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On Getting the Story Crooked and Straight

On Getting the Story Crooked and Straight Without the stories, or narratives that organisations construct,there could be no social negotiation or sense making. A problem is thatthe narratives are often too straight, too simplistic andselfserving to be helpful representations of reality. Most stories inorganisations that are used to manage change efforts are too simple, andtoo much believed. They foster naive optimism that soon degenerates intocynicism. Stories are maps, but are often confused with the territoriesthemselves. Some examples of stories or accounts of organisationalchange efforts that are straight, and how they might have been made morecrooked, are discussed. Some suggestions on how leaders inorganisations can become more thoughtful consumers of straight storiesand make those stories more helpful maps to guide organisations throughthe turbulence of change are offered. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Organizational Change Management Emerald Publishing

On Getting the Story Crooked and Straight

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References (13)

Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © Emerald Group Publishing Limited
ISSN
0953-4814
DOI
10.1108/EUM0000000001194
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Without the stories, or narratives that organisations construct,there could be no social negotiation or sense making. A problem is thatthe narratives are often too straight, too simplistic andselfserving to be helpful representations of reality. Most stories inorganisations that are used to manage change efforts are too simple, andtoo much believed. They foster naive optimism that soon degenerates intocynicism. Stories are maps, but are often confused with the territoriesthemselves. Some examples of stories or accounts of organisationalchange efforts that are straight, and how they might have been made morecrooked, are discussed. Some suggestions on how leaders inorganisations can become more thoughtful consumers of straight storiesand make those stories more helpful maps to guide organisations throughthe turbulence of change are offered.

Journal

Journal of Organizational Change Management – Emerald Publishing

Published: Mar 1, 1991

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