Complexity, micro-narratives and SenseMaker®. Tony Quinlan's talk from the UN Data Innovation Lab , Nairobi: March 2017
by Tony Quinlan on Jul 13, 2017 12:34:55 PM
It's a couple of months ago now, but Narrate's Chief Storyteller, Tony Quinlan, was invited to talk at the fourth UN Data Innovation Learning Lab event, held in Nairobi, Kenya in March 2017. The event focused on "making data meaningful and making the invisible visible".
Fragments of Impact - Launching a six-month UNDP/Cognitive Edge initiative into working with complex problems
by Tony Quinlan on May 14, 2015 2:48:14 PM
Cognitive Edge and UNDP are together launching a unique initiative to engage with new ways of working on difficult problems in complex and fast-changing situations. The programme will last six months and a limited number of participants are being invited from across a variety of NGO a …
Catching up - Learning From Incidents slides
by Tony Quinlan on Nov 5, 2014 10:52:18 AM
It's been an "interesting" few weeks at breakneck pace, so I'm a bit behind in putting things up. So, catching up bit by bit - here are the slides from the ESRC Learning From Incidents seminar at Southampton University on 15th October, along with some reflections from the morning.
Washington DC - courses coming up in September 2014
by Tony Quinlan on Sep 12, 2014 10:38:06 AM
Early bird discount's finished, but there's still time to book on the upcoming Washington DC Cognitive Edge courses - which would be highly recommended even if I weren't teaching with Michael Cheveldave. (I won't be there for the Narrative day on 2nd October, though - I'll have gone t …
Consulting on The Emperor's new clothes
by Tony Quinlan on Jun 16, 2014 12:24:48 PM
I've noticed I have a tendency to dismiss certain approaches, particularly newer ones that may not have a decent body of theory based on good science behind them, as "the Emperor's new clothes."
Getting more good results - while avoiding the "Best Practice" trap
by Tony Quinlan on Apr 17, 2014 6:54:14 PM
The greatest obstacle to better practice, to better results and to better impacts is the temptation to replicated what has worked elsewhere. It's a huge temptation - reinforced by academic programmes, self-help books and conference presentations that focus on "Here's what worked somew …
Overstating the end-state, Obscuring the objective
by Tony Quinlan on Jan 22, 2014 5:58:31 PM
I came across a glorious Churchill quote recently while reading Billy Bragg's The Progressive Patriot. It wasn't one I had heard before, but it sums up beautifully something that challenges many of the people I talk to - how to set direction and objectives for large numbers of people, …
Understanding narratives - the reality of counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency
by Tony Quinlan on Jan 22, 2013 6:44:42 PM
Yesterday, the House of Commons saw some to-and-fro rhetoric between the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition around counter-terrorism in the wake of the Algerian attack and its aftermath. It's important to recognise within the wide context of the news stories and the polit …
First, do no harm...
by Tony Quinlan on Nov 19, 2012 5:01:47 PM
In recent months, I've been lucky enough to work with a variety of people dealing with problems and situations that are highly complex. In these environments, it's not possible to boil issues down to a root cause and plan an ideal solution. (Something that jumped to mind this morning …