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IDEAS, NEWS AND RESOURCES | December 2017
We hope you enjoy receiving our newsletter which includes constructionist ideas and practices as well as news and resources from the Taos Institute.
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Brief Encounters with The Taos Institute
December 2017
This month Gro Emmertsen Lund, Ph.D., Taos Associate, author and consultant shares with us her reflections on what working with stories can do in organizations..
Positive Change through Organizational Storytelling
Over the past year I have been consulting with an orphanage that has struggled with a series of challenges. The leadership team discovered how stories from earlier times still strongly influenced relationships and communication in the organization. These stories centered on the former director and her negative ways of dealing with the employees. The former director had cared passionately about the children living in the institution, and had high expectations and demands for the professionals working there. The stories emphasized how employees felt overruled, offended and intimidated by her especially when she felt that the children were not cared for properly. Even though many employees had not been working at the institution at that time - the stories still had a powerful effect on the staff. This made them tentative and reluctant to engage with the new director, especially in fulfilling his wish to create a more mutual and progressive collaboration with all of them.
As consultants, we gathered the employees together for a meeting. We started the day by introducing to the group the idea of the storytelling approach. In small groups they started sharing the stories they knew about the time of the former director. They reflected on each other´s stories: What are these stories telling us? How have we let the stories influence our relationships and ways of collaborating? What have these stories made possible? What have these stories made impossible?
The storytelling and sharing of reflections were very energizing and allowed for many experiences among the staff. The funny thing was, that many different stories popped-up, showing a variety of perspectives, experiences and voices. In addition, to the negative stories about the former director, many positive stories about working with the children were shared and responses of appreciation, acknowledgement and connectedness arose. As a surprise to the leadership team, the stories about the former director were less important to the staff than the stories of working with the children. After sharing rounds of these findings, we arranged for a short interview with the leadership team.
Based on the narrative model of "the 7 P´s" (see *note below) we began the interview. The leadership team shared how it had been for them to start working at the orphanage, how they had wanted to develop a very different kind of leadership, and how they had tried to invite different voices into the dialogue. They told how they appreciated all that the employees did on a daily basis and how they would love the employees to feel safe, to contribute more ideas as well as critiques if needed. The employees listened attentively and showed great interest. After the interview it was time for questions. In pairs, employees helped each other create some narrative questions: What was the story about? What social world was it inviting us into? How can we connect and relate in order to "live" this story? The leadership team responded to all of the questions with careful consideration. The whole group worked together to create a shared narrative about working together at this institution. The day ended with a "
funeral ritual" for the old stories and a celebration of the new one. All who participated seemed excited about the new possibilities lined up for collaboration and communication in the organization - and they were filled with hope about how this scenario would benefit the children and young people living there.
As an organizational consultant working with inspiration from social construction and in this case with narrative practice, my experience shows that it is possible to bring forth the multiple voices, set free energy and appreciation in the work community and create pathways for staff to co-create a shared vision for the future.
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*Note:
The 7 P model is a way of working with understanding a narrative, understanding what it creates and how it is or can be constructed.
- The first P is the Personal Perspective
- The second P is Public/Audience
- The third P is Punctuation/starting point
- The fourth P is the Person/the figures in the story
- The fifth P is Positions/roles
- The sixth P is Plot/main thread
- The seventh P is Point/key message
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Taos Institute Events and Gatherings
The Many Ways to Get Involved.....
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The Taos Institute Silver Jubilee
25 Years of Innovation in Social Construction
November 8 - 11, 2018
(Pre-conference Nov. 7-8)
Cancun, Mexico
At the Fiesta Americana Resort
and Conference Center
We are very excited about this event marking our 25th anniversary since the founding of the Taos Institute. Save the date and plan to join us as we celebrate The Taos Institute's 25th Anniversary. This special conference will highlight the theories and practices of social construction over the past 25 years, as well as explore what the future may hold.
We hope you will join us and bring along with you someone new to social construction and relational practice - student, colleague, co-worker, friend! Let's co-create the future and engage with the next generation!
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Taos Workshops
- Designing Crazy Patchworks: Co-creating Collaborative Research, with Celiane Borges, Jasmina Sermijn
Taos Online Courses
- Research Constructions - with Sally St. George and Dan Wulff.
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Practical Tips for Writing Your Dissertation - with Rich Furman.
Friends of the Taos Institute Workshops and Events
- Communication, Collaboration and Relationships: Constructive Innovations in Organizations
An international Social Constructionist Conference in The Faroe Islands
- Social Therapeutics @ the Grassroots and and in the Academy: A 12-Week Developmental Challenge
- Summer Institute, with Harlene Anderson and Sylvia LondonAn Experiential Learning Community in Postmodern / Social Construction Collaborative-Dialogic Practices across Cultures, Contexts & Disciplines
- Appreciative Inquiry Community Jam! Early registration open.
- The Tenth Performing the World (PTW) Conference
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Special scholarship available - 2 for 1 "Buddy Program"
Apply with a colleague, friend, or "buddy" and you both get a scholarship giving you a 50% discount.
The Taos Institute and Kanankil Institute in Merida, Mexico, invite you to explore with us as we introduce our new masters program in English. This program has been successfully offered in Spanish for many years and is now available in English.
- A two-year online learning program
- Learn about and explore different applications of Collaborative and Dialogic Practices
- Focus on practices related to professional life as:
- educators, social workers, managers, coaches, mediators, lawyers, psychotherapists, doctors, nurses, and communications working with individuals or organizations.
- Learning opportunity for any discipline or background.
- Begins January 2018.
The collaborative approach is based on an ideological shift in the way we think about language and knowledge. It is relating and conversing in a manner that includes a way of thinking with, talking with, acting with, and responding to the people with whom we meet in our professional activities. The Master of Arts degree in Collaborative and Dialogic Practices (CDP) will introduce social construction and CDP for those new to it and help those familiar with it to deepen their understandings and practices. I
t specifically focuses on relational constructionist understandings of language and meaning-making, polyvocality, transformative dialogue, and appreciative and future-oriented perspectives.
And help spread the word about this innovative program and the scholarship "Buddy Program".
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International Relational Research Network Meeting and Global Dialogues
The Winter Article Reading
and
Discussion Series
Continues...
The Article Series continues as we offer an opportunity, for anyone interested, to read a scholarly article or chapter on research, and then join in a conversation about that article. This article reading series is open to everyone. No need to pre-register. Free and open to the public.
January Article Title: Research as Daily Practice
January 18, 2018 - 2:00- 3:00 PM New York Time - in English
January 25, 2018 - 2:00 - 3:00 PM New York Time - in Spanish
Hosts: Monica Sesma and Chris Hoff
Details: For all the information including host, article, date and time of the conversation and link to join the conversation please visit the Taos Institute website at:
How to join in the article series conversations:
- Visit and then download the articles at www.taosinstitute.net/relational-research-network
- Read the article
- Come prepared with questions, examples, comments
- Mark your calendar and arrive on time for the conversation
- No need to pre-register for these
- Use the zoom link provided on that web page to join the call
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It is our special pleasure to announce The Taos Institute's first publication of books in the Arabic language.
WorldShare Books includes publications in English, Spanish, Italian, German, Chinese, and even Farci. But at long last we have opened a significant channel of communication with the Arab World.
We express our enormous appreciation to Edgar Noumair for his dedicated work to this project. It is though his efforts and the support of the Anath Foundation, that we now have posted on the web
translations of three key books:
- Appreciative inquiry: Positive approaches to building cooperative capacity (Barrett and Fry)
- Mapping dialogue: Essential tools for social change (Bojer, Roehl, et.al.)
- Social Construction: Entering the Dialogue (Gergen and Gergen)
Donate to the Peggy Penn WorldShare Books Fund
This fund helps to cover the expenses of offering these online books free of charge to anyone in the world.
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Order this exciting new book today!
Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM):
A RESEARCH MANUAL
Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM): A Research Manual invites those who are interested, intrigued, or invested in CMM to explore the theory as method. Through conversations, Rascon and Littlejohn discussed the many research possibilities and created a manual that offers several frameworks for practical research. The manual provides contexts for applying CMM tools and models as well as many examples from researchers and professionals. Those who have been introduced to CMM and are interested in discovering possibilities for their research and practical interests at any level should enjoy the offerings of this book.
Order the book today at:
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Check out our Newest Books:
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Paths to Positive Aging: Dog Days with a Bone and Other Essays
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by Mary and Ken Gergen
Mary and Ken Gergen are devoted to the cause of reinventing aging. To focus on the gains of aging is to realize that the later years are among the richest and most rewarding of one's life. In their dedication to this reconstruction, the Gergens publish the Positive Aging Newsletter, an electronic newsletter, available in seven languages (
www.positiveaging.net).
In this book, the Gergens share ideas and experiences designed to inspire others as they age.
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Communicating Possibilities:
A Brief Introduction to the Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM)
by Ilene Wasserman and Beth Fisher-Yoshida
Communicating Possibilities is an introduction to the Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM), a practical theory which at its roots, is an approach to looking at our social interactions. In the process of stepping back to look at our interactions and how we construct our social worlds, we open possibilities of alternative paths and outcomes. CMM offers tools and frameworks to use so when we pause and notice what we are making together and how, we open up spaces to make better choices with more desirable relationships each turn of the way.
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The Magic of Organizational Life
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by Mette Vinther Larsen
The Magic of Organisational Life
is a story that invites you to look at your everyday work life through new eyes. It allows you to reflect upon well-known organisational, strategic and managerial challenges from a magical perspective. This perspective emphasizes what our imagination can do, if only we set it free. The Magic of Organisational Life
gently reminds us of our capacity to create flourishing ways of being at work.
For more information
→
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Positive Aging book in Danish Now Available
"Veje til positiv aldring" by Mary and Ken Gergen
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Sign up for this free newsletter in the following languages:
- English
- Spanish
- Danish
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By focusing on the positive aspects of aging, and the availability of resources, skills, and resiliencies, research not only brings useful insights into the realm of practice but creates hope and empowers action among older people. By moving beyond practices of repair and prevention, to emphasize growth-enhancing activities, practitioners also contribute more effectively to the societal reconstruction of aging.
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Join the Taos Institute NING Online Community website
Participate in online conversations, share resources, ask questions, connect with others doing similar work. Also, we feature special events on this community website.
Join in many different forums, groups and conversations:
1. Taos Institute Europe
2. Collaborative Governance
3. Relational Learning
4. Relational Research
5. Taos Latin America
6. Intergenerativity and Innovation
and many more at:
http://taoslearning.ning.com/
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Welcome (Bienvenidos) to the International Journal of Collaborative Practices. The Journal brings together members of a growing international community of practitioners, scholars, educators, researchers, and consultants interested in postmodern collaborative practices.
Sponsored by Taos Institute and Houston Galveston Institute
I
ssue 7- Available Now in English and Spanish -
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AI World Inquiry!
If you have ever participated in an Appreciative Inquiry, in your organization, community, family, etc., then this opportunity is for you!
Join the World Inquiry into the impacts of
AI!
You are invited to share your stories!
The AI World Inquiry invites everyone to share the stories and examples of how Appreciative Inquiry has impacted your organizations, communities, families, and life.
By sharing these stories you are helping to create viral and inspiring examples of positive change in the world, both the larger world and in our local worlds.
Participation is easy - simply visit the AI World Inquiry web page, decide which question or questions you would like to answer and record a short video to share!
And please feel free to invite others in your network to share as well...and help us lift up these untold stories of AI around the world!
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You can help to make a difference...
These are challenging times, and you can make a difference by supporting the Taos Institute's efforts to bring about more promising futures.
Help us to continue our work in:
- Creating and Expanding Collaborative Practices Globally
- Promoting Dialogic Means for Reducing Conflict
- Providing Degree Opportunities for Practitioners
- Offering Cutting Edge Publications in Multiple Languages: Free or at Low Cost
- Generating Resources for Positive Aging
- Creating Global Forms and Conferences for Constructing New Futures
Given the perilous global context into which we are moving, we feel the work in which we are engaged is more important than ever. We hope you can join with us as we continue to develop resources to aid the global community in co-creating more viable futures.
The Taos Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and all donations are tax deductible in the US.
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The Taos Institute's mission is to bring together scholars and practitioners concerned with the social processes essential for the construction of reason, knowledge, and human value.
We are committed to exploring, developing and disseminating ideas and practices that promote creative, appreciative and collaborative processes in families, communities and organizations around the world through a social constructionist lens.
We look forward to your participation in the dialogue.
Keep up with our updates!
Dawn Dole, Executive Director
The Taos Institute
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