May 08, 2008

About My Issues with Games

Two commenters, Corvus and Liz, expressed curiosity about my statement that I loathe and detest games in this post.

For me, this issue is a tantalizing look at the question of nature vs. nurture. I believe it is possible that I was genetically programmed to hate games.

It seems that my mother also loathes and detests games. But I did not know of her hatred when I was a child. I learned of it only as an adult. Because she saw mothering (which she also wasn't crazy about) as Job One, she forced herself to play games with me and my two sisters.

Now, it's possible my loathing of games was learned behavior if my mother manifested any of her loathing while playing games with us. But I don't think she did. I was never consciously aware she hated games while she was playing them with us.

If you ask me why I hate games, I am likely to say, "I just do," but if pressed, I would say they are boring and I have many better uses for my time.

I will say, however, that as a child I enjoyed "games" that were more of the storytelling ilk – unorganized games of the imagination, such as "House," "Horses," "Brother and Sister," and playing with dolls and making up stories about them.

Posted by Katharine at 12:11 PM | Comments (0)

May 08, 2008

A "Stroke of Insight" Story

The World's Greatest Yoga Instructor, Emma Tranter, turned me onto this fascinating video presentation, from "TED," Technology, Entertainment, Design, which "started (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Taylor tells an amazing story that takes on special meaning because of her role as a neuroanatomist. Through her stroke, she gains new "insider" insight into the brain's function and the human ability to achieve an astonishing state of being.

One morning, a blood vessel in Jill Bolte Taylor's brain exploded. As a brain scientist, she realized she had a ringside seat to her own stroke. She watched as her brain functions shut down one by one: motion, speech, memory, self-awareness ...

Amazed to find herself alive, Taylor spent eight years recovering her ability to think, walk and talk. She has become a spokesperson for stroke recovery and for the possibility of coming back from brain injury stronger than before. In her case, although the stroke damaged the left side of her brain, her recovery unleashed a torrent of creative energy from her right. From her home base in Indiana, she now travels the country on behalf of the Harvard Brain Bank as the "Singin' Scientist."

"How many brain scientists have been able to study the brain from the inside out? I've gotten as much out of this experience of losing my left mind as I have in my entire academic career."
– Jill Bolte Taylor

Posted by Katharine at 11:24 AM | Comments (1)

May 07, 2008

Job Interviews in the Storytelling World of Second Life

For someone who prides herself on keeping up with trends, I have been quite slow on the uptake with Multi-User Virtual Environments, such as Second Life. I don't fully grasp this concept, and I haven't yet become a full participant, but I'm attempting to learn more and expect to post more as I do. Clearly, Second Life is a storytelling environment.

It should not therefore have surprised me that Second Life is also being used as a job-interviewing environment, but there it was in the New York Times.

Reporter Matt Villano told of his interview with Linden Lab, the owner and operator of Second Life:

Mr. Gould showed up in a Superman costume. Next, he invited me to sit down next to him in a chaise longue that overlooked the crashing surf. As we talked about my strengths and weaknesses, crabs skittered along the sand at our feet. At another point, in the middle of responding to a question about overcoming professional challenges, I stood up and performed a hula dance.

Finally, after thanking me for my time, Mr. Gould stood up, shook my hand and flew away.

Apparently, these interviews are indeed taking place, and companies are also using Second Life for Virtual Job Fairs. "Mr. Gould" told Villano that Second Life interviews are best supplemented with traditional recruiting methods.

Posted by Katharine at 11:10 AM | Comments (0)

New Story Events Posted

I've posted some new events in my Story Events section – and some are coming up very soon.

Posted by Katharine at 10:51 AM | Comments (0)

May 06, 2008

Storytelling Class Trivialized?

In her blog Soulbride's Kitchen, Kamalla Rose Kaur tells of what sounds like a wonderful storytelling class at Western Washington University (where the class is a General Education Requirement) taught by Rosemary Vohs. Commenters to Kaur's blog affirm Vohs's exceptional teaching ability and credit her with significant influence on their lives ("She taught me virtually everything I know about storytelling, public speak[ing], and performing," writes Jacqueline Bartha of Jacksonville, FL.)

Kaur's main point in her posting is how she was derided when she told people she was taking the storytelling class. People assumed it was an easy and lightweight topic. In reality, storytelling was Kaur's hardest class. She wonders if storytelling is looked down upon "because anyone can tell a story...?"

Is it because professors are often horrible storytellers, while humble working class folk often excel at it? Is it a women’s discipline? Is it a childish subject? Or are other races better at storytelling than people of European descent?

Kaur peppers her posting with some great quotes about storytelling, which I've now posted in my Story Wisdom section.

She concludes, "The capacity to tell our tales is neither easy nor is it trivial." Referring to the tendency of the revilers to compare the class to basket-weaving, Kaur declares: "I dare you! Weave a basket that holds water and lasts longer than your puny little lifetime."

In a sad postscript to her blog posting, Kaur notes that because of budget cuts, Western Washington U. has cut Vohs' classes down to one and told her to vacate her office.

Posted by Katharine at 11:17 AM | Comments (0)

May 05, 2008

Story Prompts about Parents and Siblings

In a recent newsletter, Terrence Gargiulio offered some great "trigger questions" for eliciting stories about parents and siblings:

• What stories do you know about your parents' childhood?
• What things did you do with your parents?
• Do you have any memories of shopping for food or clothing with your parents?
• Were you ever jealous of your siblings? Were they ever jealous of you?
• What things do you admire most about your parents?
• What aspects of your relationship with your parents were difficult?
• While you were growing up, were there any major events in your parents' lives?
• Did you ever see your parents frightened?
• How did your parents relate to one another?
• Who were your parents' friends?
• What hobbies or interests did your parents have?
• What things upset your parents?
• Did your parents give you chores?
• Did you have an allowance?
• How did your parents express affection?
• How did your parents express anger?
• Were you spoiled in any way?
• Did you or any of your siblings receive special treatment?
• Were your parents strict?
• What sort of rules did you have while growing up?
• Were your parents involved in the community?
• What did your friends say and think about your parents?
• Did your parents ever apologize to you?
• In what ways did you try to please your parents?
• What were some of the most memorable gifts your parents gave you?
• How did your parents express disappointment?
• What do you cherish most about your parents?

Posted by Katharine at 12:37 AM | Comments (0)

May 04, 2008

Podcast about Storytelling and Learning

At The Learning Times Green Room, a podcast for Renewal, Retooling and Conversations about Learning, co-hosts Susan Manning and Dan Balzer offer a podcast on using storytelling for instructional purposes.

The Learning Times Green Room blog also offers notes to go along with the podcast. Susan's and Dan's discussion of "getting students engaged in solving a problem, making a recommendation, or breaking up problem down into simpler components are methods of using story" resonates with me. Susan and Dan also encourage listeners to check out Learning Scenarios Online based at Valencia College, which is near me. You can log onto a demo Learning Scenario course, Teaching for Learning, a story-based course described, in part, like this: "By engaging with the storyline, characters, and resources, and interacting with other participants, you will leave with the skills, attitudes and knowledge to assist you in creating a learning-centered classroom environment."

The Learning Times Green Room's show topics are often drawn from members of LearningTimes.org, a free online community of education and training professionals from across the globe. The LT Green Room gives listeners (and ourselves) an opportunity to reflect on what they're doing behind the scene that results in an effective learning experience.

Posted by Katharine at 01:17 PM | Comments (0)

May 03, 2008

Johnny-the-Bagger's Story: How Can You Put Your Personal Signature on Your Job?

Here at the conference I'm attending, I learned that the viral story of Johnny the Bagger is highly popular on the Internet and being used to inspire better customer service. It's more than just about customer service though.

While Johnny's story has inspired many, Barbara Glanz, in turn, inspired Johnny by talking about making people feel special, creating memories, putting your personal signature on your job, and changing the culture of the workplace.

The video slideshow says it best. And shows the power of story to motivate change.

Posted by Katharine at 01:51 AM | Comments (0)

May 02, 2008

Purposeful Stories

I'm at a conference – of the Career Management Alliance – and heard the wonderful author and speaker Richard Leider today, who in addition to packing his presentation with stories, also made several references to the power of story. Building on the practice of Narrative Medicine, Leider declared that the absence of people to tell our stories to is tantamount to ill health or even death.

The major focus of Leider's coaching practice is living a purposeful life:

People who are living on purpose feel a sense of aliveness every day and seek to make a difference in the world around them. A Purposeful Life is living with meaning and intention.

Story helps people realize their purpose; Leider equates asking "What is the narrative theme of your life?" to asking, "What is your purpose?"

A bit about Leider's books from his Web site:

Repacking Your Bags and The Power of Purpose are considered classics in the career development field. Claiming Your Place at the Fire and Something to Live For, have been touted as breakthrough books on “vital aging.” He is a contributing author to many leading-edge coaching books, including: Coaching for Leadership, The Art and Practice of Leadership Coaching, Executive Coaching for Results and The Leader of the Future.

Posted by Katharine at 11:57 PM | Comments (0)

May 01, 2008

Share Stories of Love and Forgiveness

Launched in 2006, the Campaign for Love & Forgiveness uses PBS documentaries, community activities, online resources, and networking opportunities to encourage reflection and conversation about how love and forgiveness can effect meaningful change in individuals and society. Through community conversations, the campaign aims to create a meaningful national dialogue that will bring about positive changes for individuals, their relationships, and their communities.

Visitors are invited to write love/forgiveness stories of their own, tell it via audio over the phone, or submit a video. Visitors can also experience stories that have been submitted.

[ A tip of the hat to Stephanie West Allen for alerting me to this site. ]

Posted by Katharine at 06:12 PM | Comments (0)

April 30, 2008

Is This the Time and the Place for Our Stories?

In a piece on the George Ewart Evans Centre for Storytelling site entitled "'Habits of the Heart' Storytelling and Everyday Life," Professor Hamish Fyfe asserts:

... what shockingly bad job the human race is doing of providing a space for all of us to express our cultures, sense of identity and vision for the future.

Fyfe contends that society's various ills – war, slavery, sexual abuse, and more – are shrinking our space in which to tell our stories.

I wonder, though, if the situation is not just the opposite – that the horrors of society have opened up the space. I keep coming back to 9-11 and how that terrible day multiplied our need to share our stories a millionfold.

We also have unprecedented means in which to tell our stories through all sorts of digital media and collaborative technology, as Fyfe demonstrates by including numerous links to digital stories in his piece.

Posted by Katharine at 11:41 PM | Comments (0)

April 29, 2008

Business Novels

Way back in the early days of this blog, I wrote about the new (to me) concept of the business novel and one I discovered while at a conference.

Barbara Fillip of Knowledge for Development, LLC, has recently written about business novels and provided a helpful list of examples. She had had the idea of using a business novel in a training/consulting situation: "We were looking for something innovative, not just another toolkit or cookbook and so I suggested that we develop a fictional country with fictional characters and a plot." The idea didn't fly with the powers that be, but she still feels it's a good idea. I do, too, and would love to use a business novel with college students someday.

Posted by Katharine at 01:51 PM | Comments (0)

April 28, 2008

You're More Convincing When You Tell Your Own Story

A couple of posted items talk about the value of telling your own story.

a goodman's wonderful newsletter, Free Range Thinking, tells of Dr. David Olds, founder of the Nurse-Family Partnership, which sends nurses into the home of low-income first-time mothers. As ambassador of the program, Dr. Olds was often called on to speak about it but reluctant to tell his own story of why he founded the organization (he had seen the effects in a daycare center on children for whom many problems could have been averted with early intervention).

Once Dr. Olds learned to tell his own story, he said, "Telling my story allowed my own sense of purpose and emotion to get communicated in the context of the presentation. As a result, I was a much more persuasive speaker."

Similarly, Karen Hegmann, as quoted by Neil Davey, talks about George Cohon of McDonald's and how he "used his history of how he got to where he was to help his employees connect with the company, to give them that sense of history." Bringing the personal into a company history resonates because of employees' ability to identify with the class archetypes of "the hero/leader, the obstacle that the hero has to face, and the antagonist that is trying to take over the organisation."

Posted by Katharine at 04:39 PM | Comments (0)

April 27, 2008

Interesting Uses of Storytelling

I frequently come across uses of storytelling that are tangential to my direct interests but are interesting nonetheless – uses I probably would not have thought of, though they certainly don't surprise me. Here are a few:

• Software development has the "user story," defined as "a very high-level definition of a requirement, containing just enough information so that the developers can produce a reasonable estimate of the effort to implement it." See Agile Modeling User Stories
• Similarly, software testing: Karen Johnson posts fascinating reflection on how storytelling might be applied to software testing, excerpted here:

  I felt surrounded by facts, stacks and stacks of facts. How many builds did we have before we shipped? How many defects have been found? On and on with the facts and metrics. I think the American culture is a bit obsessed with facts too – the daily paper is loaded with useful facts and stats like the stock market and sports page. The paper is also loaded with bizarre facts that I don’t know what to do with (like the first octopus with 6 legs was just found) fabulous but what am I supposed to do with this information? Facts roll out of my mind quickly, I don’t retain them. It’s like reading about the national deficit – interesting isn’t it that the larger the number the less meaning it seems to have and that without meaning the information doesn’t stick? I’ve grown restless with facts. My analytical brain has been saturated... I think part of me wanted to hear the stories I was missing, I missed the connection to the gory tales and details of the bugs.

• There's a huge amount of discussion about storytelling in games, especially videogames, which I find a little amusing because I love storytelling but loathe and detest games. An interesting discussion on the subject appears here. In the blog Man Bytes Blog, "Corvus" notes that "modern card games have very deep storytelling roots." He or she goes on to discuss the custom deck for Renown, a game that is played within Corvus's storyworld: "I wanted to design a deck that had deep cultural significance (within the storyworld) and that could be used for multiple purposes within the context of my games." I don't pretend to understand Corvus, but despite my loathing of games, I am intrigued. In the blog, Digital Worlds - Interactive Media and Game Design, Tony Hirst (I think) discusses the "argument between narratologists and ludologists on the role of story in games," addressing the question: "Do Game Players Tell, or Create, Stories?"


• In a similar vein, Archetype Storytelling Cards are available for "develop[ing] fascinating situations, random traits or even entire characters for your games and stories. Inspired by the Tarot, these lavishly illustrated cards embody universal concepts found in every person, object or situation you might encounter."
  

• Artist Joe Costello creates "Sandstory," which he describes this way: "Sand scattered on a light box is formed and reformed into ever changing shapes and images that tell visually powerful stories." More here.

• Hip-hop music. I don't follow hip-hop at all, but at the blog Stuntin' on Prose, "Hugh" says: "My favorite element of hip-hop is storytelling. Over the years I’ve heard countless tracks where the emcee paints a vivid picture giving us characters, a plot and even sometimes a twist ending." He goes on to list his 10 favorite storytelling hip-hop tracks.


• Proposal writing. Mike Brotherton's blog entry about using story in astronomy proposals reminds me of Robert S. Frey, who was a wonderful resource for my dissertation. A highly successful proposal writer, Frey has an article about using story in writing proposals (the PDF version no longer seems to be available, but the HTML version is here.)
  

Posted by Katharine at 11:45 AM | Comments (2)

April 26, 2008

Stories of How People Score the Coolest Jobs

Each chapter of Alexandra Levit's new book, How'd You Score That Gig?, opens with a snippet of a story from someone in an interesting career. Levit then weaves the stories of several people who share each career (60 in total are profiled) throughout the chapter. Sidebar quotes from some of these folks in cool careers add to the narrative. The Web page for the book states:

On the college recruiting scene, the story is always the same. Despite a major that you thought was going to prepare you for a career in the real world, by the time you’re a senior you still have no idea what you want to do with your life. You visit the campus career center and are introduced to a bevy of consulting and banking firms, Fortune 500 staples, and advertising and public relations agencies that employ the “creative” types. You don’t want to go to graduate school right away and might not know what to go to graduate school for, so you interview for these jobs and inevitably accept one.

But what if there was another way? HOW'D YOU SCORE THAT GIG? features 60 cool jobs, divided into seven categories based on the broad personality types that are generally best-suited to those jobs. Author Alexandra Levit selected the cool jobs via an online survey in which she asked nearly 500 twenty and thirty-somethings to tell her about their dream careers. Based on the responses, she generated a list of the top 60 careers and constructed a comprehensive profile of each using the information she gathered from written sources and in-depth interviews with more than 100 real-world individuals currently holding the jobs.

Then, Levit researched various personality type measures to develop her seven “passion profiles” – adventurer, creator, data-head, entrepreneur, investigator, networker, and nurturer. Which one are you? Take the quiz at the beginning of the book to find out!

Mini-stories from the book also appear on the Web site. Levit has started a Facebook page for the book.

Posted by Katharine at 04:15 PM | Comments (0)

April 25, 2008

Gearing Up for Mother's Day with "Mom-oirs" and True Mom Confessions

True Mom Confessions is:

... a place where women [can] confess their fears, frailties and fantasies ... without any risk of judgment or consequence. ... We provided a simple platform, and now mothers from around the globe add their voices to the ever-evolving conversation about what motherhood really is .... not what it should be.

The site has also teamed up with Smith Magazine for a contest of 6-word Momoirs.

Posted by Katharine at 06:25 PM | Comments (0)

April 24, 2008

Stories for Change

One of my most significant storytelling interests is the idea of using stories to spark change. That's the concept behind the site Stories for Change, described this way:

Stories for Change aims to connect and extend the network of workshop facilitators and organizations that have come together in community-based digital storytelling workshops. The site provides a space for members and visitors to share their favorite curriculum ideas, post the stories they create, and engage in meaningful conversations around the stories they watch. The power of community digital storytelling workshops rests in their ability to inspire, connect, and incite action within and between local groups; the goal of Stories for Change is to further nurture that spirit online.

The site provides the opportunity to upload digital stories (216 populate the site at this writing) and has a nice Resources section, featuring Articles, Case Studies, Curricula, Links, Methodology, Presentations, and Tutorials. Forums on the site enable visitors to discuss the site and various aspects of digital storytelling for change. Digital storytelling events also are listed.

Posted by Katharine at 10:12 AM | Comments (0)

April 23, 2008

Situation, Action, Results Stories in Branding

Came across a fantastic article by Ray George on brandchannel.com about how and why stories work in branding.

George kicks off the article by declaring: "If brands are an experience, then stories are an effective way to describe this experience to others." He adds:

Brands are also a balance between left brain and right brain thinking—they combine functional, rational aspects of the category (left brain) with a more emotional connection (right brain).

He compares two example organizational stories – one a vague a platitude-filled bit typical of what most organizations tell, the second a specific story that shows (instead of telling), the brand story the organization wants to convey.

Moving on to what makes a good story, George cites the common formula, Situation –≥ Action –> Results, which interestingly, is also a frequently recommended formula for job-interview and other job-search stories.

Thus, it becomes interested to apply George's concepts to personal branding. For each of the Situation –≥ Action –> Results (SAR) components, he offers these criteria:

Situation should be significant and specific.
Action should be brand-relevant and authentic.
Results should be both rational and emotional.

Let's analyze a job-interview response story from my book, Tell Me About Yourself: Storytelling that Propels Careers, to see how these criteria apply:

Situation: Recently my firm was facing a huge turnover problem, especially in our technical staff because of lack of growth within the organization. No defined path was shared with the employees. To address the situation, I not only had a huge task of defining grades and identifying and compartmentalizing our employees’ growth needs but also a race against time.

George notes that the protagonist of the story, in this case the job-seeker, should hold some significance to the audience, in this case the interviewer. In this case, the candidate is interviewing for a position in human resources and has described s situation significant for an employer hiring an HR pro. George also asserts that the story must be specific, and here the job-seeker has detailed a very specific situation.

Action: I knew the tasks would be time consuming, but I set a deadline for each piece. I aggressively collected information on the employee growth needs by sending questionnaires via emails and reaching out to the workforce. I compiled the data and determined short-term and long-term achievable goals. I developed a small-projects subset of the bigger project. I designed a system so that we could track each other’s project and meet every day. The most prominent finding was lack of challenge at work. I decided to implement a leadership program, effectively identifying the top 10 to 25 percent of workers suitable for the program based on the performance reviews, peer-reviews, and qualifications. I set an aggressive target of 15 days each for each zone to complete this part of the survey.

George says that the action must be brand-relevant, summarizing key tenets of the brand. In the job-search situation, brand-relevant means summarizing key skills that comprise the personal brand. In the action segment above, the candidate has described his brand-relevant skills of goal-setting, organization, and innovation, among others.

George also notes that the action taken must be authentic – something that the audience can relate to. The candidate's description rings true to what a good HR manager can do in this situation.

Result: I met the deadlines, and by the end of a second month, we were ready with the budget for the training program, targeted pilot training group, location, and a trainer selected. We rolled out our first training on effective leadership, and by the end of the quarter, data showed that employees were now engaged and challenged. As a result, turnover was cut in half.

George offers the interesting dichotomy that the result should be both rational and emotional. Rational results are often quantified; in this case, the candidate reduced turnover by half. The emotional element is that employees were now engaged and challenged.

Posted by Katharine at 12:40 PM | Comments (0)

April 22, 2008

One Million Children

Gospel Light Worldwide wanted to tell the story of what it does "in a very real, engaging way." The organization enlisted Nims Media for its concept of creating a film around the children in the field who are using the GLW Bible-study curriculum. They made a film about "children who have found hope in Christ, adults who have devoted their lives to sharing the love of Jesus with children in their community."

I am neutral about the the group's mission but enthralled with the storytelling images on its Web site. You can go to this part of the site and click on beautifully produced clips of children worldwide. There is also a lovely photo gallery.

An interesting tie-in with storytelling is the children's understanding of Bible stories.

Posted by Katharine at 09:43 AM | Comments (0)

April 21, 2008

Fun Story Prompt Presented in a Cool Way

I love the way blogger Michelle Panik O'Neill presented the story prompt she learned about at a workshop. If you go to this blog entry, you'll the see the above image, which you can click on to get an image big enough to read – a photo of a blog entry as a piece of paper in a typewriter. I found the prompt – about a button – charming as well.

Posted by Katharine at 10:46 PM | Comments (0)

April 20, 2008

A Snapshot of Organizational and Applied Storytelling Worldwide

Just about a year ago, Michael Margolis, Madelyn Blair, and Karen Dietz of the WorkingStories group surveyed member story practitioners to compile a collective picture of organizational and applied storytelling worldwide.

Although the results have yet to be formally analyzed, Michael has given me permission to share a preliminary snapshot here.

The survey's purpose was to ask...

• What is the evolving state of the field (of applied/organizational storytelling)?
• Where do we each come from, and what do we share in common?
• What issues/challenges might we want to organize around?

One-hundred-fifteen respondents from 10 countries around the world (Australia, Canada, Denmark, India, Israel, Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland, United States, and United Kingdom) completed the survey.

Most (57 percent) respondents are independent solo practitioners, with 24 percent claiming 2-10 employees, 6 percent with 11-50 employees, and 12.5 percent with larger enterprises of 100+ staff.

Key highlights from the quantitative portion of the survey:

Story practitioners prefer to describe themselves in their own words. When asked what best described your professional affiliation, the "other" category was filled to overflowing. Throughout the survey, a consistent ~ 20 percent expressed their ideas by using the "other" category.

Story is most often at the core of respondents' work. 45 percent use story as a core tool or technique. 30% use story as a support tool or technique, and 21 percent use story as an organizing principle.

While still an emerging field, a body of core practitioners is established. Of survey respondents, 56 percent of story practitioners have been in business for 10 or more years, and 48 percent have used story in their practice for more than 10 years.

Services are delivered and packaged in a range of formats. 74 percent provide workshops/training, 68 percent are professional speakers, 66 percent deliver consulting, 59 percent facilitate, 57 percent write, and 53 percent serve as coaches.

Culture is the most frequently mentioned application of story work. 68 percent apply story in culture work. This was followed by 55 percent applying story to training and 53 percent to change management. Conflict resolution, education, leadership development, and organizational development each came in respectively at 48 percent.

Story practitioners see results from their use of story. 74 percent reported that the results of their story work were "clarity and focus" and "strengthened relationships." 63 percent reported that a sense of unity was another derivative effect.

Knowledge sharing and collaboration head the activities that would motivate respondents to join and actively participate in an association focused on organizational storytelling showed (reported are the responses for "really motivates me" and "somewhat motivates me"):

Collaborating and sharing knowledge: 91 percent
Being part of a community: 84 percent
Gaining credibility/legitimacy for the field: 73 percent
Accessing forums/conferences/convenings: 72 percent
Finding new business: 71 percent
Sponsoring group research: 42 percent

Posted by Katharine at 10:27 PM | Comments (0)

April 19, 2008

A New Kind of Storytelling Resume

I have for the past several years sought out the elusive "storytelling resume." Is it a version of the traditional resume, as I write about in my book? Is it a blog, as I've written about before, most recently here? Is it a social-media resume, as I've written about here? Several career professionals have told me they create story resumes, but their examples never seem to quite what I envision a storytelling resume to be (even though I'm still not quite sure what that vision is).

Perhaps the storytelling resume is like the snazzy, multimedia creations being touted by the site VisualCV, now in beta testing. These "documents" (and I hate to use that term because it suggests something static) can contain photographs, charts and graphs, video, audio clips, and additional documents (such as letters of recommendation or examples of your work).

The VisualCV of Kristen Wright, part of which is pictured above, includes a video clip of Kristen that helps you get to know her better, little mouseover popups about her employers and schools she attended, a bar graph showing her performance (that enlarges when you mouse over it), and downloadable PDFs that include samples of her work and letters of recommendation, all presented in an eye-catching and appealing design.

I'm still not sure if VisualCV is THE storytelling resume, but it tells more of the job-seeker's story than most I've seen.

When you go to the site, wait a few moments for the little Flash "commercial" to run, and then you can see a bunch of VisualCV samples that you can browse through.

Neat concept. I'll probably try it and report on my experience.

Posted by Katharine at 10:26 AM | Comments (0)

April 18, 2008

Realistic Job Previews that Tell a Story

Apparently no one told her the story of what to expect.

Within the academic (and applied) literature is a concept called "Realistic Job Previews (RJPs)," which Wikipedia describes as

devices used in early stages of personnel selection to provide potential applicants with information on both positive and negative aspects of the job. The employee exchange or psychological contract between employer and employee is at the heart of the RJP concept. With an RJP, the employee enters into the contract with their eyes open, aware of what the organization will provide to them (pay, hours, schedule flexibility, culture, etc.) and also with their eyes open to what will be expected from them (late hours, stress, customer interaction, high urgency, degree of physical risk, etc.).

The idea is to reduce turnover by being totally upfront with candidates so they know what they're getting into. I've written before here about employers who make videos available to show what it's like to work for their organizations, but I suspect those are presented with a rather positive spin.

But in his blog, Build a Better Box, Steve Lovelace writes about a video version of the Realistic Job Preview:

One of our large corporate clients ... work[ed] with us to create a recent groundbreaking communications piece. Part "Scared Straight", part "What to Expect When You're Expecting", and part positive-spin marketing, the video demonstrated some typical on-the-job scenarios, depicted through a combination of realistic re-enactments and actual employee dialog through engaging interviews. The logic behind this bold tactic was that potential new employees would get a sneak preview of things to come before they accepted the position. The employer would realize tremendous savings in quarterly training and development, and potential employees would avoid being engaged in a job with which they'd not be comfortable. It's a win-win, and good karma would abound.

I agree. While any kind of video storytelling from employers that gives a flavor of organizational life is positive, those that tell the real story are the most valuable.

Interestingly, Eric Kramer has just reported in Kennedy Information's Recruiting Trends that a survey by the Novations Group finds 33 percent of surveyed companies lost 25 percent of their new employees in 12 months, and 11 percent of those surveyed lost 50 percent of their new employees in the first 12 months. The number one reason, say 48 percent of respondents is unrealistic expectations of the job.

Posted by Katharine at 11:37 PM | Comments (0)

Daily Literary Quote

Thought it would be nice to have a daily lit quote as an entry:

Posted by Katharine at 03:28 PM | Comments (0)

April 17, 2008

The Story of Science

Some encouraging news in the world of using story in teaching and learning...

The Washington Post recently featured The Story of Science series of textbooks for middle-schoolers by Joy Hakim.

The Post's Valerie Struass reports that the series:

tells the history of science with wit, narrative depth and research, all vetted by specialists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The first book is Aristotle Leads the Way," the second is Newton at the Center and the third is Einstein Adds a New Dimension. The series, which has drawn acclaim, chronicles not only great discoveries but also the scientists who made them. ... Constance Skelton, science coordinator for Arlington County schools, said teaching science through stories rather than unconnected snippets of formulas and information is gaining popularity. "If you talk to any first-rate scientist about a particular development, you will very quickly hear a narrative, because the way good scientists think about developments in their field is in terms of stories," science writer Timothy Ferris said. "Telling a story reminds you of how you got to your present state of knowledge," he said, and scientists constantly test whether those steps were reliable.

Posted by Katharine at 11:11 PM | Comments (0)

April 16, 2008

Second Life, Story, and Innovation

Claudia L'Amoureaux, education community developer for Linden Lab, the company behind Second Life, is one of the presenters at Storytelling, a Path to Innovation, an event in the Washington, DC, storytelling weekend planned for May 8-10.

In an interview with Steve Denning, L'Amoureaux discusses innovation and learning in the "metaverse," particularly the story space of Second Life (which I'll be writing more about in the future).

A snippet from the interview:

People are inventing new narratives that take on a life of their own, because people that they don't know yet can come there and inhabit the space, and leave their contributions. The story evolves.

Posted by Katharine at 12:11 PM | Comments (0)

April 15, 2008

Tell Your Story in Comic Strip Form

Stephanie West Allen turned me onto a cool site called Bitstrips where you can create your own comics. Great for telling stories!

I created a sort of alter ego I call Kat Story, above.

Posted by Katharine at 11:32 PM | Comments (0)

April 14, 2008

Storytelling and Dream Interpretation

How can storytelling help you interpret your dreams? A new piece of research by Teresa DeCicco reveals a technique.

In her article, "What is the Story Telling? Examining Discovery with the Storytelling Method (TSM) and Testing with a Control Group," in the academic journal Dreaming, DeCicco notes that her research showed a "significant relationship" between word association and "dreamer discovery" when dreamers created a story after completing word association about their dreams. "Discovery, insight, and bridging to waking-day circumstances was more likely with [the storytelling method]," DeCicco writes. She found a "significant difference between a group that interpreted a dream with [the storytelling method] and those who used the method with word association alone."

DeCicco explains that:

Most dream interpretations are based on two guiding principles: (a) a description of the dream and (b) associations made by the dreamer on the basis of dream content... [The storytelling method] begins with these two fundamental steps and then expands on the basic principles by adding a third step to the process. The third step involves taking the associations and making a meaningful story from them. People make meaning from events based on their own lives in terms of their experiences, personality, and perceptions.

Here's a paraphrased, brief outline of the storytelling method of dream interpretation:

1. Write down the dream in as much detail as possible upon waking.

2. Underline the most important/salient phrases in the dream.

3. Make a list of underlined words.

4. Make an association with each word or phrase on the list.

5. Take the new list of associations and make a meaningful story from these words -- in the exact order they appear on the list.

6. Try to bridge this story to any situation in your waking life and journal about it based on insight from the dream. As questions such as:

• Does this story have meaning for you? Explain.


• Does this story relate to your waking life in some way? Explain.


• Does this story relate to any specific events in your waking life?


• Did this analysis give you any clear insights?


• If yes, write about that insight and how it relates to your life?








Posted by Katharine at 09:22 AM | Comments (0)

April 13, 2008

An Old Friend Advocates Storytelling in the Job Search



Like many people, I had one of my first introductions into the world of job-hunting through Richard Bolles' perennial bestseller, What Color is Your Parachute? My earliest memory of this influential book is when I was participating in a job club in Knoxville, TN, in the 1970s.

Something I read recently on the Web reminded me that Bolles advocates storytelling in the job search. In the 2008 edition of the annually updated book, he even relates storytelling to blogging.

The exercise he recommends is called Seven Stories. He acknowledges resistance on the part of job-seekers to writing stories, and says he believed job-hunters didn't like to write until blogging came along. The ubiquitousness of blogging convinced Bolles that we are a writing people, so he now advises folks to think of the Seven Stories as offline blog entries.

Bolles says each story should include:




• Your goal: what you wanted to accomplish.


• Some kind of hurdle, obstacle, or constraint that you faced.


• A description of what you did, step by step.


• A description of the outcome or result.


• Any measurable or quantifiable statement of that outcome that you can think of.



Bolles then asks job-seekers to analyze their stories for the transferable skills used in the story. At the end of the Seven Stories exercise, Bolles recommends deciding which skills are your favorites and prioritize them.







Posted by Katharine at 12:09 PM | Comments (0)

April 12, 2008

Boomer Stories



Boomoirs is a site to collect and share the stories of baby boomers. Discovering the site -- through Stephanie West Allen -- was timely because my husband and I were just having a discussion about the new social-networking site for "boomers," BoomJ, which has publicized a demographic group we've never heard of -- Generation Jones. Here's what BoomJ has to say about the categories of Boomers:

Baby Boomers were born 1942 to 1953; we associate their youth with Howdy Doody, Davy Crocket hats, and later, Woodstock and Vietnam War demonstrations.

Generation Jones, born 1954 to 1965, is a newer concept and name that represents the actual children of the sixties (more wide-eyed than tie-dyed); Jonesers were weaned on The Brady Bunch and Easy Bake Ovens and later were the teens of 70’s heavy metal, disco, punk and soul.

... Jonesers were originally mistakenly lumped in with Boomers simply because of shared high birth rates, but generational personalities stem from shared formative experiences, not head counts. The dramatically different formative experiences of Boomers and Jonesers created two very different generational personalities. We at Boomj.com “get” Boomers and Jonesers, the differences as well as the similarities.

I think this Generation Jones thing may be a ploy by BoomJ to get slightly younger members. I prefer to stick with the classic Boomer bracket of 1946 to 1964. The Brady Bunch was clearly after my time (insert haughty sniff here].

Anyway, here's what Boomoirs has to say about sharing stories on its site:

You know all those stories you tell your kids about when you were growing up? Tell us, too.

When you get together with old friends, do you reminisce about the good old days? Do you out-brag each other over who attended the coolest concert, drove the hottest car, had the best haircut, or highest-stacked heels?

What was the highlight of your Baby Boomer life? Your defining moment? Your 15 minutes of fame?

Send us your stories and photos and we’ll publish them on the soon-to-be-launched Boomoirs.com. Anything from 100 words and up – a quick anecdote to a boomer memoir with a photo or two are welcome.

You can also subscribe to a weekly Boomoirs newsletter.


Posted by Katharine at 12:24 PM | Comments (1)

April 11, 2008

Tell Your Career Story!

I'm looking for 10 people to profile on 10CareerStories.com and have a bunch of questions.

Looking for folks in these categories:




• Teenager/high-school student planning a career


• College student seeking career


• New college grad


• Twentysomething worker seeking more meaning in your career


• MBA/grad student seeking job


• Mid-career changer seeking a new career


• Homemaker returning to the workforce


• Fired/downsized worker seeking new job


• Entrepreneur returning to the workforce


• Baby Boomer/mature worker seeking job/career



If you fit and would like to answer the questions, please go to the questionnaire.

(http://www.quintcareers.com/career-stories-profile.html)

Thank you!

Posted by Katharine at 06:46 PM | Comments (0)

New Story Log Updates



Just a quick note to say that I have added a few entries to my section Story Log, my running list of storytelling in marketing and pop culture.

Posted by Katharine at 05:01 PM | Comments (0)

Storymaker: New Tool for Digital Storytelling



StoryMaker describes itself as


a simple tool for creating digital stories. Using audio, pictures and text you can create storyboards, slideshows and much much more. To create your own StoryMaker file, just click on the ‘Create a new StoryMaker file’ button below and follow the instructions that follow. You will be asked to input some data and upload your audio file. You audio file can be anything from music to conversation and your images can be absolutely anything you want. Once you do this you are free to proceed to StoryMaker and let your imagination run wild! Your StoryMaker files can be created in one visit to StoryBox or can be saved and worked over several visits. Once you are happy with your work you can add your story to StoryBox to share with others.



Posted by Katharine at 10:31 AM | Comments (1)

April 10, 2008

Storytelling Art in My Backyard



Through May 1, the Art League of Daytona Beach has an exhibit called Storytellers featuring the work of five women artists whose works share strong narrative qualities, according to curator Robin Moore, as quoted by Laura Stewart in the Daytona Beach News Journal.








Posted by Katharine at 07:35 PM | Comments (0)

April 09, 2008

Our Final Story: Updated

Decided to add to my original entry below about obituaries when I read Joanna Moorehead's story in The Guardian about German photographer Walter Schels who


thinks it not only odd, but wrong that death is so hidden from view. Aged 72, he's also keenly aware that his own death is getting closer. Which is why, a few years ago, he embarked on a bizarre project. He decided to shoot a series of portraits of people both before and after they had died. The result is a collection of photographs of 24 people - ranging from a baby of 17 months to a man of 83 - that goes on show in London next week. Alongside the portraits are the stories of the individuals concerned, penned by Beate Lakotta, Schels' partner, who spent time with the subjects in their final days and who listened as they told her how it felt to be nearing the end of their lives.

You can see these eerie photos and read the stories here.


---

William Hageman of the Chicago Tribune says we are increasingly fascinated by obituaries. One piece of evidence was 2006's The Dead Beat in which author Marilyn Johnson wrote about obits and obituary writers. Newer evidence (long after Hageman pronounced us fascinated by obits) was the news that media outlets are writing advance obits for younger and younger celebrities (e.g., the Associated Press's Britney Spears obit), ironically released the same day actor Heath Ledger died at 28.

Hageman says we are increasingly inspired to write our own obits – to tell of our experiences, pass on our wisdom, tell our stories. I have definitely spotted the personal style in the obits of a couple people I've known who died too young.

I know I plan to write mine. My main motivation is avoid the standard cliches, such as "after a long struggle/battle with cancer." While I may have no awareness of it, it would pain me greatly in the afterlife to know that my obit was trite and hackneyed.








Posted by Katharine at 03:21 PM | Comments (0)