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Story-based organizational assessment and effect system

  • US 7,136,791 B2
  • Filed: 10/24/2001
  • Issued: 11/14/2006
  • Est. Priority Date: 10/24/2000
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. A method for assessing and affecting the state of affairs within and among given organizations and communities with respect to given issues or objectivesthe method makes use of narrative patterns to assess and affect the state of affairs within and among given organizations and communities with respect to given issues or objectives;

  • initiation, in which various preparatory, selective, exploratory and purpose-setting activities are carried out as needed;

    elicitation, in which narrative material is collected from the given organizations or communities;

    storing in storage, in which the narrative material is indexed and arrayed in such a way as to be useful to the method;

    common sensemaking, in which the given organizations or communities come to a collective understanding of patterns emergent in the collected narrative material which address the issues or objectives at hand;

    option formation, in which various possibilities for appropriate response are identified;

    option evaluation, in which the identified options are characterized, appraised and prioritized; and

    response, in which an action is taken in order to affect the state of affairs;

    wherein the elicitation integrates observation, interviewing, and group sessions as needed to provide a large, diverse, and representative narrative base with which to examine the given issues or objectives in the given organizations or communities;

    wherein the group sessions follow any of four distinct formats depending on the experience of facilitators, the time available, the completeness of outputs desired, and the purpose of the session, comprising;

    a story circle unstructured format in which skilled facilitators choose among several narrative techniques depending on the purpose and flow of the session;

    a story roundtable structured format in which unskilled facilitators guide participants in relating narratives while choosing favorite or best narratives;

    a self-running semi-structured format in which participants follow a game-like set of instructions (selected from the group consisting of printed and multimedia materials) and take part in various narrative activities, reporting their results with little or no facilitation; and

    a virtual story gathering online format in which participants relate narratives and discuss issues using electronic means, integrating synchronous and asynchronous and optimally anonymous communications.

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