The missing Leadership link
by Tony Quinlan on Sep 14, 2010 7:04:41 PM
Sometimes it feels like an article pursues you around until you pay attention. (The truth, of course, is far more mundane - just that it is a piece that resonates among the various media sources I go to.) The latest examples is an article in The American Scholar, originally from an ad …
300 stories about leadership, and still collecting
by Tony Quinlan on Sep 9, 2010 5:02:57 PM
One of the main planks to our client approach is that, as part of each project, we work with willing people in the client organisation to give them the skills to continue the work long after we've left. There are two reasons for doing this that matter - an attitude of not creating a d …
Who do you believe - the people or the experts?
by Tony Quinlan on Sep 8, 2010 6:05:30 PM
One of the areas where narrative research can make a real difference is the development world. Recent conversations with colleagues at the World Health Organisation and UNICEF have revolved around how to address complex environments and issues - and the central role that narrative mus …
Reflections on The Future, Backwards
by Tony Quinlan on Sep 3, 2010 7:13:01 PM
Wednesday's session of The Future, Backwards was great. I played uber-facilitator, racing between the 8 separate groups, while Anne, Dick, Sally and Meg worked with two groups each more closely. That seemed to work pretty well - I walked miles, helped steer and got to see 4 distinctly …
The Merger - Introduction
by Tony Quinlan on Sep 2, 2010 6:07:56 PM
Part of my time this year is being spent as an adviser to two organisations that are merging. I realised that it will make an interesting example to blog about it as I'm going along with the process - and material to reflect on later in the year.
Information is to behaviour change as spaghetti is to a brick
by Tony Quinlan on Aug 31, 2010 10:49:17 PM
The title of this post comes from Wilbert E. Fordyce, who worked with people in chronic pain. It fascinates me that professionals who work in life and death fields understand (and get frustrated by) the fact that when people need to change their behaviour to save their lives, it's not …
Making sense of thousands of stories, suggestions or complaints
by Tony Quinlan on Aug 27, 2010 12:00:56 PM
Stories are fabulous things, but there's one thing about them that makes them a real bugger to work with. They're big, wordy and take time to read. And if you've got loads of them (or indeed anything over a couple of dozen) it's well-nigh impossible to see patterns in them or analyse …
Conference talks and awards
by Tony Quinlan on Jun 11, 2010 1:02:40 PM
I'll be in London next week for the KMUK 2010 conference on Tuesday. Capped with the KMUK Awards, where I've been shortlisted for Best Presentation. It's flattering to be on the list with people like Dave Snowden, Bonnie Cheuk, Oz Benamram and Nick Davies. (I'm hoping to catch somethi …
Coffee and conversation in Washington DC
by Tony Quinlan on Apr 29, 2010 5:06:45 PM
I'm in Washington DC next week, arriving Sunday 2nd, leaving Sunday 9th seeing various people about mapping narratives. There are some breathing spaces to catch up with people, if anyone's up for a coffee.
The European story collecting tour
by Tony Quinlan on Apr 21, 2010 5:29:46 PM
A great day yesterday spent with the full Narrate team, David, Ron, Ruth, Meg, Anne and myself.