The Power of the Tale: Using Narratives for Organisational Success - Hardcover

Allan, Julie; Fairtlough, Gerard; Heinzen, Barbara

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 047084227X ISBN 13: 9780470842270

Verlag: John Wiley & Sons, 2002

Inhaltsangabe

" . . . I thoroughly endorse the book. . . Fairtlough is an excellent thinker."
Napier Collyns

"Takes Arie de Geus's thinking forward . . I have no hesitation in recommending it for publication."
Gill Ringland

"The most important aspect is the potential to legitimise the use of storytelling in a business environment . . and help management think outside the box."
Arie de Geus

Story-telling is one of the best ways for individuals, groups, organizations and societies to learn. Skill in story-telling and in other narrative activities allows us to understand complexity, live with uncertainty, communicate well and increase personal and organizational effectiveness. As organizations move away from old-fashioned command and control, they will increasingly need the bonds of shared stories, which create shared language, shared visions and shared values.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

JULIE ALLAN is a chartered occupational psychologist in private practice, whose work is focused on supporting sustainable individual and organisational development. She draws on a wide range of whole-system approaches, including gestalt and complexity, to help individuals address both strategic thinking and behavioural change. With a prior career in writing and publishing with the BBC, she is particularly interested in communication and applied creativity, and has recognised and put to use the vital role played by storytelling across all her working involvement, as well as in general life.

GERARD FAIRTLOUGH is a biochemist with 25 years' experience at Shell. Later he was founder and CEO of biopharmaceutical company Celltech, and has helped set up several other businesses in biotechnology and IT. Gerard has been specialist advisor to the House of Commons Select Committee for Science and Technology, advisor to the LIFT Business/Arts Forum and is widely published in the areas of organisation learning and innovation. He is currently a director of Xenova Group plc and Chair of the Advisory Panel of SPRU at Sussex University.

BARBARA HEINZEN is a geographer and freelance consultant in long range scenario planning and policy analysis. She specialises in working with organisations to help identify the driving forces of change in developing and restructuring societies. Barbara has worked with a variety of major multinational companies and public and voluntary organisations in Europe, Asia and Africa on both commercial and public policy issues. Like Gerard, she is an advisor to the LIFT Business Arts Forum, but also co-founded BEAD, Business Exchange on AIDS and Development, and is a Senior Research Associate at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.

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'This book - full of stories about storytelling - contains some remarkable, real life examples of how story-telling in organisations leads to learning and dilemma resolution and how it makes possible the realisation of a vision.' Arie de Geus, Former Head of Group Planning, Royal Dutch/Shell Group and author of The Living Company

'The real power of narrative is that the threads can be interwoven to create ferocious antagonisms, happy endings and elegant syntheses. This is a book for all who would enthral others with their enterprise.' Charles Hampden-Turner, The Judge Institute of Management Studies, University of Cambridge. Co-author of Riding the Waves of Culture and Building Cross-Cultural Competence.

'Tales, of the sort described in this book, are a powerful antidote to the overly analytical culture that afflicts many organisations today. Like many of the best business ideas, telling stories is both old and new. This book develops a new way to use stories to create the elusive competitive edge - a must for managers in our increasingly complex world.' DeAnne Julius, Former Member of the Monetary Policy Committee, Bank of England.

'A gift to story-lovers. After an hour or so, one is entirely engrossed by this delightful book. Full of rich stories, narratives and ideas, it will appeal to the scholar, the student and the practitioner, the story-teller and the listener.' Yiannis Gabriel, School of Management, Imperial College, University of London. Author of Storytelling in Organizations.

Aus dem Klappentext

Storytelling has held a central place in all societies, all cultures and across all time but if you thought that only designated storytellers could tell stories, think again. Storytelling is now acknowledged as a rigorous approach, increasingly valued in business and public policy for its ability to offer fresh insights, raise awareness, enhance creativity and deal with complexity and uncertainty

This book takes the everyday stories of life in a variety of organisations and suggests, not only why they are vital, but also how to start telling stories that could make a difference in a working environment. Based around seven diverse settings, the book weaves a picture of life in these places through telling stories of them and about them. Some of the accounts are fictionalised but their truth is clear - they describe situations, and characters, we have all met at some time in our working lives.

But this is not simply a book of stories. Bringing together an intriguing, and eclectic selection of stories, theories and exercises, the authors provide a practical and stimulating way of doing things differently. If you have ever despaired of overheads and numbers and searched for a better way to communicate important information, this book is for you. Whatever else you do, don't make heavy weather of it. Stories are best when they're lightly held and told for the fun of it.

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: John Wiley & Sons
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2002
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 047084227X
• ISBN 13: 9780470842270
• Einband: Tapa dura
• Anzahl der Seiten: 324
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar