Did you know there is a geography to story?

Of course everyone know there’s BEGINNING, MIDDLE and END. These are the parts of story. But my colleague  Paul Andrew Costello told me there’s also a beginning, middle and end to every PART of the story.

Knowing this piece of “story geography” can help you ...

Most of us have had to carry the expectations of others at some point during our lives. Perhaps it was the expectation of your parents for you to follow in their footsteps or take up a specific kind of work.

Maybe the teachers you experienced expected you to be an exceptional student like one of yo...

Perhaps it is the storytelling gene inside all of us that wants to proclaim that this moment in history -- our moment -- is  totally unique.  And yet the dynamics -- one might say the story elements -- are not new.

Generational struggle. Power imbalance. Gender issues. Disparity in access to resour...

Happy New Year! We survived 2021 -- and we're about to enter the year of the tiger.

If there's one thing I know about cats, it is that they decide how they are going to meet life. They know how to be totally alert. They know when to totally relax. They are tenacious hunters. They know how to mark the...

GIVING TUESDAY arose in the US as a counterpoint to CYBER MONDAY, which itself comes after BLACK FRIDAY, intriguingly the day after Thanksgiving. Five days of (over)consumption, followed by one day which brings us back to the original spirit of the holiday.

While days of thanks giving have been aroun...

Stories are unfolding around us in every moment. We are awash with them. We are at the confluence of many powerful stories all competing for attention. Take the United States as an example:

• The pandemic continues to surge with rising numbers in most places. Whether you believe this is really happ
...

Today is International Women's Day and I find myself musing on the gifts feminine eldership and power could bring to our current disconnecting times.

My Friday morning started early with the first in a series of online calls. I've been working for myself for more than 25 years and in the online spa...

Story is already the currency of organization. We trade stories all day, every day, no matter where we work or live. That means they are the lifeblood of every organization, determining its health, well-being and future viability. If you want to story to become an agent of future potential, though, ...

One of the best ways to stretch the boundaries of your thinking is to be asked to do something new. Last week I offered a workshop I’d never done before: “Storytelling for Facilitation and Group Work” and it caused me to think about how and why I apply story in the groups I’m supporting.

I began cr...

This post was written as a guest blog for Percolab.

I am writing this post sitting in the airport in Columbus, Ohio. It is currently 9:46 and my flight to Chicago and then on to Montreal should have departed at 8:27. It didn’t. Not because there are weather conditions here or mechanical errors or a...

This is traditionally the time of year when people take a pause to reflect, reset and renew. It is a time for new year’s resolutions, a time when hope springs eternal about the potential and possibility of the new.  

And small wonder. In the Northern Hemisphere, December equinox marks the time of t...

Here is Part 3 of my new book chapter on the six perspectives and three waves of story.  Find Part 1 here, and Part 2 here.

Story as a Resonance Tuner & as the Art of Practicing Humanity

In these days of social media likes, fake news and alternative facts, it’s easy to see that influence and how t...