Power of Stories
American Executive Magazine article on Stories
Strategic Use of Stories - Reprinted with permission from Performance Improvement Journal Volume 44, Number 10
Story Time Can Be Productive in Developing Listening Skills
How to use Stories to Increase Learning
5 Ideas on How to Stimulate Learning
Introduction to Stories & Business
Interview with Howard Gartner on Stories, by Joel Kurtzman 

Selling T&D in Your Organization
Making Learning Proactive & Teaching Reactive
Take Charge of your Recharging
When Difficult Issues Threaten Trainings
Incredible Credibility
Whose Training Is It Anyway
Narrative Leadership, by David Fleming
NASA Case Study - Knowledge Management & Stories
Survey on Stories and Business 
Bibliography of Story Books
List of Management Journal Articles on Stories

EIGHT STRATEGIES
"How to Use Stories to Increase Learning & Facilitate Trainings"  

"8 Strategies on How to Use Stories to Increase Learning & Facilitate Trainings" - by Terrence Gargiulo

We communicate, think, and learn through stories. Stories come in all different forms including personal experiences, anecdotes, metaphors, analogies, or jokes. The guiding rule for using stories in trainings or workshops is to be sensitive to the group. By staying tuned in to the group’s ever changing needs, you will be able to find the right stories to tell at the right time, elicit group member’s stories and increase learning.

 Here are some ideas on how to get started:

 1. Answer people’s questions with a story.

 Questions are good. It means people are thinking. Get people to draw parallels between the story you tell and the questions they are asking. Provide analysis and insights about the story when people become stuck.

 2. Elicit stories from the group.

 Try to tie people’s comments together. Ask them to be specific and give examples. They will end up sharing personal experiences in the form of stories. Synthesize their comments with their experiences to make new points and to reinforce previous ones.

 3. Use a metaphor or analogy.

 Help people to visualize the idea or concept you are trying to explain by applying a metaphor or analogy from another domain. After you provide one, ask them to think of another one. This solidifies the concept for them and gives them confidence. It also allows you to make sure they have grasped the concept.

 4. Tell a story to change the group’s energy.

 There are natural ebbs and flows to a group’s energy. A story can stimulate and revitalize a group. Likewise, stories can help a group relax and become centered.

 5. Tell a story with your voice and body language.

When you tell a story, match the tone and body language of individuals in the group. People will become more aware of what they are saying through their bodies and begin to modify their body language. As they do so, there will be subtle shifts in their perceptions and emotions.

 6. Validate and transform emotions with a story.

Tell a story that mirrors the emotions you sense in the group in a non-didactic and unpatronizing way. This validates unspoken emotions and allows people to move past them. Once negative feelings are acknowledged, they can be examined safely through the story and even transformed into more positive ones.

7. Tell a story to change a group’s perspective.

Stories can be used as tools to encourage thinking. A group becomes stuck when it is unable to imagine other possibilities. Stories can be rich sources of irony and paradox. These, in turn, challenge a group’s current thinking and can move them in new directions. 

8. Use a joke or tangent.

Jokes are a great tool for getting people to be less analytical. Jokes are like little epiphanies. A joke is funny because the punch line is unexpected. It hits us as a surprise. Telling a joke or leaving the subject at hand to go off on a tangent will help a group become less analytical and more creative.

This article is reprinted with the permission of ASTD, Alexander, Virgina from the 2001 Fall edition of, Performance In Practice.

[Back to Top Menu]

5 IDEAS
"How to Stimulate Learning"

“5 Ideas on How to Stimulate Learners”

How do you convey complex concepts without lecturing? Take a moment and try to recall teaching experiences when you communicated well and learning ones when you felt engaged. What role did active participation play? It’s critical to honestly examine our basic assumptions about how people learn. How much do people learn through didactic explications? If people learn more through making associations then we must use less “instruction,” and more stimulation. Here are some ideas…

1. Give up control.

We want to be the expert. At the end of a session we hope for glowing accolades and fulfilled students. Is it possible to have even greater control over the learning experience by not focusing on these things? How far can we meander from the course materials and still hit our objectives?  It all depends upon our willingness to give up a certain amount of control. It’s important not to pay just lip service to the notion of participation. Exhibit a willingness to learn from others. Whenever I stand in front of a group I remind myself that the collective knowledge and experience of it is far greater than my own. If I build good rapport with a group, and create an environment where sharing is encouraged everyone stands to win.

2. Use questions.

Create a path of questions. For each concept or learning objective, develop a set of questions you can use to guide people. Lead them to the concept through associations. Even the most complex concepts can be explained in this way and in a shorter amount of time than through traditional lecturing. A lecture follows a single stream of ideas. Often there are parts of a concept that are self-evident. Let the participants state these for you and move past them quickly. When there is too much information use rhetorical questions. These plant a seed in a people’s mind for making future connections.

3. Think fast on your feet.

Scripts are easy to follow. What do you do when there is no script to follow? As we allow more room for flexibility in our sessions we need to think quickly on our feet. As you ask questions, you will not always get the same responses. Be prepared to move in any direction. You may be surprised by a person’s answer or comment. Tune into how various people are synthesizing the information you are presenting, and adjust your questions and tact accordingly.

4. Visualize the group.

What do we know about a group, it’s personalities, and dynamics before we meet them? Try to identify the type of language or metaphors that people will respond to and understand. Prepare examples that use concepts from their areas of expertise and utilize anecdotes and stories wherever possible.

5. Make people work.

Do you find it easier to passively listen than actively participate? Most of us prefer to quietly sit and listen to someone else. People may not like to be bombarded with questions but it forces them to think. Set the ground rules from the beginning. Let people know they will need to participate and work in order to learn.

[Back to Top Menu]

INTRODUCTION Stories & Business

Stories are fundamental to the way we learn and communicate.  They are the most efficient way of storing, retrieving, and conveying information.  Since story hearing requires active participation by the listener, stories are the most profoundly social form of human interaction and communication.  Today, more than ever, market pressures force organizations to constantly change and adapt.  It is tempting to believe that the tools of technology can meet today’s market challenges head on.  But unless an organization can communicate and learn there is very little that technology can do.  Leaders need processes and strategies to get an accurate read on their company and to communicate visions and missions to employees. Stories can be used to strategically to galvanize organization in a lot of different ways.  Advertisers have always understood the power of stories.  Take the following example: A new company wants to enter the butter market.  It wants to sell richly flavored butters.  What story can the company tell to position its product and capture the attention of consumers? Well, to begin with, let’s imagine packaging the butter in old-fashioned miniature crocks and.  Next, let’s use a quote “grand-father” figure to be our spokesman.  We’ll have grandfather spreading butter on a warm piece of toast while he reminisces about his childhood memories of fresh, rich butter in crocks being brought by Farmer Brown who would come to town with his horse and buggy delivering butter from house to house. In this simple example we have a perfect illustration of health stories index information and elicit images and the minds of others. Here is a quick breakdown of what’s going on in the story. Image Function Grandfather ü     Wise elderly figure, full of memories, counteracting any conception of butter being bad for one’s health Grandfather’s Memories ü     Elicits yearning for the good old days, farms, freshness, wholeness, and grandfather Crocks ü     Magic objects that “satisfy” nostalgic yearning And it’s not only in advertising that stories work well. The following list gives a quick bird’s-eye view of some of the other ways: When are stories applicable in business? How are stories used in business? Who uses stories in business?     Presenting ·        Animating talks and presentations ·        Anchoring a message ·        Potentiating a message   Leaders Public Relations Sales Marketing     Imaging ·        Product positioning ·        Appealing to an audience ·        Dialoguing with customers ·        Innovating Marketing Advertising Sales Customer Service Research & Development     Connecting ·        Pacing/getting in sync with others ·        Recruiting ·        Discovering talents of employees ·        Problem solving ·        Finding the critical point in a system Sales Market Research Human Resources Managers/Leaders     Learning ·        Training ·        Developing staff ·        Knowledge management ·        Change management Trainers Human Resources Organizational Developers Managers/Leaders     Leading/Staff Development ·        Building and managing corporate culture ·        Mentoring and coaching ·        Engendering loyalty ·        Cultivating diversity Trainers Human Resources Managers/Leaders     Team Building ·        Energizing employees ·        Creating synergy ·        Collaborating ·        Partnering Team Leaders Managers   TOWARD A NON DEFINITION OF STORIES For those of you would like a more systematic framework for beginning your study led the offer some insight Roger Shank director of the Institute of Learning at Northwestern University : Stories are everywhere, but not all stories look like stories.  If you consider a story to be a previously prepared gist of something to say, something that you have said before or heard another say, then a great deal of conversation is simply mutual storytelling.  Moreover, if the majority of what we say is in our memories in the form of previously prepared stories, the way we look at the nature of understanding and what it means to be intelligent must change.  Is being very intelligent just having a great many stories to tell?  Is it adapting superficially irrelevant stories into relevant ones, i.e., finding a story in one domain and applying it by analogy to another?  Maybe it means combining stories and making generalizations from them--or, perhaps intelligence is embodied in the initial process of collecting stories to tell in the first place.   (Tell Me A Story: A New Look at Real and Artificial Memory, Schank, Roger pp. 26-27.) There is a lot to digest in this description of stories. Schank began his research in artificial intelligence, and in order to create a thinking machine he set out to understand how the mind works. He concluded that our minds work in stories. He asserts that stories are all around us. Any time we open our mouths and respond to another person in a conversation, we are accessing memories. These memories are not stored as discrete facts; memories are stored as stories. We could not possibly hold in our minds all of the data that a computer stores. Think about the disk drive of your computer. All of your documents have been reduced to zeros and ones. Every zero and one must be stored. A computer needs all of the details to restore your word processing document or spreadsheet to the computer’s active memory. Does your mind work in the same way? Absolutely not. Our minds are immeasurably more complex. They do not store all the details the way a computer does. When you recall an experience, your mind takes a chunk of information and reconstructs all of the details for you. Therefore our mind is incredibly efficient. Furthermore, our mind is capable of synthesizing information in new ways. We apply our knowledge or experience from one area to another area. Schank suggests that intelligence is not defined by the collection or storage of a lot of information but rather by our ability to index our experiences in multiple ways and our capacity for discovering the relationships between experiences in different domains. The hallmark of intelligence is our ability to collect stories and regularly reflect on them in order to continually gain new insights from them. One of the common misconceptions about stories is that they are used only to convey an intended message. Certainly, stories can be used to communicate a predigested message such as a moral; but to limit stories to such simplistic forms of communication is to miss out on a whole array of nuances and possibilities. Stories interplay with one another. The same story can evoke totally different responses in different people. Stories do not always begin with the words “once upon a time.” Stories can be as short as one or two sentences. They may not even be expressed in words. In fact, a basic premise of stories is that through them we “enact” rather than “announce” our intentions, thoughts, values, or knowledge. Essentially, stories allow us to model what we want to communicate instead of having to explain it. Let’s agree to broaden our notion of what a story is, and throughout the book let’s examine stories across the following five dimensions: ·       Communication ·       Learning ·       Memory ·       Imagination ·       Intelligence  Excerpt from Making Stories: A Practical Guide for Organizational Leaders and Human Resource Specialists is reprinted with special permission from Quorum Books, an imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc., Westport, CT  1-800-225-5800

[Back to Top Menu]

MAKING LEARNING PROACTIVE & TEACHING REACTIVE

Haven’t we all found ourselves fumbling nervously before a group of trainees arrive? We take a few deep breaths and run through a quick mental rehearsal.

It is so simple but easy to forget. Trainers catalyze learning. We have to suspend all of our other agendas especially ones tied up with our egos. Looking good, sounding smart, and getting great evaluations are at best ancillary to our core charter. Here is a key phrase I use to keep myself centered as a trainer…

            “Proactive learning….Reactive Teaching”

PROACTIVE LEARNING:

Would you agree there is not one path to any concept, information or insight? PowerPoint slides, pre-canned modules, scripts etc… are certainly important but we must remember they are only guidelines.  We should never let structure get in the way of learning. What things do we do to actively engage each learner in the room? We need to be “Pro”fessionals at making learning active. I try to give up the urge to be a single bit stream of information. I enjoy being the center of attention and standing on my soap box but it does not promote proactive learning. Make every learner work. Although technique and style will differ from trainer to trainer identify methods for engaging learners. I find there is a relationship between the number of questions I ask, the number of comments I elicit, and the number of metaphors I use with the quality of learning. Don’t wait for people to leave before they have an opportunity to synthesize new information give them a chance and medium to gain insights while they are with you. That is the heart of “proactive learning.” 

REACTIVE TEACHING:

Be ready for a roller coaster ride. Every time I ask a question to a group of learners I hold my breath inside. I have no idea what they will say. Or worse yet, how I might need to respond to their answer, or manage the group’s reaction to it. We may be looking for a certain answer but “reactive teaching” challenges us to find a way to transform any response so that it energizes the group and affirms the contributor. The image of a potter is helpful here. Each comment or interaction, verbal and non-verbal is like a piece of clay which needs to be molded, and shaped. In order to make this happen, we must be like the potter and let the wheel spin vigorously and get wet, sticky clay all over our hands. Our potting wheel is the group and it’s interactions with us is the wet, sticky clay on our hands that are the personalities, learning styles, and needs of each person. Be fearless. I enjoy training because I love to learn and I love to watch others experience the joy of their epiphanies.

So next time you are battling the pre-training jitters repeat this little phrase:

“Make learning proactive and teaching reactive!”

[Back to Top Menu]

TAKE CHARGE of YOUR RECHARGING

I had been on the road four weeks straight. There was a queue of enthusiastic participants waiting to interact with me after a session and all I could think about was getting back to my room for a nap before dinner followed by an hour or two of comatose in front of the T.V. Not good. Given our charters as tireless and devoted trainers I am sure you can empathize with my predicament. It’s easy to burn out or get caught in a rut. It was time for me to take charge of getting myself recharged. I whipped out my yellow pad and did what every good trainer loves to do – brainstorm. Here are five of the ideas I came up with:

 1.      Watch Another Trainer

 We all have distinct personalities and styles. It can be refreshing and insightful to watch another colleague at work. Be sure to drop your filter of comparison. The point is not to validate your techniques or affirm your worth as a trainer but rather to bask in the energy and uniqueness of someone else. Make a point to acknowledge specific traits, characteristics and techniques. Then resolve to try to incorporate some of what you observed in future sessions of your own.

 2.      Try Something New

 How often do you try something new? Familiarity breeds comfort, predictability, and confidence but a pearl would never be created without a good grain of sand. Trying new things in a session makes it exciting for us - puts us on edge. There is nothing like a little sense of the unknown to add spice to our sessions and rev up our energy. It could be as simple as explaining a concept in a new way, introducing a new workshop or exercise, or changing the order in which you present topics. Whatever you do is bound to alter the tried and true. The results are sure to surprise you.

 3.      Read a Book on Training

 A book can vicariously transport our imaginations to new vistas. Leisurely strolling through the thoughts of an author opens our minds to new possibilities. Thought experiments lead to new behavior and new behaviors can invigorate our sometimes-tired training routines. Recently, I have had a wonderful time making my way through, Telling Ain’t Training. So call a colleague and see what he or she is reading or recommends. Retreat to the pages of a book and start recharging.

 4.      Tackle a New Topic

 When was the last time you facilitated something totally new? In order to be effective trainers we need to be versatile and relentless learners. Greet a new challenge head on. Even if a new topic will not be one of your core ones it will still give you a boost. It may also give you fresh ideas or approaches to topics that you facilitate on a regular basis. I remember having to fill in for another trainer at the last minute. I was absolutely petrified. I had virtually no knowledge or experience facilitating workshops on problem solving and critical thinking. I dove right into the material; absorbing anything and everything I could get my hands on.  In the process I gained new confidence in my abilities as a facilitator, greater understanding of a new topic, and a whole new domain of knowledge that I was able to incorporate into my other workshops

 5.      REST

 One of the most counter-intuitive lessons I had to learn as a competitive fencer was the importance of rest. I was driven to succeed and motivated to push myself as hard as I could. Everything has a rhythm and everything needs to be given the proper space to rebound and grow. In the long run I did more harm than good if I continually pushed my muscles without building in time for rest and rejuvenation. Rest became a disciplined part of my training regimen and just as important as a workout. We are not always the makers of our schedules, nor do we always have the luxury of time but be sure to find little ways to increase whatever little opportunity you have for rest.

 IN SUMMARY….

 We are human and we are bound to be tired and occasionally burnt out. Accept these passing phases with grace. These are as real as the highs, and with some patience, care, and a little creative energy we can bounce back to our optimum performing selves in no time at all.

[Back to Top Menu]

WHEN DIFFICULT ISSUES THREATEN TRAINING

Imagine the following scenario...

You have been contracted by upper management to teach a communications and team-building workshop to a group of disgruntled union employees that you have never worked with before. Morale is low. The union is in dispute with management. People are being laid off left and right and there is a good chance that the plant will be closed.

How about this one? ...

You find out minutes before you are to begin a workshop that one of the attendees has just died. He or she was a long time employee at this company and well known by the people attending your session.

Before you read on take a moment and reflect on these situations and similar ones you may have found yourself in. What would you do? How did you handle the situation?

SOME GUIDING PRINCIPLES

This is by no means an exhaustive list but here are a few guiding principles I have found useful over the years:

1. Make No Assumptions
Avoid making assumptions. For instance, do not assume people want to discuss a difficult topic. People may have already spent enough time discussing it and not view the training session as the appropriate time or place. Avoid assuming you know how people feel. There will be a variety of feelings. Avoid assuming you know all the details of a given situation. Most importantly, do not assume you can either solve the problem or change the way people are feeling. Remember you are there to teach a workshop that has specific learning outcomes. Ask yourself, what do I need to do to stand the best chance of achieving those objectives and make the most productive learning environment?

2. Create an Open Environment of Trust and Vulnerability
In order for people to feel comfortable sharing what’s on their minds we must make them feel safe. If the group does not know you this can be a real challenge. You have very little time to create an open environment. In all likelihood you will have to find a genuine way of demonstrating some vulnerability and sensitivity with the group. A short personal story well told and timed can be very effective. For example, in the first situation from above you might tell a short anecdote of a recent experience that made you feel powerless. Maybe recount a humorous but poignant customer service encounter. The combination of humor, frustration, and the similarities of an emotional experience that will resonate with their own, is likely to loosen up a group. Don’t forget that our nonverbal gestures are as important as anything we say. Be confident to act and speak extemporaneously. Pre-canned speeches and behaviors have the danger of coming across as hollow; or worse yet, even insincere.

3. Validate Emotions
Find ways to validate people’s feelings. There is a natural inclination to question feelings, probe for reasons why those feelings are there in the first place, or to offer explanations however; none of these well-intentioned interventions help the situation. Even negative emotions can be transformed into potentially positive perceptions if we honor people’s feelings. Try to get people to speak more from their hearts, emotions, and imaginations than from their heads. When people begin to explain their feelings they will usually start from their heads. They are working from a mental transcript. These are words and phrases stripped off that have habituated their thinking processes and catalyzed their feelings. Act as a guide by probing the stories and images behind these abstractions. Ask them to provide a narrative re-experiencing of events that have formed these thoughts. Allow people to work off of one another. One person’s telling of an experience will trigger a telling from someone else. Soon you will be in a fertile field of imagination. We must be willing to invoke the irrational in order to reveal the ironies, paradoxes and inconsistencies of our bold and deliberate rationalities.

4. Poll the Group
Here is a technique I sometime use at the beginning of a session to get a quick gauge on a group’s feelings. Ask everyone to take a piece of paper and write down an adjective or two that describes how he or she is currently feeling. Collect all the pieces of paper and read the words out loud. You can also capture words on a flipchart. This has two clear benefits. First it allows people to express their feelings in a safe way. Secondly, people will realize others have similar feelings. This can be a great way to lead into a discussion or decide to forego one depending on the type of responses you receive.

5. Be Flexible with Your Timeline
Training sessions are never long enough. Allocating time to topics other than those on our agenda is bound to get us into time trouble. If you decide to tackle a sensitive topic, be prepared to give it enough time. Find other places in the agenda where you can cut. As long as you manage expectations and let people know that certain items on the agenda will not be covered, most people will not have a problem with the changes. Be sure to point out the value of the discussion and if possible relate it in some way back to the session’s learning objectives.

6. Be Opinion-Less
While vulnerability may be important to establish with a group, we must be careful to leave our opinions and strong ideas at the door. Take the time to be self-aware of your own feelings prior to a session. During the session watch and observe your own feelings but be careful of how you expose them. Remember whatever processing of emotions and discussion that might ensue during a session is for the participants and not for you. On more than one occasion I have had to catch myself and refrain from expressing a strong opinion. This is not to say that you should never bring your ideas or opinions to the group, but do so with utmost care, caution, and respect for the group and its needs.

Dealing with difficult issues in training is not easy stuff nor can we follow any ready-made formula for how to deal with them, but responsibly leading a group through difficult issues is one of the most rewarding, humbling, and deepening experiences we can have as trainers.

[Back to Top Menu]

INCREDIBLE CREDIBILITY

There’s that moment at the beginning of every class when we think to ourselves, “Quick say something to prove to these folks that you belong up here.” Everyone needs to establish credibility with a group. Our credibility is about our believability. We already have the authority; standing in front of a group naturally grants us a certain position. Now our challenge lies in winning the trust and respect of others. We need to be accessible to our attendees, sensitive to their needs, and responsive to satisfying their learning objectives.

Here are a few things I have found to be helpful:

Be a Good Host

Your credibility begins the moment you interact with attendees. First impressions are the most important ones. Do everything you can to make people feel comfortable. Little things make a big difference. I can remember lots of times when I have gone out of my way to find a more comfortable chair for an injured person.

Be Personable

Smiles are a wonderful way to break the ice. They will relax you and encourage people to interact with you before an event begins. There is nothing worse than walking into a training venue and mistaking it for a library. Encourage conversation by taking an interest in people. When appropriate share a little tidbit about yourself without dominating the conversation.

Set Aside Your Credentials

Leave the certifications and diplomas on the wall. What you have accomplished is very important however how you share it, when you share it and what you share are the challenges. Every training context is different. Think of it as “Just-Enough-Just-In-Time Credentials.”

It’s all in the Doing

Attendees grant credibility based on your performance. To quote a favorite cliché, “actions speak louder than words.” Treat every interaction and question asked as an opportunity to demonstrate competency.  Let your expertise shine through your command of the material.

Tell a Story

People love stories. Use a story to share an experience. It provides people with a concrete example of the material being learned and gives you an outlet to build credibility.

Discover Participants’ Learning Objectives

It’s all about them. Uncover an attendee’s needs, demonstrate your capability to fulfill those needs, and you will win their respect every time. Our credibility as trainers is linked directly to the learning objectives of attendees. When we help them achieve their learning objectives we both stand to win.

Manage Your Learning Commitments

Disappointment hurts. I have to temper my enthusiasm to transfer as much learning as I can with an honest evaluation of what is possible given the constraints of the training. Be sure to under promise and over deliver. Treat learning commitments as liabilities. Pay them off diligently and your assets of credibility will never be in danger.

Give Credit to Others

You look good when you make others look good. Nobody likes a know-it-all and nobody can know everything. Be willing to share the podium figuratively and if necessary literally. Your credibility will be enhanced by the company you keep.

If you can put into practice even a few of these ideas you will be well along your way to Incredible Credibility!

[Back to Top Menu]

September 2003
October 2003
November 2003

[Back to Top Menu]

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abrahams, Roger D. African Folktales. New York: Pantheon Books, 1983.

Armstrong, David M. Managing by Storying Around: A New Method of Leadership.  New York: Doubleday,1992.

Berman, Michael, and Brown, David. The Power of Metaphor. New York : Crown House Publishing: 2001.

Boje, David. Narrative Methods for Organizational & Communication Research. London : Sage Publications, 2001

Brown, John Seely, Stephen Denning, Katalina Groh, and Laurence Prusak. 2005. Storytelling in Organizations: Why Storytelling Is Transforming 21st Century Organizations and Management. Burlington, MA: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, 2005

Bushnaq, Inea. Arab Folktales. New York: Pantheon Books, 1986.

Caldecott, Moyra. Myths of the Sacred Tree. Rochester, Vermont: Destiny Books,1993.

Calvino, Italo.  Italian Folktales.  New York:  Harcourt, Brace and Jovanovich, 1980.(translated by George Martin and originally published in 1956 by Giulio Einaudi editore, s.p.a.)

Campbell, Joseph. The Power of Myth with Bill Moyers. New York: Doubleday, 1988.

Canfield, Jack, and Jacqueline Miller.  Heart at Work: Stories and Strategies for Building Self-Esteem and Reawakening the Soul at Work. New York: McGraw-Hill,1996.

Chinen, Allan B. In the Ever After: Fairy Tales and the Second Half of Life. Wilmette, Illinois: Chiron Publications, 1989.

Chinen, Allan B., M.D. Once Upon a Midlife: Classic Stories and Mythic Tales to Illuminate the Middle Years. New York: Tarcher/Putnam, 1992.

Clark, Evelyn. Around the Corporate Campfire: How Great Leaders Use Stories to Inspire Success. Sevierville, Tennessee: Insight Publishing Company, 2004

Collins, R., & Cooper, P.J. The Power of Story: Teaching Through Storytelling. Boston : Allyn & Bacon.

Creighton, Helen. A Folk Tale Journey. Wreck Cove, Cape Breton Island: Breton Books, 1993.

Denning, Stephen. The Springboard: How Storytelling Ignites Action in Knowledge Era Organizations. Boston: Butterworth-Heineman, 2001

Denning, Stephen. Squirrel Inc. :A Fable of Leadership Through Storytelling. San Francisco : Jossey-Bass, 2004

Dorson, Richard M. Folk Legends of Japan. Rutland, Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1962.

Erdoes, Richard, and Alfonso Ortiz.  American Indian Myths and Legends. New York: Pantheon Books, 1984.

Feinstein, Ph.D., David, and Stanley Krippner, Ph.D. The Mythic Path. New York: Tarcher/Putnam, 1997.

Fulford, Robert. The Triumph of Narrative: Storytelling in the Age of Mass Culture. New York , Broadway, 2001.

Gabriel, Yiannis. Storytelling in Organizations: Facts, Fictions, and Fantasies. London : Oxford University Press, 2000.

Gardner, Howard, Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership. New York: Basic Books, 1996

Gargiulo, Terrence L., Making Stories: A Practical Guide for Organizational Leaders and Human Resource Specialists. Connecticut : Greenwood Press, 2002.

Garvin, David A. Learning in Action: A Guide to Putting The Learning Organization To Work. Boston : Harvard Business School Press, 2000.

Jensen, Bill. Simplicty: The New Competitive Advantage in a World of More, Better, Faster. Cambridge, Mass.: Perseus Books, 2000

Kurtz, Ernest, and Ketcham, Katherine. The Spirituality of Imperfection: Storytelling and the Journey to Wholeness. New York: Bantam Books, 1992

La Fontaine, Jean de. A Hundred Fables of La Fontaine. New York: Greenwich House: 1983.

Lipman, Doug. Improving Your Storytelling: Beyond the Basics for All Who Tell Stories in Work or Play. Little Rock : August House: 1999.

Livo, Norma. Trooubadours’s Storybag: Musical Folktales of the World. Golden, Colorodo: Fulcrum, 1996.

Macy, Joanna. World As Lover, World As Self. Parallax Press, 1995.

Maguire, Jack. The Power of Personal Storytelling: Spinning Tales to Connect with Others.  New York: Tarcher/Putnam, 1998.

Meade, Erica Helm. Tell It By Heart: Women and the Healing Power of Story. Chicago: Open Court, 1995.

Morgan, Gareth. Imaginization: New Mindsets for Seeing, Organizing, and Managing. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE, 1993.

Neuhauser, Peg C. Corporate Legends and Lore: The Power of Storytelling As a Management Tool. New York : Mc-Graw-Hill Trade, 1993

Parkin, Margaret. Tales for Change: Using Storytelling to Develop People and Management. London : Kogan Page, 2004.

Parkin, Margaret. Tales for Coaching: Using Stories and Metaphors With Individuals & Small Groups. London : Kogan Page, 2001.

Parkin, Margaret. Tales for Trainers: Using Stories and Metaphors to Facilitate Learning. London: Kogan Page, 1998.

Phelps, Ethel Johnston. The Maid of the North: Feminist Folk Tale from Around the World. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1981.

Pourrat, Henri. French Folktales. New York: Pantheon Books, 1989.

Sawyer, Ruth. The Way of the Storyteller. New York: Penguin Books, 1976

Schank, Roger C. 1995. Knowledge and Memory: The Real Story. Vol. VIII Advances in Social Cognition, Editted by Robert S. Wyer, Jr. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Publishers

Schank, Roger. Tell Me A Story: A New Look at Real and Artificial Memory, Northwestern Press, 1995.

Schank, Roger. Virtual Learning: A Revolutionary Approach to Building a Highly Skilled Workforce. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1997.

Simons, Annette. The Story Factor. Cambridge, Mass.: Perseus Publishing, 2001

Stone, Richard. The Healing Art of Storytelling: A Sacred Journey of Personal Discovery. New York: Hyperion, 1996.

Tichy, Noel M., with Eli Cohen. The Leadership Engine: How Winning Companies Build Leaders at Every Level. New York: HarperCollins, 1997

Wacker, Mary B., Silverman, Lori L. Stories Trainers Tell: 55 Ready-To Use Stories To Make Training Stick. San Francisco : Jossey-Bass/Pfeifffer, 2003

Wolkstein, Diane. The Magic Orange Tree and Other Haitian Folktales. New York: Schocken Books, 1978.

Zeitlin, Steve. Because God Loves Stories: An Anthology of Jewish Storytelling.  New York: Touchstone, 1997.

[Back to Top Menu]