Arena:  Applied Critical Thinking

Telling Stories to Share Diverse Perspectives

Lab Content

Introduction

Presentation and Activity 1

Synthesis

Go Deeper

Go Deeper

Download Chalkboard Presentation

Activity 1 – Accelerating Knowledge Sharing

Each Catalytic Thinking Lab is supported by a WindTunneling project. WindTunneling is a systemic methodology to accelerate learning and knowledge sharing. Share what you learned from the lab transparently and anonymously. Compare your thinking and respond to the ideas of others. Everyone gets to see every idea; no one knows who shared which idea.

Go to WindTunneling. Use Project Code 23ACAF to record your insights.

Activity 2 – Facilitating Storytelling

Practice facilitating a storytelling session. Gather a group of 6-8 co-workers.
Choose a specific organizational issue.

Step 1

Ask each participant to recall an experience they had in relationship to the issue. Give the group 2 minutes to think about their stories.

Step 2

Each participant tells a 2-3 minutes story.

Following each story, the storyteller (with help from the group) identifies the main 2-4 points of their story. Write each point on a separate Post It note (or a card, pieces of paper).

Step 3

After all stories have been told, participants move their ideas into the center of the table (or you could do this on a wall) creating an Idea Commons.

Step 4

Collectively investigate the Idea Commons looking for themes, patterns, and emergent ideas. Practice clustering ideas by moving the Post It notes.

Step 5

Write the new ideas (themes, patterns) onto a shared visual.

Invite people to discuss their insights.

 

Activity 3 – Designing Interventions

Based on the clustering from the Idea Commons your group made from your stories, practice designing interventions in your organization.

What can your organization do to increase meaningful experiences at work? What can your organization do to prevent people have unnecessarily difficult experiences?

Other References, Articles, and Books

  • Share references, articles, or books in the WindTunneling Project that you think will be good supplemental content for future participants.