Story Writing and Telling“Don’t Fall Off The Back of The Boat”

Michael Short: Head of Culture Radtac

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Why are we here?

• To demonstrate a technique for gaining common ground to build trust, understanding and have good conflict - so we can move forward.

Source: Lencioni, P. (2002). The five dysfunctions of a team : a leadership fable. San

Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

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Why story telling?

• We learn and align ourselves through the telling and sharing of stories.

• Storytelling is useful in far more situations than most leaders realize. – inspiring the organization

– setting a vision

– teaching important lessons

– defining culture and values

– explaining who you are and what you believe in or put a different way why you are doing ‘it’.

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Engagement through Story Writing

Photographs of Client Back

of the Boat removed

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Understanding through a Shared Story

• History can be as important in a learning organisation as now and the future

• If a team’s perception of the past is not shared then their individual approach to the future will be different also

• If you want a team to pull in one direction they need to know where they are starting from

• Getting physical interaction with a story is an important part of gaining good conflict and commitment

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Radtac Gaming Client “Back of the Boat” Story

Photographs of Client Back

of the Boat removed

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Why “Back of the Boat”

• Other scenarios could be used e.g from the ‘top of the hill’, ‘back along the walk’, from the “back window of the car” etc

• The boat analogy works for me because– “Anchors” can be built in later– Other ‘craft’ affecting passage as well as the future “from

the front of the boat”– Plenty of “at sea pleasures, risks and obstacles” that you

can use– Most people accept that big ships are less nimble and take

time to change course– I find it the easiest to use– Other analogies can be built in e.g. Culture Iceberg,

anchors

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So now the fun piece

• Let’s do a “back of the boat”

• I want you to divide into groups of 10

• I want you to imagine your in Apple Inc. in 2014 and you have been asked to draw a picture of the last 10 years of the history

• I would like you to nominate someone to tell the story when you have finished before you start

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Now I want you to swap with a team

• I would like each of you to swap with a team

• I would like the nominee that was telling your story to tell the story of that team – as they have drawn it not as you have drawn yours

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What have we learnt

• Story tellers, what did you learn from telling someone else’s story?

• Story writers what did you learn from others telling your story?

• What did we as a group learn about hearing other people’s story?

• If we all contributed to the stories would the big story be richer or poorer?

• I believe that getting people to understand where they have been as a collective is important to getting them to move forward as a team

• How do people learn in an (agile) organisation?

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The learning organisation triangle

Radtac:Culture Intervention Triangle ©Radtac

Beliefs

Intrinsic Behaviours

Actions

Results

Doing

Being

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Conclusion

• Stories are great high content engagement tool

• Drawing stories get people physically engaged

• Drawing pictures is a way of overcoming verbal hesitation at expression, goes to the limbic brain which has visualisation but no verbal skills

• Ensures everyone starts in the same place

• We can use the results of history to inform actions and beliefs moving forward

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Many thanks for taking part

Slideshare here

Michael Short @tweetandshort, michael.short@radtac.co.uk

07711875909