Category: Narrative research
04
Nov
Argh. When a helpful example is kept confidential
No great thoughts today – the upcoming post on how not to restrict necessary feedback is drawing those for the moment. Instead, an observation for those of us who use micro-narrative research for sensemaking and organisational culture. I’m engaged today in starting data exploration and visualisation for a client project. We’re running a big workshop […]
12
Apr
Digital Leadership, Agile Transformation – an introduction to narrative research and SenseMaker
Thanks to the Digital Leadership Meetup team for the recent opportunity to join them. We talked about the need for good feedback, sense-making in working with people – and the vital role of employee narrative research in providing that (in this case, using SenseMaker® software). The slides from the SenseMaking your way into the HR […]
16
Nov
Narrate at the UN Data Literacy workshop, November 2018
Our CEO and Chief Storyteller, Tony Quinlan, spoke on Thursday 15th November 2018 at the Bangkok workshop on UN Data Literacy. Talking about using ethnography in-field, he discussed projects we’ve undertaken with Cognitive Edge’s SenseMaker tools.
05
Nov
Reflections on developing a SenseMaker framework to understand company culture
We spent last week working on a new narrative research framework using SenseMaker® with a new client – a quick snapshot of the organisation ahead of a big leadership and organisational design event in a month’s time. The week started with a workshop to explore the issue and the potential angles for the SenseMaker® triads, dyads, […]
19
Mar
Using SenseMaker to understand girls’ lives – a case study from GirlEffect
I’ve realised that site changes mean that one of the best case studies of using SenseMaker® in field has disappeared from both the Cognitive Edge and GirlEffect websites. I was lucky enough to work alongside both the authors – in Rwanda and to a lesser extent in Ethiopia – on these brilliant projects. If you’re looking for […]
20
Feb
Working with SenseMaker – experiences from the field with UNDP
If you’re thinking of running a SenseMaker project – I’d strongly recommend reading these first. In recent years, the Narrate team has been working closely with UNDP staff on SenseMaker projects across Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East. UNDP staff regularly blogged about their experience of using SenseMaker in field on the UNDP website, but […]
27
Dec
SenseMaker and social change dynamics – slides and video
This week, Tony joined fellow complexity explorer Marcus Jenal for a webinar hosted by Laurie Webster for Cognitive Edge. Looking at social change, both presenters talked about recent experiences of using SenseMaker to explore social and attitudinal change. The webinar was recorded and is available for watching at Cognitive Edge’s Wistia site here. Tony’s slides are […]
29
Oct
Mrs Trellis, red-shirts and savings – the limits of text analysis
I’ve just finished Tim Harford‘s excellent Messy (paperback just out) alongside Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa‘s The Leopard and both have thrown up examples of phrases that brought a smile to my face and, along with an example from a conference earlier this year, highlight one of my concerns about automatic forms of text analysis. To be […]
12
Oct
SenseMaker contours of narrative – how a culture might evolve, where a culture won’t shift
Moving cultural beliefs and patterns is tough – the way that people behave generates micro-narratives and stories that then inform (constrain) how other people behave. Feedback loops and patterns that can strengthen over time, making change seem impossible*. In our work with SenseMaker, we see this in organisational cultures, in national values and beliefs and […]
13
Jul
Complexity, micro-narratives and SenseMaker®. Tony Quinlan’s talk from the UN Data Innovation Lab , Nairobi: March 2017
It’s a couple of months ago now, but Narrate’s Chief Storyteller, Tony Quinlan, was invited to talk at the fourth UN Data Innovation Learning Lab event, held in Nairobi, Kenya in March 2017. The event focused on “making data meaningful and making the invisible visible“. The video of the talk is available on YouTube here: […]