Wer Unternehmen verändern will, muss vor allem die Menschen in diesem Unternehmen "mitnehmen". Das gilt insbesondere dann, wenn die Unternehmenskultur verändert werden soll, besteht diese doch zu einem erheblichen Teil aus "the way we do things around here".
"Warstories", also Anekdoten, die unter den Mitarbeiter kursieren, spielen hierbei eine wichtige Rolle. Seien es motivierende Stories von gemeinsam durchgearbeiteten Nächten vor einem erfolgreichen Produktlaunch oder auch demotivierende (und im schlimmsten Fall sarkastische) Stories von vergeblichen Anläufen, einen Misstand zu beheben.
Ein Beispiel von Bill Low, ein OUBS B822 Tutor, dokumentiert den Erfolg von Storytelling bei einem notwenigen Kulturwandel in einem großen Wohlfahrtsverband mit weltweit über 40.000 Mitgliedern:
The man who founded the organization died in 1998 and his genius was
such that he did not appoint a successor, but developed a range of
talents in a number of people in various countries who thereafter were
required to work together to take the growing organization forward.
In 2003 it was felt that the organization still tended to look back and
tell stories of the founder. Also there tended to be an approach to
problems along the lines, 'how would Mr. ...deal with this?' This was
not developing the forward looking perspective required.
There was a conference of around 300 leading memebers in 2003 at which
a day was given over to storytelling. It worked along the following
lines - people started of in groups of 3 and each person had a few
minutes to tell a story of how the objectives of the organization had
impacted on their lives BUT no reference was to be made to the founder. The best story agreed by the three was taken on to a group of 9. The best three were then taken on to a group of 27. From there the best three were taken on to a group of 81 and then the best three stories were shared with all 300+.
Someone that I knew was present, later in the day was told his own
story by a complete stranger, who had heardit in the original group and
although the story was not selected for onward transmission, it was
spread anyway. This experience was quite common by the end of the week
together.
The organization now has a fund of inspirational stories that are contemporary and inform present thinking.
Narrative Methoden zur Wissensvermittlung und Wissensbewahrung können auch in Projekten zum Einsatz kommen. Auf dem nächsten AK Wissensmanagment am 23.11.2005 in München können Sie die Experten kennen lernen.
Buchtipp: Stephen Denning - The Leader's Guide to Storytelling
Stefan Weiß, FUTURELAB
