Working out Loud: Narratives & Complexity

Some quick notes about narrative approaches and complexity. This is a topic that I have studied over the years, and am revisiting now – looking for ideas.

I have read fascinating material or attended workshops by the following:

• Dave Snowden – his work on narratives and narrative capture, plus his theories of complexity.
• Eve Mitleton-Kelly – she worked with the NHS-Modernisation Agency team when I was there, and it looks like she is now connected with the Schumacher College.
• Patricia Shaw – her work on complexity was really interesting, especially the book which looked at conversations and complexity.
• Peter Senge – his work on learning organisations is something I am looking at again. Need to also look at his systems and complexity approaches.
  David Boje – revisit his work on the power of narrative. He did some fascinating work in the 1990s when he was the Editor of the Journal of Organizational Change Management. He was wonderfully disruptive in his approaches.
• David Whyte – a poet working in organisations and looking at the power of narrative. I need to read his book “The Heart Aroused”.
• James Hillman’s work (founder of the School of Archetypal Psychology), which I read extensively whilst writing my PhD thesis, and that of Robert Sardello who founded the Dallas Institute (I think).
• Margaret Wheatley – revisit some of her earlier work. We worked with her a few years ago. Her approach was a massive influence on the team.

There are many more writers I could look at – the challenge is how to make sure that this isn’t just a journey into reading, but that it becomes a quest for ideas that can be practically applied. Looking for ideas from the reading for us to implement.

How do I do that?

Perhaps I need to have a dedicated reading time each day – when I am searching for materials and ideas for us to incorporate into our work. A form of research.

So, I would work with the two interlinked themes – narratives & complexity. Underpin this with ideas about systems theory.

Would it help to develop my thinking if I combine a 30 minutes reading session with a 15 minutes session when I am writing out my thinking on the reading – working out loud? And then maybe convert what I produce into a short blog post.

And this is where a new exploration begins, a journey into something exciting, looking for a new approach.