All about Stories

“The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease” Voltaire (1694 – 1778) Narrative medicine is not something you’ll easily find on the ‘net and if you do, information is sparse. But would it surprise you to know that the techniques employed by both Western allopathic medicine and African traditional healers (such as sangoma and inyanga) make extensive use of narrative techniques?…

This story based on on a story told in Sir Laurens van der Post’s book “The Heart of the Hunter” Once upon a time… on the edge of the dry Kalahari desert, there farmed a bushman farmer. He had crops and a few cows and, though he was relatively content, he did so wish that he would one day have a wife to share his life….

When I was initiated for the first time in 1937 into the mysteries and knowledge of Mother Africa I was ordered by my teacher who was my aunt. She said I should go outside and fill a small clay pot with water. And then she said to me, “Look into the water – what do you see?” I was caught in a trap because an initiate…

Here are some tips for skillful storytelling. Start off by Visualising the story! Imagine the sounds, tastes, smells, textures and colours in the story. It is only when you experience the story vividly yourself that your audience can experience it! Experience your story until the characters become as real to you as the people and places you know in real life. Read the story again with concentration….

SOWETO analysis adds two critical categories to the traditional SWOT analysis and helps ask a powerful guiding question; So Where To Now? SWOT analysis is a strategic planning tool used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in any other situation of an organization requiring a decision in pursuit of an objective. It involves monitoring the environment of the organization…

A paradigm is a self-consistent set of ideas and beliefs which acts as a filter, influencing how we perceive and make sense of the world. Examples of paradigms include – how to make bread, what a bed looks like, the characteristics of a chair that lend the idea of “chairness”, how we treat sick people in hospital and so on. The term was first used by…

If you research ‘game theory’ on the web, you’ll find the main references refer to game theory in terms of mathematical models as would be used in economics, psychology, politics etc.. The main focus of this piece is upon social games that include many of the games that we play in our daily lives. The thing is that people don’t tend to see these as games…

Some many years ago I facilitated a workshop on change management and remember an animated discussion about the concept of ‘hive mind’ and what the term meant in the context of organisations. There were many opinions that emerged during the day and that evening when I got home, I became immersed in reading about how bees communicate and organize themselves. I found that there was a…

From Idea to Impact So you have an idea for a story. It might be for a simple social media post or an elaborate brand campaign. But before you start writing, pause. A great story isn’t just told; it’s designed. The right questions can transform a good idea into an unforgettable narrative that resonates with your audience and achieves your goals. This one-page guide outlines the…

International Literacy Day is celebrated annually on September 8th  throughout the world for 60 years now – you can read more about it here. Often schools like to do something to celebrate this event and each year we get requests from teachers from all over the world around what they could do on the day – ironically these requests peak 1-4 days before September the 8th….

Your Narrative (or story) can be seen is an operating system upon which your user interface and apps run. Transforming your story is like changing your operating system and gives novel ways to access, visualise and influence the endlessly transforming chaos of zeros and ones in the machine that represent your inner world/nervous system/perception and your computers connection to the outer world umwelt of “reality”. Reality…

Vishnu and Naruda were sitting in deep conversation and Naruda asked “What is time Lord Vishnu?” Vishnu replied “Why don’t you cross the river and find out?” So Naruda went down to the river and swam to the other side, climbed up the bank and proceeded to the village where he stopped at the first house he saw and knocked at the door. The door was…

Brand Managers and Marketing Teams are expected to tell the story of the business and its brands to create and build customer interest, awareness, sales and  long-term brand recognition. Marketing departments often need to liaise with advertising agencies and providers of sales data – this requires  teams and brand managers to brief agencies and creatively work with market feedback data to create stories and images that…

A number of thinkers from widely differing fields have studied and commented on myths and legends. Here is a sampling of their observations: A myth is a sacred story from the past. It may explain the origin of the universe and of life, or it may express its culture’s moral values. Myths concern the powers that control the human world and the relationship between those powers…

Trauma is not defined by the event itself but by an individual’s unique response to it. Recognizing Trauma The workbook provides a Trauma Checklist, adapted from the PCL-5, to help individuals assess the severity of their trauma symptoms. This checklist covers common reactions, such as intrusive memories, avoidance behaviors, negative thoughts, emotional changes, and sleep disturbances. Understanding Trauma’s Impact The book explains how trauma affects various…

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We start our lives watching and listening to sounds made by the world around us. As William James once wrote “The baby, assailed by eyes, ears, nose, skin, and entrails at once, feels it all as one great blooming, buzzing confusion”. At some stage, many of these sounds become words and acquire meaning and emotion. When these words get strung together, they become stories that can…

We all know about private converations, the conversations you have with someone else that you don’t talk about once you’ve had them. There is another category of private conversation that is the most private of private converations – the conversations that happen in the mind. This is sometime called ‘thinking’.    

Storie deur Marie Beytell miracleproductions.co.za Hier is ‘n storie EN ‘n gediggie wat ek vandag opdra aan my PA PIET, wie 45 jaar in JCI se goudmyne gewerk het, en swaarstroom elektrisiteit gedurende sy leeftyd bemeester het. Ek onthou al die nagskofte wat hy moes werk, ons angs en naelkou as hy moes gaan help wanneer daar rotsstortings was en ondergrondse vure uitgebreek het… Hoe hy…

Assessment: Brand and Brandstory Assessment Loading… Assessment: Build vision for your Future This feedback assessment is designed to help you develop a powerful vision of the future and profile the way in which you allocate your energies in your life. There are no right or wrong answers to these questions and statements. It’s designed to make you think. Loading… Assessment: Are you a genius? Loading… Assessment…

An African Dilemma tale is a unique style of participative storytelling. It is a story that has no end other than that provided by the participants. And even then, the story continues…… Why are dilemma tales important for children in the digital age? Children are bombarded with conflicting stories every day. They ingest cartoons, news, reality shows, commercials, movies, series and computer games.  They hear adults…

The Art and Science of Change explores change and transformation as complex, multifaceted phenomena that are constant and inevitable in both personal and organizational life. Change is defined as an alteration or transition, while transformation implies a more profound and fundamental shift in identity and self-worth. Effectively managing these processes requires a multidisciplinary approach, integrating insights from diverse fields such as systems theory, psychology, storytelling, cultural…

The Exit Narrative The Exit Narrative is a particular kind of story that is seldom shared, but everyone has one or more of them. The Exit Narrative, when it pops up into your mind is evidence that change is being contemplated and things are about to transform. Change and uncertainty gives rise to angst and fear; this has impacts on the nervous system, the endocrine system…

“I once had a really great idea and sent it in an email to the MD but it was ignored. That’s why I’m not going do anything innovative again” I have heard stories like this on many occasions and the association between innovation – or the lack of it – has become clear in my mind. Innovation does not occur easily in a space where there…

“Storify Your Year” Forget the Resolution. Write the Story. We’ve all been there: by February, most New Year’s resolutions are distant memories. Traditional goals like “get fit” or “save money” feel like chores because they lack a soul. Instead of making a list of demands, try Storifying your future with this three-step sensory method: Script the Experience: Write a list of experiences you want to have—but…

I am the grandchild of the warrior men and women that Hintsa and Sekhukhune led, the patriots that Cetshwayo and Mphephu took to battle, the soldiers Moshoeshoe and Ngungunyane taught never to dishonour the cause of freedom. My mind and my knowledge of myself is formed by the victories that are the jewels in our African crown, the victories we earned from Isandhlwana to Khartoum, as…

Start thinking in new dimensions Our ThoughtFormz in-house thinking skills workshop is designed to stimulate responsible innovation in a corporate context. The workshop is designed to equip participants with the critical and creative thinking skills required to face challenges and risk innovation, increase your organisations’ ability to be competitive and help everybody to see the ‘Big Picture’. The ThoughtFormz thinking skills workshop combines cutting-edge research and useful ideas…

Stress is something that is unique to each one of us – it is internally generated. Stress is also something that accompanies conflict. If you feel stressed and worry about how you will manage to continue feeling stressed, try practising the following clinically proven methods: Worry about Things You Can’t Control – Watch the MSM news channels – especially CNN – and worry about ebola, the…

The french philosopher, Michel Foucault, once  suggested that prisons exist in the world because it helps us imagine that the prison is “out there” and that we aren’t already living in one ourselves. The same idea applies to games – there are many games out there that serve to remind us that we don’t live in a game reality whereas, in fact, we do.  Many of…

Once Upon a Time…A water bearer from a dusty African village had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it. The other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walk from the stream to the village, the cracked…