All about Stories

You might wonder how you can get into the storytelling business but the truth is that you’re already deeply embedded in it. Whatever you do, whoever you are, you tell stories. You tell stories to yourself (some call this thinking) and anyone who’ll listen. These stories not only describe your reality, they do a whole lot to manifest it. It’s the story you tell, the way…

Grand Narrative used to refer to the ‘Big Story’ or ‘organising principle’ of a country or religious movement but nowadays this applies to large corporations, especially multinationals by virtue of their size. It also shows how the postmodern world is blurring boundaries as large corporates of today have many characteristics similar to religions and kingdoms. A way in which identity is expressed (created?) is through stories…

Men’s lives are as much governed by restrictive role expectations as are the lives of women Men’s lives are essentially governed by fear The power of the feminine is immense in the psychic economy of men Men collude in a conspiracy of silence whose aim is to suppress their emotional truth Because men must leave Mother, and transcend the Mother complex, wounding is necessary Men’s lives…

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…

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…

“The Bushmen in the Kalahari Desert talk about the two “hungers”. There is the Great Hunger and there is the Little Hunger. The Little Hunger wants food for the belly; but the Great Hunger, the greatest hunger of all, is the hunger for meaning… There is ultimately only one thing that makes human beings deeply and profoundly bitter, and that is to have thrust upon them…

Who-are-you? is a narrative based lifeskills workshop designed for youth in Africa and the developing world ‘If you want to get ahead in life, you need self-esteem, confidence and good communication skills. Think for yourself, be creative. Build good relationships. Be the best you can be. Dream big dreams. Become leaders and entrepreneurs. The future is in your hands……’But How? School leavers routinely hear this kind…

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…

Investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson shows how astroturf, or fake grassroots movements funded by political, corporate, or other special interests very effectively manipulate and distort media messages. You’ll see the ‘net differently after you watch this.

If you’re a creative, you already know that where you create — both inside and out — deeply affects what you create. The creative space is hard to describe, but those who live there — artists, writers, musicians, scientists — share one thing: they know how to find their way back to it. You’ve been there before. As a child, you lived there. Back then, play…

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…

“It takes a very long time to become young.” (Pablo Picasso)  Did you have difficulty making friends as a child? Experience scholastic boredom and more than the normal helping of social problems? A little unconventional and nonconformist even at primary school? Eccentric parents? A study of gifted creatives by Psychologist Ellen Winner cited these early life experiences as stimulating creativity because of the introversion that springs…

“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?…

“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…

According to a news report, a certain private school in Brisbane was recently faced with a unique problem. A number of 12-year-old girls were beginning to use lipstick and would put it on in the bathroom. That was fine, but after they put on their lipstick they would press their lips to the mirror leaving dozens of little lip prints. Every night the maintenance man would…

Stories are used for many different purposes in organisations ranging from literal day-to-day stories through specialised stories designed to stimulate change, develop people and teams and even describe the organisations’ future. Stories as used in organisations can be broken down in three major kinds: Literal Stories – Literal stories appeal to the logical mind and contain facts, dates, times, places and numbersAllegorical Stories – The Allegorical…

What is consciousness? How does it work? Can consciousness be expanded? This facilitated workshop allows you to experiment with mind tools that allow reflection on the most human and mysterious of experiences; the awareness of your awareness in what is called “the ever-present now”. The problem with consciousness is that it is used to reflect upon itself thereby changing itself – it’s somewhat like a hand…

Exactly how to portray the human mind has preoccupied philosophers for centuries and more recently psychologists, educationalists and physiologists have contributed to the debate. [technology creates new metaphors, tools to manipulate our experience that create our stance towards the world]. With the advent of information and communications technology, the brain has been compared to a computer that processes in a logical, consistent and systematic way. Sylvester…

The greatest stories are all about change. What does a story have to do to change someone’s behaviour? Well, we should firstly admit that it is not just the story that changes people, but whole communities talking about stories. Behind all behaviour patterns and thought patterns lies the “weight of past experience”. That experience determines the way we interpret future experience. Our past calls our future…

An often overlooked but fundamental aspect of change management is how we use words and metaphors and how slippery meaning really is. Think of how differently you relate to these terms when they are reframed: The ‘block of flats’ is now called a much more interesting sounding ‘vertical village’ The resale value of a  ‘used car’ is so much higher when it is called a ‘previously…

The word metanoia carries a weight that “change” or “improvement” simply cannot match. While we often think of change as an incremental adjustment—like updating software or tidying a room—metanoia represents a complete system reboot. Derived from the Greek meta (beyond or after) and noeo (to perceive or think), it describes a fundamental shift in the very fabric of one’s perspective. It is the moment the lens…

by Karen Alsfine 23 January 2007 From RalBusiness Network http://www.realbusiness.co.za/Article.aspx?articleID=3884&typeID=2 ONCE upon a time. Happily ever after. Comedy or drama. Telling tales is far more than an activity just for respite, so it seems. Storytelling is the meaning of life, connecting the prosaic to the divine and constituting the most engaging way of communicating, says Peter Christie, Big Chief Talking Bull from Not the Bored Room….

A humanoid robot named “Sophia” was granted Saudi Arabian Citizenship at the tech summit Future Investment Initiative on 25th October 2017 – the first time a robot has received citizenship the BBC reported Created by Hanson Robotics (HR) “Sophia” is pale-skinned with features that can display a range of emotions. The robot appears to be able to listen and talk. You can tell it isn’t human…

“NOTE: This story comes from a Zulu elder who said, ‘These ideas about the mountain are from more than 100 years ago. African leadership today—with some shining examples—has a different approach. There’s no more climbing up mountains anymore. Now it’s about ego and the accumulation of money, cars, and property to hoard. The community is impressed when someone moves up the ladder, but it is a…

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…

If you’re considering creating a podcast or video channel, here are some ideas to explore to begin with. 1. what will you call your it?2. who is it for?3. what subject material will you cover?4. what is the mission of your podcast / vlog? Branding Do you have a logo? Colours related to your brand Do you have a intro (a music/sound clip that is always…

Early one morning a wispy cloud bumped into a story…..

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This is an example of how you can use and possibly benefit from treating twitter as a game. It seems some people use the platform very well and that has a lot to do with their intention or rather, having a clear idea of what they are using twitter for. While most presences on twitter act in the role of “follower”a only tiny percentage produce some…

In the time before time, when the world was still soft and new, awaiting its first true songs, there was the Copper Woman. Her skin held the warm, living glow of the metal for which she was named, shifting from a deep, earthy red in the morning sun to a soft, burnished gold in the twilight. Her hair was the deep, rich black of a raven’s…

“if you are not failing at something you aren’t learning anything new” When most of us were at school failure was seen as something that was negative, should be avoided and often worth punishment. And yet most learning theorists agree that it is only through failure that we really learn – as opposed to just memorising. Failure is useful when it helps us critically appraise our…