THEMES
The book is in three sections:
What’s The Big Idea?
In these chapters, I describe how we all live our lives through story; how problems may arise because of the stories people have created; how we all have many stories available to us about the same reality; how we can make stories come true, for good or for ill; and how we can work with stories - our own and other peoples’ - to achieve better outcomes.
At the heart of this approach is the understanding that we all have many stories available to us about the same reality, so I call this the ManyStory Approach.
For more detail on the main ideas and the underlying model in the book, click here.
If you have any comments or questions about The Big Idea, please add them to the comments on this page.
The ManyStory Approach in Practice
This is a series of chapters which describe how we can apply this ManyStory Approach to a range of work contexts. I include case studies and a discussion about each of these situations: coaching, working with teams, supporting people through change, and addressing conflict.
If you have any comments or questions about the ManyStory Approach in Practice, please add them to the comments on this page.
Concluding Thoughts
This sections starts with a chapter exploring a few occasions when this approach hasn’t worked and what we can learn from such occasions. There is then a discussion of what makes a strong story, and how that can inform our work with story. The section concludes with some thoughts for the future and an invitation to share experiences.
If you have any comments or questions about the Concluding Thoughts, please add them to the comments on this page.
Digressions
Throughout the book there are Digressions designed as prompts for the reader to think more broadly about tangential issues. These Digressions each have a blog post about them in the hope of starting a discussion. Click on the Engage button to join the discussion on any of these digressions, or other topics I have blogged about subsequently.