In LO981, Ron Mallis writes:
>I've started to notice -- perhaps belatedly -- considerable attention
>being paid to the concept of storytelling as a way of transmitting
>learning. My own notion of storytelling is of a way of not only making
>sense of the past, but of constructing future strategies; at the same
>time, it must involve all constituent parts of an organization -- external
>and internal.
I have noticed the same thing. For me, storytelling or relating "parables"
is sometimes the only way I can get my thoughts across. Non-linear
concepts are very difficult to express because of the need to make them
into linear, sequential language bits. By telling a story, or presenting
an example/analogy, I can get all of the "parts" out to the listener, then
tie them together.
I think this also affords the ability to bypass the "naming" problem. In
order to express a non-linear concept in sequentially-based language, we
tend to "name" the components, creating a code system. Unfortunately,
listeners who are not privy to the code book can't understand what we are
trying to say. For example: An LO is a name for a single, complex concept.
Without the background (codebook) a conversation with my dad about LOs is
a meaningless activity, in which basically he sits and appears to be
listening while the wake of my words ruffles his hair. But if I can tell
him the story of a company that used the concepts...
(Art is another example ... three-dimensional visual models. I also have
noticed that flat, two-dimensional charts are no longer sufficient.
Unfortunately, adding a Z-axis to a flat picture makes things even more
confusing to some.)
Yet another interesting observation I have made (and I am sure I am not
alone) is that, when someone is creating an analogy (parable or story),
the listener often begins to add his/her own embelishments ... co-creating
the analogy ... enlarging the concept often beyond the original, and
sometimes linking the new creation with other "stories" as well. Sometimes
the concept becomes a conceptual anthology of related stories! (Bradbury's
The Martian Chronicles comes to mind.)
gerry starnes
gstarnes@pegasus.tha.org
(new address: I'm moving my mail.)