Story, Poetry, and Metaphor: Subjective Solutions for Subjective Problems

Simmons, Annette

doi:10.1162/15241730360580195

Cited by 3 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…Thereby, narratives represent one effective form of expression to achieve this (Nonaka and Toyama 2007;Parry and Hansen 2007;Rowley and Gibbs 2008). A good story has the capacity to connect people to their emotions and access deeply shared wisdom that lies beneath language (Simmons 2003). Therefore, leading with narratives enables leaders to reconnect people to their wisdom or common sense, and elude the dominance of routines, rules, and objective performance indices, which has distorted their work ability (Boal and Schultz 2007;Simmons 2003).…”

Section: "Wise and Letmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A good story has the capacity to connect people to their emotions and access deeply shared wisdom that lies beneath language (Simmons 2003). Therefore, leading with narratives enables leaders to reconnect people to their wisdom or common sense, and elude the dominance of routines, rules, and objective performance indices, which has distorted their work ability (Boal and Schultz 2007;Simmons 2003). Furthermore, leaders' life experiences, values, beliefs, and wisdoms are more likely to be stored and displayed in the form of stories, rather than in lists of facts and figures.…”

Section: "Wise and Letmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The practice of narratives is a fundamental method to foster personal growth and wisdom, as it helps leaders to reflect on their own behavior, construct meaning, and make sense of new experiences (Auvinen et al 2013a). Narratives possess the ability to re-establish individuals' connection to their emotions and tap into deeply held collective wisdom, eluding the dominance of routines and rules that have distorted their work capabilities (Boal and Schultz 2007;Simmons 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Narratives as a Tool for Practically Wise Leadership

Bostanli

Habisch

2023

Humanist Manag J

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Recent studies have identified practical wisdom as a critical area for exploration in the domains of management and leadership. This paper delves into the cultivation and manifestation of practical wisdom in leadership, emphasizing the potential of narratives as an efficacious tool, as corroborated by academic literature. Employing practical wisdom theory and a refined analytical model, we examine the role of narratives as a key instrument for practically wise leaders. Through the provision of theoretical underpinnings and empirical evidence, our study seeks to elucidate the tripartite interconnectedness of practical wisdom, narratives, and leadership. Subsequently, a conceptual model is developed and illustrated, outlining the relationship between narratives and practical wisdom across diverse leadership contexts. This analysis positions practical wisdom as a fundamental guidance for leaders’ narrative practices. Acknowledging the paper’s conceptual focus, we discuss the practical and theoretical implications of the proposed model and advocate for empirical inquiry to further enhance understanding of narrative practices in practically wise leadership.

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Section: "Wise and Letmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: "Wise and Letmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Narratives as a Tool for Practically Wise Leadership

Bostanli

Habisch

2023

Humanist Manag J

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“…Like with simple metaphors, readers can identify with a fable's animal characters at an emotional, creative and innovative level (Cornelissen 2005). This emotional engagement with a fable allows for the discussion of otherwise uncomfortable issues, because its allegoric qualities work at a different level and help overcome organisational actors' defensive reactions (Simmons 2003). Yet, there is also a risk of seducing the audience to think and behave in a particular way, thus manipulating both cognition and behaviour.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Our iceberg is melting’: Story, metaphor and the management of organisational change

Reissner

Pagan

Smith³

2011

Culture and Organization

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This article offers two contrasting readings of the business novel Our iceberg is melting: Changing and succeeding under any conditions (J. Kotter and H. Rathgeber. 2005. Basingstoke: Pan Macmillan), which was written to advocate Kotter's approach to organisational change management. The orthodox reading draws on the modernist paradigm which assumes that organisational change can be actively managed. This reading analyses how the structure, themes, tropes and metaphoric representations employed in the book reinforce its underlying message. It assumes that readers will accept this message and adopt the advocated change management approach. The alternative reading is more critical. It questions the idealistic representations of characters' roles and behaviours, and demonstrates how organisational actors may subvert the book's story and metaphoric representations to resist change. This article demonstrates through the two readings that story and metaphor as tools to facilitate organisational change open up space for differing interpretations, which may not match the authors' intent. It concludes that story and metaphor can reinforce a book's underlying message, but that their ambiguity and interpretative flexibility always allow for unintended, dissenting and potentially subversive interpretations.

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“…This view is echoed by Annette Simmons, author of the business best-seller The Story Factor. Simmons (2003) defines the story as a "narration of a sequence of events that stimulates a visual, sensory, and emotional experience that feels significant for both the listener and the teller" (p. 41). She also promotes storytelling as a way of "reconnecting people to their wisdom" and as a means of escaping the "tyranny of agendas, objective measures, and outcomes [that] has distorted our ability to do good work" (p. 42).…”

Section: Leadership Through Storytellingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leadership Through Storytelling

Muir

2007

Business Communication Quarterly

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Story, Poetry, and Metaphor: Subjective Solutions for Subjective Problems

Cited by 3 publications

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Narratives as a Tool for Practically Wise Leadership

Narratives as a Tool for Practically Wise Leadership

‘Our iceberg is melting’: Story, metaphor and the management of organisational change

Leadership Through Storytelling

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