as deserved chastisement undeserved misfortune, trauma achievement, noble victory, success Love triumphant; misfortune conquered by love Predicament accident, mistake, coincidence, repetition, the unexpected and unpredictable crime, accident, insult, injury, loss, mistake, repetition, misrecognition contest, challenge, trial, test, mission, quest, sacrifice Gift, romantic fantasy, falling in love, reciprocation, recognition

25 Generic poetic modes MODE Comic Tragic Epic Romantic poetic tropes 1.Providential significance 2.unity 3.agency before misfortune 4.denial of agency during misfortune 5. fixed qualities (pomposity, arrogance, vanity etc.) 1.malevolent fate 2.blame 3.unity 4.motive (to the villain) 5.fixed qualities by juxtaposition (victim: noble, decent, worthy, good; villain: evil, devious, mean etc.) 1.agency 2.motive 3.credit 4.fixed qualities (nobility, courage, loyalty, selflessness, honour, ambition) 1.emotion (loving, caring) 2. motive 3.credit (worthy love object) 4.fixed qualities (gratitude, caring, loving, vulnerable, pathetic) Emotions mirth, aggression, (hate), scorn sorrow, pity, fear, anger, pathos pride, admiration, nostalgia, (envy) Love, care, kindness, generosity, gratitude (nostalgia)

26 Some secondary poetic modes MODE humour cock-up tragi-comic epic-comic Source modes comic comic, epic tragic, comic epic, comic Protagonist survivor, humorist, wizard, ironist hero fixer, wizard victim who turns out to be unheroic hero and vice versa unwitting hero, hero with humour, prankster, trickster Other characters (villain, unjust system) villain, victim, accomplice Plot focus misfortune as occasion for wit cock-up as test for non-heroic hero misfortune, both deserved and undeserved, leading to comic twists and tragic results unorthodox achievement, display of wit

27 Some secondary poetic modes MODE humour cock-up tragi-comic epic-comic Predicament accident, mishap, reversal of fortune, injustice, repetition, coincidence crisis, problem, mistake, breakdown, puzzle boon turns into misfortune or vice-versa prank, puzzle, challenge, wager, the unexpected Poetic tropes 1.denial of emotion 2.fixed qualities (grace, sense of humour, selfpossession, fortitude) 1.agency 2.credit 3.fixed qualities (wit, imagination, cunning, speed, common-sense) 1.providential significance 2.fixed qualities (fortitude, moral courage, defiance, wit) 1.agency 2.motive 3.credit 4.fixed qualities (sense of humour, irony, imagination, bravado) Emotions mirth, admiration, (pity) mirth, admiration amusement, pity, fear, guilt, pathos mirth, admiration, levity

28 Interrogating a story Is it a good story? What makes it a good story? What is your emotional response to the story? Is there anything about the story that troubles/bothers you? If you could re-write history how would you change the story? What do you see as the main meaning/moral of the story? What does the story tell us about (a) the nature of the project, (b) the nature of the organization, (c) What meaning/moral may outsiders read into the story?

29 Stories and the management of meaning Framing here various events or characters are placed at the heart of the narrative, while others are placed near the edges or left out altogether; Focusing extends the idea of framing by according special emphasis on a single cluster of events or characters, diminishing the importance of others; Filtering whereby specific events or characters are taken out of the narrative, in spite of their closeness to some of the central characters or events; Fading whereby specific events or characters are brought in or out of focus for specific aspects of the plot and then silenced as though their usefulness and significance were extinguished; Fusing whereby two or more characters or events are merged into a single one, collapsing temporal and other distinctions; Fitting whereby specific events or characters are re-interpreted or represented in accordance with the requirements of the plot.