Reflecting on a narrative conversation (a story of a story)

Reflecting upon my narrative conversation presentation and process, it is clear to me that my values informed my decision-making and the way I conducted myself and work when telling a story about a story.

To begin with, when deciding what questions to ask my interviewee, Sarah, my knowledge of her professional and personal background assisted in deciding which direction to take the interview as I already had the foundations to build upon to meet the requirements of the assessment. I asked Sarah to walk me through the development of her professional life from start to finish which led me into my next questions about her working values and the support around her. I found that each question led into the next seamlessly as I had prepared them in such a way.

Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com. Two people sitting opposite one another in a counselling room, one talking, the other taking notes on a clipboard.

I made and recorded my presentation on Canva, where I recorded my voice over slides and included snippets of the recorded phone interview I conducted with Sarah to show her exact words on certain topics. The themes that arose from the interview that were clearly related to Sarah’s personal values were loving your job, caring for people, that it’s never too late to learn a new skill or be part of a new industry, and being comfortable with change.

My expectations when beginning the interview process were that I would be able to conduct the interview quite comfortably. When my questions or the answers to those questions didn’t quite go to plan, pivoting to stay on topic was sometimes difficult. As Sarah didn’t know the background of the subject, this meant that it was difficult to get the answers that I wanted or to get her to elaborate in the way I needed. I often had to change my questions or prod her further to gain a deeper insight into her professional life.

Structuring the interview was made easier as I structured my questions around the recommended slide layout given by lecturer, Kate Bowles of BCM313 ‘The Future of Work’. The structure I undertook was asking about Sarah’s timeline of work, the turning point in her career, her hopes for the future and managing change. I then took my narrative story to connecting her journey to her club of life and values and finished with connecting these to theory discovered throughout the subject.

During the process, I felt comfortable as I already knew Sarah which assisted in connecting to her and being able to question her further or ask for clarification. I believe if I didn’t interview someone I already knew, it would have been more difficult to push for certain answers. I also believe that this previous connection with Sarah made her feel more comfortable and open as the interview was casual and non-intimidating.

I decided to record my presentation rather than present it live to ensure I could deliver my ideas in a more articulate way than I could presenting it live. Recording the presentation also allowed for a more seamless process on the day. Although it was more work upfront doing it this way as I had to record before the class, it relieved some pressure on the day as the work was already completed and all I had to do was answer questions at the end which also eased the anxiety around public speaking.

Although pre-recorded, the presentation was still a little uncomfortable as I was unsure if my ideas would translate to others’ in the class although we were learning about the same concepts and that I had fallen short compared to the others. I liked that we were able to choose which week we presented to the class as it eased so much pressure and allowed us to work around our other commitments and assignments. I liked the aspect of asking questions at the end of the presentations as it gave me room to expand on my thoughts as well as those who were delegated questions to think deeper and listen more actively to the presentations.

Photo by fauxels on Pexels.com. Person presenting to an audience, holding an iPad.

Through the principles of Michael White, such as externalising conversation and re-membering, the interview gave a greater insight into how values, both past and present form our identities through our experiences with other people, not only our interactions with them but how we see them and visualise our own identities through them.

Re-membering practices are based on the poststructuralist understanding that our identities are forged through our relationships with other people.

Maggie Carey & Shona Russell, Re-membering: commonly asked questions

Identifying my values through Sarah’s story was made clear through externalising conversation and outsider witnessing. By writing key phrases that intrigued or sparked my interest meant that these were elements in which I resonated with in some way. Phrases such as “caring for people”, “making a difference” and “conversing with people” were the main phrases I felt I resonated with most in my life, both personal and professional.

Through re-membering, Sarah was able to identify how her values were formed through the support of others within her club of life by reminiscing and reflecting on how these values have shaped her personal life and been further developed in her professional life. As Barbara Myerhoff (2007) states,

We are saying that our affairs matter, that we have not only a past, but because of that we have a future.

Upon reflection on the narrative process, the person I chose to interview had similar people values to myself. I find this interesting because I look up to these qualities that Sarah possesses. However, through the narrative interview process and outsider witnessing, I was able to identify that I possess similar values of caring and connecting to people which I have found a rewarding process overall.

Narrative Interview Process

References:

• Bowles, K., (2022). BCM313 ‘The Future of Work’
• Carey, M., & Russell, S., (2002). ‘Re-membering: commonly asked questions‘
• Myerhoff, B., (2007). Stories as Equipment for Living
• White, M., (2007). ‘Maps of Narrative Practice’

Listening with More Than Ears

Outsider witnessing involves noticing what you pick up in the stories of others and how this reflects your values as much as the story-teller themselves. Outsider witnessing has been used in therapeutic contexts, such as narrative therapy by “Enabling a person who is coming to therapy to invite friends or family members into their sessions as witnesses” as “it is much more likely that steps that a person makes in the therapy room can be translated into action in their daily lives” (Carey & Russell, 2003).

Applying the concept to professional contexts can assist to identify values within teams to frame how the future of work could look in optimising productivity and delegate appropriate roles to the appropriate people in alignment with these values.

Through externalising conversations and outsider witnessing, two guests, Ellenie (Elle) Petrou and Tom Bambrick shared their values through the stories they decided to tell about their experiences at work.

“Narrative and story become the way we imagine alternatives and create possibilities, and actualise these options.”

Harlene Anderson, 2007

As Elle (Senior Manager, Strategic Projects at University of Wollongong) explained the complexities of her work, including advising on recommendations for decision-making, she explained that “I need to really listen, I need to understand why they [other people in the organisation] believe it’s the right decision, and understand what is their goal?” Elle also explained that her role entails “helping people see situations using other views… to understand impact” which shows that Elle values fairness and equality of different opinions and people which she agreed when reflecting on her own values, “I’m the first person to put my hand up and question things.” Using outsider witnessing, these attributes about Elle resonated with me as it reflects my consistent effort of offering different perspectives when I’m working on a project or within a team at work.

When reflecting on her club of life, Elle identified that her “parents would definitely agree that I would step in if there was a crisis at home or an injustice.” The reason I resonated with this part of Elle’s storytelling is that my own club of life would agree that I am the first person to step in if there was something going on at home to resolve, no matter how big or small, but like Elle, not in an aggressive way, just to listen first and then offer differing perspectives which shows I value fairness.

“In maintaining our connection with our values we probably have all experienced the power of sharing those values with like-minded people. Outsider witnesses help to meet these two purposes – acknowledging our identity claims as valid, and sharing stories about what is important to us in life. In this way the people we work with come to experience themselves and their preferred identity claims as part of a community of acknowledgement..”

Hugh Fox, quoted in Maggie Carey & Shona Russell Outsider Witness: Some Answers to Commonly Answered Questions

When Tom (Global Academic Quality and Performance Specialist at UOW Global Enterprises) reflected on his own critical incident at work he described that “there was this decision-making paralysis like: Well who’s responsibility is this, because it doesn’t fit neatly into anybody else’s role”. He recounted that he likes to put his hand up in these situations to challenge himself and fill the “gaps in the system”. I resonated with Tom’s recollection of this story as similarly to Tom, I have been in situations at work where there was no clear outline on whose role it was to complete certain tasks and I put my hand up for the challenge and to fill the gap.

When Tom was reflecting on Elle’s story as an outsider witness, he stated, “I really liked when Elle spoke about calling on trusted individuals. I think for me that is something, when I’m faced with a problem that seems to threaten the organisation… that is my first thing that I do”. Tom also stated that what resonated with him about Elle’s story is that “the more that you can open up those doors, to getting more opinions in, the better the decision-making process, and the better the outcome”. These two key attributes Tom identified about Elle’s story are important as not only does it reflect Elle’s values at work, but it also identifies what Tom values and this is the key to outsider witnessing as a practice.

When Elle reflected on listening to Tom’s values, she identified that there were “commonalities around building relationships”. She also identified that Tom also “talks to people who challenge his ideas which resonates with me as well” and he was “talking about gaps in processes” which she plays a huge role in filling with her own projects at work.

Through being an outsider witness in Elle & Tom’s stories, three key values stood out to me that I also resonate within professional and broader, more personal settings.

• Multiple perspectives to achieve fairness
• Building relationships through trust
• Taking initiative to improving processes by proactively filling gaps

Overall, outsider witnessing principles help you notice people who openly validate you (which are referred to as communities of acknowledgement). Through listening to stories beyond the ear and using practices such as outsider witnessing, we reveal our true values both professionally and personally which contribute to the people we are now and will be in the future.

“We tell the story of who we were because we are making sense of how we are travelling towards the future”

Kate Bowles, 2022.

References:

Carey, M., & S., Russell (2003). ‘Outsider-witness practices: some answers to commonly asked questions’.

Bowles, K., (2022). ‘Week 4 workshop’ BCM313 The Future of Work.

Anderson, H., (2007). Collaborative therapy: Relationships and conversations that make a difference.