Stories & Customer Experience

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of being a guest on Michelle Romanica's BlogRadio show on Customer Experience.

How stories come into play with customer experience is a rich area to explore. Our conversation dove into some ideas and practices that are powerful yet subtle.

Listen to internet radio with Customer Experience on Blog Talk Radio

Among other things we discussed how customers experiences can start with catalyzing the internal experiences of employees with a variety of communication and strategic initiatives employing the natural power of stories.

How are you do you architect customer experiences with the disciplines of organizational storytelling? Add your voice to the conversation.

Interview with Jay Cross on 21st Century Leadership & Stories

During Jay Cross's trip to Monterey I had a chance to catch up and learn about his new work on 21st Century Leadership Skills. Of course we had to talk about a stories.


Jay posted this blog with a few impressions from our lunch.


READ JAY'S SUMMARY OF OUR CONVERSATION


Below are two videos from a second conversation...



Here's another video with some more sound bites from our conversation...

 For more complimentary resources - white papers, tips, techniques, tools

CLICK HERE

Organizational Priorities

What are the priorities in your organization? Are you caught in the cogs of performance pressure? Has constant acceleration become a way of life in your organization?

A recent experience with dolphins works as backdrop in this video to explore how we might meet these challenges and realities of speed and purpose with equanimity and even joy.

Organizational Priority from Terrence Gargiulo on Vimeo.

What happens when we move past thinking of stories as tools of persuasion?

We unearth a Rosetta stone for critical thought, deep conversation, and emergent possibilities…strategic organizational story work creates an environment that enmeshes people into networks of meaning that leads to adaptability and performance…this integrative pattern of interrelating produces a wonderful by product of joy.

Consider this video's working metaphor and then be a part of the conversation.

Share with us experiences of what this looks and feels like for you in your organization. What things are you doing or think you could be doing in your organization to bring about "the dolphin effect?"

I've posted this video on Voice Thread to allow folks a vehicle for responding with comments, audio, video, documents, etc... (all of these things can be done for free from the website):

Future Possibilities: Organizational Elasticity

Do we make opportunities for people in organizations to expand in flexible ways to create new spaces of value generation…

And do we at the same time combine agility with the requisite structures of business?

Yeast and sourdough bread making work as a narrative backdrop to explore these questions.

WATCH THE VIDEO:

Organizational Elasticity from Terrence Gargiulo on Vimeo.

After watching the video here are some other questions to think about...

Can you detect the intersection of these two forces
in your organization?

How would you describe it?

If anything were to shift, what would look differently on a day by day basis in your organization?

I've posted this video on Voice Thread to allow folks a vehicle for responding with comments, audio, video, documents, etc... (all of these things can be done for free from the website):

I look forward to hearing your voice in this conversation...

A TRIBUTE TO MY FIRST FENCING COACH

In Loving Memory of Dr. Milton Bank

Some of you know I spent over 25 years as a competitive fencer (and with a fair amount of success). My first fencing coach Dr. Bank passed away two weeks ago. On father's day as I think of all the influential people in my life I wish to share this tribute and memory...

Dr. Bank…he will always be Dr. Bank to me.

I’m still the fragile nine year old who showed up one day at the Monterey YMCA with nothing more than a medal won by my father in fencing eons ago and the romantic images of swashbuckling. Dr. Bank would not disappoint. I had brought my whole family in tow to learn the ways of the sword. My youthful determination caught the imagination of Dr. Bank’s huge heart.

He grabbed my awkward, mixed up physical body and went to work quickly on transforming my curiosity into something sustainable. His laugh, positive energy, and ever present teasing, fun banter were all ingredients he used to introduce me to a path.

One of the first memories of fencing lessons with Dr. Bank was learning to be a pin cushion. With gentle, direct wisdom he taught me to how to be hit before I ever knew how to make a hit. That was the sort of wisdom he had a knack for imparting while we were busied in the details of acquiring new skills. He knew I would never be able to score touches if I did not know how to accept being hit. He was showing me how to conquer not just any possibility of physical fear of getting hurt but the mental, spiritual hurt that was to become an inevitable part of my fencing journey. Could I sustain the vulnerability of being touched? Could I allow myself to be touched?

Dr. Bank touched me…he was tireless in encouraging me, nurturing me, and sharing his passion.

I had in Dr. Bank the perfect example of making learning a priority before being consumed by goals. Excellence did not exclude humility. Hard work did not eliminate fun. And drive was not to compete with an unquenchable love for the sport. Dr. Bank delighted in each small step I made. Perfected advances, a solved riddle of disengaging around a trick parry combination, or the joy of discovering a new facet of fencing, were met with the same indefatigable enthusiasm.

I couldn’t wait to go fencing on Tuesday evenings and Sunday afternoons. My weeks were defined by my special time with Dr. Bank. I was never disappointed. A huge smile greeted me and I never knew what the day’s adventure in learning would be. Dr. Bank’s generosity extended to my whole family. I still remember the joy I felt when Dr. Bank gave me my first foil.

Dr. Bank was more than just a coach to me, he was a role model. Fencing was serious business. Not the sport but rather the door the sport opened for me to finding and experiencing myself. Discipline never felt onerous; it was just part and parcel of participating. Dr. Bank’s bigger purpose was never far from the surface. If you weren’t paying attention it could have been easy to miss his deeper mission given his light hearted zeal but only if you did not engage with him. To cross blades with him you quickly realized he was living his faith, questions, and love for life with each parry and thrust.

I really never knew failure with Dr. Bank. His patience for learning outstripped any counter-productive expectations. He handed me keys to probably the most formative influence in my life. He showed me how to make sense of my mind, body, and spirit.

Dr. Bank was one of those rare teachers that taught me how to learn. He exemplified a love for learning. I remember while Dr. Bank was on summer vacation one year I went rummaging in the stacks of the Monterey library looking for information on fencing. I stumbled upon a book with flip book style photos of fencing actions. My days were consumed with studying the intricate new moves. I was overflowing with new questions and ideas when he returned. This is what he encouraged. This quality persists in me today. He had a way of bringing it out in others.

Life changes and I cultivated the seeds Dr. Bank planted in me. I was thrilled to bring him details of my latest conquests. Each little package of success was a new gift I couldn’t wait to bring back to him. In the best possible ways he was indifferent to the trappings of success. He was interested in the affects of my experiences but he always wanted me to divulge the details of the process. What a perfect form of validation. Good or bad the results were secondary.

In fact my first medal in fencing was for sportsmanship. No surprise here. Anything less was not possible in Dr. Bank’s club. It’s just the way things were. Part of the unspoken code of how he taught and he lived.

It’s so hard to imagine him gone. I have not done a good job of staying in touch. Maybe it’s because a part of me has this never ending dialogue with an angel that walked among us and brought me so many blessings.

My prayers of comfort fly out to you and the family. I look forward to the day when I can join my coach in heaven. For now he’s winking at us and showering us with joy.

With loving memories and prayers,

Organizational Clarity

Are you enamored with black and white approximations of life? Don’t our lives in organizations depend on these holy grails of homeostasis? Is your sense of equilibrium and equality governed by stable platforms of immutable laws?

I’m suggesting we sit in the rich space of story. When we agitate the potential cacophony of stories we invite a chorus of perspectives. Stories are sacred because by their nature they’re non dualistic.

Stories are like atoms and high energy particles smashing into one another forever fusing and forming into ever new bits of raw sense making material. So clarity emerges from uncertainty.

The more we can sit with our contradictions, paradoxes and tensions the more we are graced to be an agent of change.

Watch my last two minute conversation starter video and add your voice to the dialog...

Organizational Clarity from Terrence Gargiulo on Vimeo.

Opera Wows Kids!!

Our pilot project in partnership with the Metropolitan Opera HD Live in Schools was a rewarding and rich event. I've pulled together a short four minute documentary that tells the story of our work and is a marketing piece we are using to drum up support for the expansion of next year's program:

For more information on the Occhiata Foundation...

BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON FOUNDATION

We are actively seeking sponsors and support. In other news on the community and philanthropy front, I have been volunteering as a coach for the John Steinbeck young writers program. The student I have been coaching has won. I am so proud of her!!

Thanks for stopping by. What have you been up to? How have you engaged with your community? I'd love to hear your stories.

Warmly,
Terrence

Stories & Fire

Fire is a wonderful metaphor for understanding some of the subtleties of stories. Spend two minutes with me and reflect on what light fire can cast on our understanding of stories...

Terrence Gargiulo - Stories & Fire from Terrence Gargiulo on Vimeo.

In what ways are fire and stories related to you?

Epiphany - Perfect Time for Story Insights

Wow...2010...I'm not one to make resolutions but I am interested in trying something new. I thought I would begin to blog more frequently by including video messages as a part of my blog.

So on the this day of Epiphany I thought it was a great time to reflect and share the gift of video blogging. The gift will only be complete if you add your voice to the conversation and if whatever I share becomes a catalyst for your own insights.

Terrence Gargiulo - Video Blog - January 6 from Terrence Gargiulo on Vimeo.

Thank you for stopping to share this story space with me.

In the Land Of Difficult People

Lots of content resting in MAKINGSTORIES.net rich archives. Below is a video of the webinar, tool, and TV appearances for an AMACOM book.

I had a grand time collecting stories from around the world for a book on difficult people. In the Land of Difficult People: 24 Timeless Tales Reveal How to tame Beasts at work was loads of fun.

I offered a webinar earlier on the year on topic. Here are the questions we looked at:


Are people’s job performances in your organization plagued by difficult behaviors?

Do projects suffer when people are unable to work effectively with each other?

Are you leveraging people’s differences and the tensions created by these to achieve results?

There are no difficult people, well at least not many, but there are lots of difficult behaviors and each and every one of us is guilty of engaging in them.

Based on the book, In the Land of Difficult People: 24 Timeless Tales Reveal How to Tame Beasts at work, this webinar uses a fun and interactive strategy to tackle destructive behaviors that are getting in the way of your organization achieving its results.

Difficult People from Terrence Gargiulo on Vimeo.

Here's a summary of the key points and a follow-up job aid I sent participants...

SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS

• There are very few truly difficult people. Just lots of difficult behaviors.

• We are all guilty of behaviors that cause difficulty for others and we are usually not aware of it.

• People drive organizational performance.

• Future competitive advantage will be directly correlated with the quality, effectiveness and depth of relationships in organizations.

• Meaningful conversations nurture relationships.

• Stories are a natural and essential part of meaningful conversations.

• “The shortest distance between people is a story.” – Terrence Gargiulo

• Seek to understand others first.

JOB AID – PLANNING COMMUNICATIONS

Situational Constraints	What’s In It for Them	Assumptions

What do I care about?
What’s important to me?
Do I have any communication allies?

Directions: Whenever you can, planning for a communication with someone who is exhibiting difficult behavior that is impacting your performance or just causing you consternation can lead to better results. Try imaging the world from their vantage point. Start by considering any situational constraints. These are any things that might interfere or effect the way you can interact with this person. We tend to simplify people’s behavior into simplistic causal explanations. These are often wrong or just a fraction of the picture. Reflect on they why’s of their behavior by asking what’s important to them. Do so with an open mind. Examine your assumptions. What filters, values, beliefs, information, ideas, opinions, etc… are coloring your view? Be sure to consider what’s important to you. What do you need and what do you care about? Consider anyone you might enlist as a communication ally. These are people who might support, clarify or advocate. Five to ten minutes of quality reflecting can lead to a world of difference.

Here are some video clip of TV interviews I did for the book...









INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE ABOUT THE BOOK

I'd love to hear some of your real-life stories of difficult people.

The Art of Persuasion with Stories: Dialog With Bob Dickman

Today I had the pleasure of dialoguing with Bob Dickman of First Voice. Bob has a wonderful book he co-authored with Richard Maxwell titled The Elements of Persuasion: Using Storytelling to Pich Better, Sell Faster, and Win More Business.

We spent 45 minutes with a great group of folks comparing notes of our organizational story work and our experiences of coaching people to be more effective.

One of the key themes that emerged was the power of story in helping us to imagine the viewpoint of others and find effective ways of sharing our own. We explored Bob's simple, elegant, and profoundly nuanced five elements of persuasion.

Here are a few of the questions we explored...

Have you ever wondered how to expand your influence without having to sell?

Have you tapped into your natural “storyability” to transport people to see the world through your eyes?

Would you like to put one or two new techniques into practice to expand your influence through story?

Here's a recording of our dialogue.

The Art of Persuasion with Stories: Dialog Between Terrence Gargiulo & Bob Dickman from Terrence Gargiulo on Vimeo.

I'd love to hear your successes and challenges with working with stories during an influence process...

Happy Halloween - Mark Twain Ghost Story

HAPPY HALLOWEEN...

What a blog about story be without sharing a good ghost story. This one I must borrow from one of my heroes, Mark Twain.

The story is not long (4 pages) but I decided to provide a nicely formatted .pdf file link so you can share with kids, family, and friends. First let me acknowledge my sources for the story:

This version originally published in 2005 by Infomotions, Inc. This particular text was derived from the Internet Wiretap Edition of A Ghost Story by Mark Twain from "Sketches New and Old", copyright 1903, Samuel Clemens. It was placed in the Public Domain (May 1993). This document is distributed under the GNU Public License. I found this story on Ann Zeis’s website… http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/index.htm

And now with no further introduction...ladies and gentlemen...Mark Twain

LINK TO MARK TWAIN GHOST STORY

Please do not stand on the sidelines. Can you share with us one of your favorite scary, spooky, ghostly stories...Oh please :)!!!

Three Questions We Usually Get from Leaders About Storytelling

Back in August Shawn Callahan of Anecdote and I collaborated on a leadership and storytelling webinar.

It was a rich experience for us and the participants. During our interactive dialog we explored the Triple Threat of storytelling leaders.

Are your leaders...

Storylisteners (that's not a typo - watch the video and find out why)
Story Elicitors (trigger storytelling of others)
Storytellers

We'd love to hear your experiences with developing the story capacity of leaders in your organization. Share your thoughts below...



ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Story-based Communication Assessment: Click Here...


I also have a book of self-development exercises to work on these skills with yourself or others. All of these exercises that map to the nine skills of the competency model


Book of Self-Development Exercises: Click Here...


I also recommend, Once Upon a Time: Using Story-Based Activities to Develop Breakthrough Communication Skills. It contains a collection of group process activities aligned with these story-based communication skills.

TRIBUTE TO MAMA OCEAN FOR BLOG ACTION DAY

I was sorry to miss out on Blog Action Day yesterday but it's never too late to share our hopes, dreams, and concerns for a sustainable planet.

Here is a piece I wrote awhile back reflecting on the glorious gift I like to refer to as, "Mama Ocean."

White, frothing foam spews from her mouth. Her formless hands wrap around the ankles of an unsuspecting child. He is busy savoring his bliss on the sandy shore. Joy and disaster duel. Mother Sea bides her directives, but she will not be governed. She is content with the struggle. Her maternal instinct directs a drama that teeters on a precarious precipice between diametrically opposed outcomes. There is a tumble. Balance gives way to terror, and abandonment dominates the scene. In rushes the hero. She whisks the child from Mother Sea’s loving arms. An instant passes, impinging a memory forever. It is business as usual. Ebbs and flows, nothing more.

That was my first encounter with the Pacific Ocean. Years pass, and boyhood fears give way to insatiable curiosities.

Now I am kneeling on the bottom, fully equipped with my arsenal of life-sustaining paraphernalia. Maybe it is some unconscious longing to return to the weightless fetus of my beginnings. Somehow it is right. My bubbles rise to the surface, expanding throughout their journey, and arrive as shouts of joy. I am a guest.

Today my hostess gives me a special treat. A forest of kelp weaves canopies over me. The sun aims its beams through any opening it can find. As it is above, so it is below. I am trans-fixed.

The clatter of daily life disappears and the cold water baptizes me anew. I am adrift in a watery reverie mesmerized by the balladic ease of my fluid movements. A fish docked alongside the kelp catches my eye. My arms flow toward it, and, as they make their way through the viscous medium, I swear I can feel its pulsing gills vibrating through the water. It is as if I am tethered to the fish. Its gill and my finger are joined in some magnetic union. I am struck by the obvious. This fish does not know it is in water. The water is air to the fish. Yet I experience the water as some sort of cosmic glue tying me, and everything around me in a synergistic partnership. The fish knows none of this.

The arrow of time moves forward, and the scene changes again. This time I am cutting through the water in pursuit of adventure. The hunter-gatherer instinct inside me stirs and my eye is caught by the scintillating glimmer of an abalone shell tucked in a tight crib of rocks. Priding myself on my acrobatic agility, I position myself just right to reach in and take Mother Sea’s treasure.

Disorientation ensues, and a mouthful of water assaults me. Several efforts of gear and dive buddy offer no remedy to my situation. I must make the climb to the surface without air. Perhaps this is the freedom I have longed for with Mother Sea all along.I am caught between worlds—one of land and one of water. To which of the two do I belong? Each is a part of my nature, yet neither fully meets my needs. I need them both, and they need me.

We are made mostly of water. Toss in a few atoms of carbon and other trace minerals, let evolution work a trick or two, and we emerge. There must be some sort of galactic museum. “Planet Earth exhibit this way,” the sign reads. The centerpiece of the exhibit is a stuffed Homosapiens. Maybe the caption reads, “big on brains, short on awareness—a highly differentiated life form with a lack of integration between itself and its environment.”

Could we be a natural wonder of the universe? Maybe it is we who should invoke the celestial muses and tune ourselves to the frequency of wonder.

There is more water than land. We can reach higher into the heavens than we can into the belly of our home. We fear the deep. Is it the thought of a colossal squid or is it an avoidance of our nature?

Nature is in flux. A fire is constructive. Fertilizer is destructive. All natural ingredients include synthesized chemicals as part of the standard du jour menu. Call in the relativists. They will save us. Nurture not nature is to blame. Social constructs are the root of all evils. I forgot, could you tell me who built the constructs? Or maybe it’s all predetermined in our genes. Just fill out
this form and the human genome is yours for analysis. I can see street-corner hawkers vying for our attention, “Hear ye, hear ye, get your DVD today, and read all about your genetic makeup.”

I put up the mirror and spin around. Give me somewhere to point my finger. There must be a cause to hang my hat on today. Resources are not finite; only our understanding of how to manage and control them is lacking, is it not?

The fish turns to me. Its beady stare shifts my attention. I reach out to touch it but I realize the fish is inside me. It is a part of my memory—a vital epiphany guiding me. It slips through my fingers, and the momentary gift is lost. I am back to the ranting ramblings of my mind. The equilibrium is gone. I throw off the cover of the hot tub and subject the water to my tests. If I have read my instruments correctly, I can bring this water back to a happy, safe balance. The water will succumb to my elixir. I do not need to banish my ideal. I am master of the water.

A mother holds her child’s hand as she leads him to the great expanse of the sea for the first time. Eyes filled with awe, he lets go of her hand. He takes all of it in and only some of it registers. Mother Sea will take hold of his imagination in ways beyond his present capacity of comprehension, even if she must pull him toward her bosom.

Our event horizon must stretch further than our puny minds allow us. Nature goes about its business. One thing is obliterated and replaced by another. A phoenix rises out of the ashes to take flight once again. What about those mighty dinosaurs or species of plants and insects off our radar screens that are candles blown out in the dark before anyone benefits from their illuminating secrets? Nature has not gone astray; it is simply in motion.

I examine my hand. I am appalled to realize that every seven years almost all the cells in my body are replaced. Those poor cells remind me of pelagic carcasses unknowingly committed to insane asylums of our shores. Have I lost my nature or am I along for the ride? Maybe I should just catch a wave and sit on top of the world.

I hold the treasure in my hand. The pearly allure of the abalone’s shell is intoxicating my thoughts. I am without air but I am free. Whatever happened to my umbilical cord? I will break to the surface and rejoin the atmosphere. The fabric of water will be punctuated with my staccato gasps for air underscored by my drive to be unique and in control. I want to bring the fish to the surface. Will it feel the air as joining the two of us in a new dance, or will the harsh reality of a foreign environment take hold of it before it is enlightened?

The world marches to its own nature. Developing nations are eager to karaoke tunes they have heard before, and scarce resources attempt counterpoint melodies against the beat of progress. Mother Sea beckons, a child is initiated, and an underwater explorer struggles against his nature to hold on to his battling prizes of material gain and insight. There is a faint glimmer of guidance. Mother Sea scans the shore and finds another child eager for tutelage. Perhaps her passion to incite wonder might take hold and pique a new imagination.

Leadership & Storytelling Part 9 of Many...

Now that we've looked at behaviors we are ready to roll our sleeves up and get down to what I am really passionate about - story-based communication skills.

If stories are fundamental to how we communicate, learn and think than it stands to reason that we must have some inherent equipment for stories. Most would agree that humans work with patterns to make sense and give sense to the world. Stories contain chunks of information. Consider a hologram where one pixel of information is encoded with all of the a picture's information. Or how about the complex intricate coding of genetic information in strands of DNA found in all our cells. Stories are fragments and threads that tied together begin to form patterns of overlaying stories. Our meaning and identities are enmeshed in the highways and byways of memories remembered and reconstituted as narratives.

So...I started with the assumption that there must be communication capabilities we have. Working within the framework of stories I was thrilled to find a way to get a handle on what these capabilities or skills might.

Over the next ten blog posts I will share what I observed. The last 15 years of my research, writing and consulting has been dedicated to developing simple, practical practices that people can use to enhance their performances in the workplace and other areas of their lives. The habits and skills of story-based forms of communication have been studied in light of how they effect interactions in all facets of our lives.

Based on award-winning research, Nine Story-Based Communication Skills are used to construct a simple, workable framework that encapsulates behaviors we are engaged in all of the time. When these behaviors are focused with a story lens it creates a profound breakthrough in how we share, process, and take in information.This work has been acknowledged by the Asia Pacific HRM Congress HR Leadership and published in various places. It is also a core part of my leadership development work with my clients. Without any further ado let me share the nine communication skills


Nine Story-Based Communication Competencies

The more I worked with stories, the more I realized there must be some essential competencies to being an effective communicator, learner, and thinker with stories.As I pored over piles of surveys and reviewed hours and hours of interviews,I began to notice clear repeating patterns. One of the things that struck me immediately was the central role stories play in communication. Yet despite the fact that they are so pervasive, we are not aware, purposeful, or strategic in how we use them. Although stories may be an obvious facet of communication, they’re not something we seek to understand or leverage more effectively.


The model includes three rings...

1. INTERACTION - Describes how we use stories to connect with others and communicate.

2. PROCESS - Describes how we work with experiences to transform them into meaningful and reusable stories.

3. THE CORE - Describes how we open ourselves to be aware and sensitive to stories.


The nine skills are...

1. Modeling - Being aware of ones actions and using them to create lasting impressions in the eyes of others. Employing a variety of analogical techniques to bring an idea or concept alive.


2. Telling - Relaying a story with authenticity that paints a vivid, engaging picture for listeners.

3. Selecting - Picking a story that is appropriate to the situation at hand and that clearly communicates concepts, ideas, or feelings.

4. Indexing - Developing a flexible, vast, mental schema for retrieval of experiences, and knowledge.

5. Synthesizing - Finding patterns in new experiences and creating connections between them and old ones.


6. Reflecting - Reviewing experiences with circumspection and extracting knowledge from them.

7. Eliciting - Asking questions and finding ways to pull stories from others.

8. Listening - Absorbing stories and invoking the imagination to enter them in a fundamental and deep way.

9. Observing - Practicing mindfulness to become aware of the stories implicit in others’ words and actions.

StoryMatters - Season 2: Episode 6

StoryMatters™
Increasing Your ROI on Life's Lessons at Work
Terrence Gargiulo (MAKINGSTORIES.net) & Brian Remer (thefirefly.org)

StoryMatters is a format for maximizing learning from experience and applying it in the workplace. Stories are used to spark deeper conversations creating multiple layers of meaning that have relevance to team members. The StoryMatters process promotes a culture of continuous learning within an organization by modeling the skills of advocacy and inquiry. In this way, StoryMatters can become an invaluable tool for any learning organization.


StoryMatters: The Process

I. Read or tell three 99 word stories – these stories act as triggers to spark listeners' imaginations
II. Listeners recapitulate the stories to find index words that capture the essence of the stories
III. Listeners leverage the index words to find personal stories along the same theme
IV. Those stories are shared and people hearing them share their reactions
V. Conclude with a dialog and conversation of themes and relationships between stories





StoryMatters: Why it's Effective

• Stories are a common form of communication – people do not notice how often they tell stories – and how comfortable they are with stories.

• In conversation, we get ideas of our own stories but we don’t drill deep enough to derive much meaning from them.

• Offers a framework and format for active reflection and learning

• People react to the stories and build upon them

• Creating a story space heightens the possibility to make more stories present

• It’s the reflection of two or more people that makes the process work

• Stories don’t have to be complete with beginning, middle end – especially when the stories are collaged or combined

• Single stories have the danger of becoming one-dimensional and trite like Chicken Soup for the Soul.

• Only by putting stories together do you develop a three dimensional space of shared meaning

• The format gives everybody a chance to talk. This doesn’t always happen in conversation – even with just two people


StoryMatters: Tips and Tricks

• Use three or more stories to provide enough triggers for a rich conversation*

• Keep stories short, share the air time

• Leave stories open ended, avoid moralizing or insisting on a particular interpretation

• Give people time and space to develop their index words

• Leave 'em hungry, you don't have to tie up every loose end. People will continue the conversations that are meaningful to them off line.

• Be comfortable with ambiguity, trust that the time spent will be meaningful even if you don't know exactly where it will end up


What Do We Mean By Indexing

Stories are tagged with meta-data. Our experiences are stored in our minds as stories.
Loosely speaking, these stories have labels associated with them. Facilitating with stories requires us to be aware of how stories are triggered. The StoryMatters process stimulates people’s indexing schemes. It will help them expand their index and at other times to help them use their index scheme to relate their story to other stories. When our experiences are well indexed, we are able to see connections and relationships more easily. A strong index functions like a hub. New experiences and other people’s stories can be quickly plugged in. This of course leads to insights that can result in performance improvements.


So Why Three or More Short Stories

Stories in isolation are of limited value. Emergent sense-making is engaged by the interaction and inter-relationship between stories. The richness of stories and the insights to be gained are produced by the crisscrossing pattern of stories being related to one another.

Poetic Vision of Stories & A Story Benediction

Stories fold in and out of themselves to reveal subtle worlds of meanings, purpose, and connections.

They are gentle transporters bound by time but that travel beyond the boundaries of what we have experienced at any given point in time.

Stories free us to move through a landscape of change. We leave the dusty road of the familiar and embrace a void where we can find the freedom to chose and perceive new realities and project worlds of our own making.

Stories can either crush illusions we have become enslaved to due to habit or they can lift our veils of fear and familiarity and give us a glimpse of new ways of being. Here we will find a place where we can be our unique selves while in communion with others.

Terrence L. Gargiulo

May stories...
Stir you heart,
Inform your thoughts
and guide your actions

Initial Thoughts on Stories

Here are some thoughts that give shape to some of the ways I have come to think about stories...

Stories are fundamental to how we communicate, learn and think.

The shortest distance between two people is a story.

Stories are less about telling and more about listening and eliciting.

The only reason to tell is a story is to trigger more stories and insights from within ourselves or draw out (elicit) the stories of thers.

We have all the story equipment to connect with yourself and others in rich ways. How often are we using it? Do we use it in conscious and purposeful ways? Do we create environments that encourage others to share their stories?

Stories go beyond the obvious ways that we use them to encode information.

Play with the counter-intuitive notions that stories are implicit in nature; encoding messages clear cut messages to move learning, emotions, ideas or values is only the tip of the iceberg and perhaps the least important capacity of stories.

To be called a story - a story does not need to have a clear beginning, middle and end or recognizable story trajectory. By accepting this we are neither negating story in its obvious forms or diluting the notion of stories.

Stories create spaces of trust and relationships. They are living entities made real and present by the reflecting, remembering, and imagining of people engaged with each other.

Stories achieve their greatest power in concert with each other.

Stories are emergent in nature.

Through stories we enact versus announce our intentions.

Our actions impregnate the moment with new stories creating possibilities and ripples of sense making and future sense giving of others.