Keywords

This book is about building inclusive narratives in organisational change by making sense of work through Collaborative Storytelling . Collaborative Storytelling is a theory of social and cultural change which advocates for space and time to reflect on social identities and embodied, lived experiences through stories in relation to an activity. Like in all social settings, everyone at the workplace is a storyteller, and their stories can inform and reveal common themes that can unite actors towards intentional and committed change.

Organisational change is cultural change as it questions assumptions, values, and beliefs that underlie current realities (Alvesson and Sveningsson 2015). Storytelling can reveal meaning and intentions of organisational members, the work, and the purpose of the change without committing the error of acting on it without consent (Cleland Silva and Fonseca Silva 2021).

Metaphors and stories are strong communication channels to emotions and embodied lived experiences, especially in times of uncertainty and vulnerability (Broussine and Vince 1996, p. 6). Exploring and opening up the metaphors and stories can initiate a conversation as to what is actually going on, without isolating or marginalising individuals’ perceptions. People need to believe in the benefit of the change, and that their contribution is supported, acknowledged, and purposeful.

Individual and collective conflicts arise when dominant narratives (including metaphors and stories) are imposed on individuals without meaningful discussion or consent. Exclusive narratives have the potential to block creativity, motivation, and prevent individuals from engaging with purposeful and rewarding work. A single dominant story is dangerous and risks critical misunderstandings of another person’s assumptions and lived experiences (Ngozi Adichie 2009).

At work, individuals bring their own stories and lived experiences to a community of practice.

Communities of Practice (CoPs) are groups of people brought together through an activity system or “practice” (Lave and Wenger 1991) within a cultural-historical context. Members of the CoPs are connected by what they do and their abilities to practice with certain tools and defined objectives, roles, and rules. A CoP can develop naturally, as the members’ common interests motivate them to share their knowledge and experiences through storytelling.

Through the exchange of stories about the activity, each member of a community has an opportunity to learn from each other. At the same time, each member from different social worlds brings unique stories that are embodied and relational, based on their lived experiences. For instance, a teacher, born and raised in a city by immigrant parents, working at a rural elementary school, shares stories from a social position that is different from their colleague who was educated and raised in the same area of the school. Even though both teachers have the same university degree, access to similar school resources, and their work has similar rules and objectives, their engagement at work, relationships, and performance are influenced by how they perceive themselves and how others perceive them.

Most often, when stories are exchanged, they are filled with metaphors as metaphors can invoke or activate stories (Snaevarr 2010, p. 233).

Metaphor, as a word, originates from Greek ‘amphora’, a storage container used to transport valuable goods. This definition is a metaphor in itself as metaphors are figures of speech to describe, experience, and understand “one kind of thing in terms of another” (Lakoff and Johnson 2003, p. 5) or transport “meaning” from one kind of thing to another. Metaphors have the power to not only transfer meaning, but also provoke, transform, and bridge interpretations of the world, including the stories we tell and are told.

In various ways, metaphors can support sensemaking, not only our physical reality but also our inner imaginary landscape. Metaphors can transform stories through narration and their interpretation may evolve, especially in group conversations. When this happens, an opportunity arises to collaborate and create a metaphorical story (Gibbs 2013) that resonates (or conflicts) with the members of the group. In communities of practice, a metaphorical story can engage members in collective sense-making aligned with the purpose of the work activity, affording new opportunities for change (Cleland Silva and Fonseca Silva 2019).

As stories and metaphors carry dominant patterns of narratives in an activity and/or narrative systems, individuals may not feel psychologically or physically safe to exchange stories with others, mainly with those who hold more powerful positions in terms of authority at work or social privilege. This is especially true when the dominant stories or metaphors conflict with individual lived experiences and personal values and beliefs. These conflicts can be harmful for the individual and manifest in physical and psychological ways, which the NGO, Catalyst, in a 2018 report, calls “emotional tax.”

“Emotional tax” is an effect of workplace exclusion on emotions, mind, and body based on biases of the employees’ social identity such as gender, race, and/or ethnicity. In the 2018 report from the NGO Catalyst, employees shared how these impacted (or taxed) their physical and psychological health in painful and unhealthy ways (Dnika and Thorpe-Moscon 2018, p. 4). For example, Ty, a 27 year old White and Latino man, describes the bias identified by his hair (2018, p. 6):

Before a [job] interview, I changed the appearance of my hair to make it look more like the hair texture/style of the majority of the people at the [company].

Whereas, Tena, a 25 year old Black Latina, talks about how her identity is constructed through different channels of communication and subsequently her identity is ‘suppressed’ by her superiors (Dnika and Thorpe-Moscon 2018, p. 6):

I work from home, so none of my callers can see me. Based on the sound of my voice they assume I am a young, Caucasian female, and so they are very comfortable making very racist comments against different nationalities. I have to pretend that I am not offended, and I am encouraged by my superiors to suppress my true identity.

Throughout life, we navigate many social worlds that construct and impact our sense of self.

Social worlds are groups of people who share common beliefs and values, and individuals are committed to these worlds based on their sense of identity, purpose, and contribution (Strauss 1978).

Intersecting social worlds are larger systems of narratives that act as invisible forces, influencing us consciously and unconsciously. Exploring these systems for patterns of meaning through storytelling helps us to reflect and potentially communicate our position in a social world and the way our sense of self impacts and is perceived by others.

Systems of narratives affect social worlds and individuals differently and unequally. Identities constructed and developed in social worlds intersect with individual attributes, such as ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, class, language, religion, nationality, and physical and mental abilities. Most often, socially constructed identities interwoven in systems of narratives influence access to education, income, employment, health, and even life expectancy (e.g., hooks 2000 on class). In other words, social identities constructed by stories and narratives have material consequences for our physical bodies, our emotions, and our positional status.

People’s lives have multiple stories, but the potential of these stories is restricted by powerful systems of narratives (White 2007) and dominant social worlds. To build narratives during organisational change, individuals need to start with their own stories, reflecting on their past and present experiences and their social identity.

From an early age, we have been taught ways of thinking and behaving through spoken and performed stories. Those stories create a sense of self about, which community we belong to, and what our purpose and roles are in that community. Stories have a powerful impact on our surroundings and contribute to larger systems of collective meaning, influencing which stories are accepted, challenged, ignored, or silenced.

Cultivating personal power and a sense of responsibility to others starts with knowing and valuing who you are. In other words, telling your story with self-awareness, challenging narratives that do not represent one’s reality, and holding yourself accountable for the stories you tell.

In this book, we narrate metaphorical stories to explain the concepts used in Collaborative Storytelling with the tool Collaborative Story Craft (CSC). We invite the reader to engage with their inner imaginary landscape through stories and reflect on their own social positioning. The metaphorical stories are narrated from our empirical research, other literary sources, and our own lived experiences.