In a recent post on LinkedIn, Jeanne M. Lambin suggested using Kenn Adams’s “Story Spine” as a way of provoking shifts in established patterns of thinking, and as a basis for “imagin[ing] a new possible”.
As she describes it, the Story Spine takes the following form:
Once upon a time...
Every day...
But one day...
And because of that...
And because of that...
And because of that...
Until finally...
And ever since then...
To get my mind off Derby’s defeat at home to Norwich(!), I thought I’d spend a few minutes setting out what Lambin calls the “What Does This Make Possible Story” for my soon-to-be-published (strictly non-fiction!) book, The Wiggly World of Organization.
So here goes...
Once upon a time... managers were told that the touchstones of organizational excellence and expert management practice were order, predictability and control.
Every day... armed with the concepts, tools and techniques of management orthodoxy, they worked hard to deliver the sought-after outcomes in line with the prescribed ways forward.
But one day... during the latest of their many informal exchanges, they agreed that this neatly packaged and predictable view of the organizational world bore little relationship to their everyday lived reality.
And because of that... they began to wake up to the nature of organization and management practice as they actually experienced it.
And because of that... they decided to pay more attention to what they actually found themselves doing day to day, as they came face to face with the real-world messiness.
And because of that...they began to take seriously the complex social dynamics of organization and the ways in which they - along with everyone else - were perpetually creating the future together in the currency of their ongoing interactions.
Until finally... they accepted that organization is unavoidably wiggly. And that they - along with everyone else - have no option but to muddle through the complex reality that this entails.
And ever since then... they’ve striven to do so with purpose, courage and skill.
The real thing...
So there we have it. A bite-sized view of the wiggliness of organization and the implications of this for management practice.
It’s far better to read the real thing, of course! And, with that in mind, The Wiggly World of Organization, is due to be published on 17 May. Copies can currently be pre-ordered from Routledge’s own website. During their current Super Saver Sale, this can be obtained at a 20% discount.
Up the Rams!
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