Making Sense Through Story: 4. Storytelling and Sense-making Connections. (5 min read).

Number four in a series of articles taken from a dissertation for degree of MA, Storytelling (Distinction) at Loughborough University.

Why stories make sense (short version).

Stories can be long or short - like the 48-hour-long autobiography of Barbra Streisand I am listening to on Audible, or this powerful six-word story attributed to Ernest Hemingway:

For Sale: Baby shoes, never worn.

To be memorable, they must have emotional resonance and speak to people.

When a human connection is made through story, mirror neurons in the brain are triggered, which ‘allow us to feel what others experience almost as if it is happening to us.’[1] When leaders tap into their story-capabilities they bring followers along with them in an act of co-creation which takes place in the gap between teller and listener.

Humans are hard-wired to think in stories. It’s how we make sense of the world. So it follows that in organisations, stories can help us make sense of strategic change.

Stories connect directly to the limbic system in our brains - the emotional part. This part likes story. Stories make it release oxytocin, dopamine, and serotonin which stimulate feelings of reward and connection.

The left side of our brain is the data centre. It processes information in a linear fashion, focusing on language and logic and is attentive to reasoning. The right side of our brain is the fountain of creativity. This part processes information through the imagination. It’s where symbols, images, music, metaphors, and emotions are.

Stories connect the left and right side of our brains. So, you are both imagining what’s happening and analysing the story for content, information, and key messages. As a result you are prone to remember, internalise the story and act on it.

Harnessing sense-making in organisations.

Knowing how stories work, why don’t we tap into them in a purposeful way at work?

If the childhood favourite Little Red Riding Hood was shared in a presentation, it may look something like this:

How often do we focus on just the data, firing up the logical side of our brains but abandoning creativity? If stories function as a tool for making sense (the literal meaning of sense-making) of data, motivating people towards a desired change, why is storytelling not included in all leadership courses?

In my research, which involved review of over 150 texts, a case study with a UK-based retailer, and discussion with experts in the field, the fundamental connection between narrative and sense-making was not made at the interface of organisational storytelling, STRATEGY, leadership, identity, change or communications.

But I found some tantalising glimpses.

Making sense of strategic change.

Back in 1984, Wilkins suggested that connecting strategic narrative with personal stories across layers of an organisation could unlock ‘strong cultures [which] motivate co-ordinated action in service of particular values.’[2]?

Stories carry meaning and values that help people make sense of everyday experiences[3] when shared with others. The sifting of data in our heads to find meaning is a fundamental requirement for sense-making, as we attempt to resolve discrepancies between what is expected and what has transpired[4].

In this context, how powerful could the drumbeat of a strategic narrative in the organisation’s echo-chamber be, if shared for everyone to play their part in the change to come?

Listening, then, becomes crucial to spread the word; to engage in two-way communication in the space where the audience resides.’ [5] Neuroscience researchers[6] have identified ‘neural coupling,’ where a speaker's activity is spatially and temporally coupled with the listener’s activity. The greater the coupling, the greater the understanding but this vanishes when participants fail to communicate.

Worse, the absence of a narrative creates a vacuum in which there is resistance to management efforts to redirect the company in alternative strategic directions. Karl E. Weick, who introduced sense-making into organisational studies, says ‘what is necessary in sense-making is a good story’[7] and that its absence ‘throws into question the nature of self and the world.’ Sense-making is a retrospective process where the story is a frame… that is developed and elaborated, and which can easily absorb a new event (Czarniawska, 2004) when democratically shared.

Making it real.

In my research I connected with former senior colleagues from BP and Argos to explore this in practice.

One Business Unit Leader actively sought out workers on the front-line to “poke the Lego bricks” of strategy. On one occasion, he discovered the changing rooms of a chemical plant with quality issues were “absolute shitholes.” Workers were expected to put up with this despite expectations they create a contaminant-free plant where people could “eat [their] dinner off the floor.” The plant manager had raised this contradiction but been ignored. The divisional head was publicly called out. These types of stories “got around…. set the example… and built a new culture.”

Here, a clear and compelling strategy was translated into a strategic narrative, which resonated internally and externally. The narrative became a consistent sense-making tool: - “I think it helped us as a board to join the dots” - and the golden thread for all communications. Over time, people ‘got’ the strategy, and “what it might do for them in their career,” so they engaged together “at the hip” and “showed up in each other’s spaces.” People then “wanted to be in the room when we made the big decisions,” after which they were motivated to bring about change.

These reflections show the power of a strategic narrative to build collective identity and create change. But it is not easy to cultivate this culture and reputation cannot be compromised in the process. Stories are not always reliable, so communications experts become the heroes’ guides.

We may be natural born storytellers, but we are not honing those skills for purposeful ends. If we don’t teach storytelling process, theorizing, practices, and methods, then praxis (practice) will cease.[8] This happens in challenging times. Walter Benjamin (1936) reflected on soldiers returning from war: ‘less and less frequently do we encounter people with the ability to tell a tale properly’.

Do these findings resonate with you?

I would love to hear about your own organisations experience.

The next article will explore what a StoryWorld actually is. For more information about the references used in this article, please contact the author.

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[1] Cron, 2012.

[2] Wilkins, 1984.

[3] Gabriel, 2000.

[4] Ochs and Capp, 1996.

[5] Ryan, 2008.

[6] Stephens et. al., 2010.

[7] Weick, 1995.

[8] Boje, 2021.