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This case study outlines almost our very first encounter with SDC. Looking at it now I’m struck by the efforts we made to liven up our recountings of client work, by the fact that it was the sound of Carol which first alerted Manuel to Sparknow and the companionable journey that started. But perhaps I’m most struck by the fact that it’s the wrong title.
‘The One-winged Butterfly’ is actually the more striking metaphor to come from the narrative mapping we did with them, to establish where storywork might revivify the narratives in the work and knowledge systems of the place – a striking image of the loss of narrative, a kind of organisational flatlining when the formal processes of project management and evaluation kick in. I think it’s no surprise that the metaphor was first suggested in French, rather than the English, German and Swiss the group were also working in.
The mapping tool (a kind of way to open up the hidden spaces in the tidier, more polished accounts of a project, episode or activity), combines the formal and informal dimensions so beloved of us knowledge workers with too much Nonaka and Takeuchi under our belts. The thrust of the time sequence helps move the first version of the story through and spread it out to take in befores and afters. generally People are quite surprised at what pops up below-the-line. We’ve used it in many settings – imagining a day in the future life of a postman, mapping an idea mission to Sudan with the Islamic Development Bank, finding stories of the difference made by integrated primary healthcare teams, reflecting on research projects in policy making.
Written by Chris Rowan, Fiona Incledon, Stephanie Colton and Neil Nokes. Agreed with Dr Roy McGregor January 2004.
Here’s a shortish old, but significant case study of some work we did...
