Emergent Behaviours (And Culture) Are Patterned But Not Predictable
by Tony Quinlan on Feb 25, 2025 12:30:00 PM
Most people crave predictability in their organisations. It’s a natural human instinct to want control and structure, and many believe that achieving this would simplify the challenges of leadership. We plan strategies, set goals, and create processes, all based on the assumption that …
Why Is The Narrative Of Your Organisation Important?
by Tony Quinlan on Jan 27, 2025 12:30:00 PM
I suspect most of us have sat through those earnest presentations about organisational culture and storytelling. You know the ones - they tend to feature stock photos of diverse teams gathered around whiteboards, all pointing enthusiastically at something just out of frame. (I've alwa …
Promoting Organisational Development: The Impact Of Narrative Research
by Tony Quinlan on Sep 29, 2024 10:00:00 AM
Faced with a challenging economic landscape, many businesses seek ways to adapt, grow, and thrive. However, it’s difficult to do so without good, actionable information from key stakeholders. Narrative research has emerged as a powerful way to obtain and explore the stories and experi …
Argh. When a helpful example is kept confidential
by Tony Quinlan on Nov 4, 2019 12:46:00 PM
No great thoughts today – the upcoming post on how not to restrict necessary feedback is drawing those for the moment.
Narrate at the UN Data Literacy workshop, November 2018
by Tony Quinlan on Nov 16, 2018 5:07:18 PM
Our CEO and Chief Storyteller, Tony Quinlan, spoke on Thursday 15th November 2018 at the Bangkok workshop on UN Data Literacy. Talking about using ethnography in-field, he discussed projects we’ve undertaken with Cognitive Edge’s SenseMaker tools. His slides from the conference are do …
Reflections on developing a SenseMaker framework to understand company culture
by Tony Quinlan on Nov 5, 2018 10:32:06 AM
Two examples of SenseMaker triads for exploring company culture
Using SenseMaker to understand girls' lives
by Tony Quinlan on Mar 19, 2018 6:02:08 PM
The Girl Hub SenseMaker® case study explores the use of SenseMaker®, an innovative, narrative-based research methodology, to gather girl-centered evidence in Rwanda and Ethiopia. This approach enables large-scale story collection and analysis to identify social patterns, behaviors, an …
Working with SenseMaker - experiences from the field with UNDP
by Tony Quinlan on Feb 20, 2018 2:29:44 PM
If you’re thinking of running a SenseMaker project – I’d strongly recommend reading these first.
SenseMaker and social change dynamics - slides and video
by Tony Quinlan on Dec 27, 2017 11:38:15 AM
This week, Tony joined fellow complexity explorer Marcus Jenal for a webinar hosted by Laurie Webster for Cognitive Edge. Looking at social change, both presenters talked about recent experiences of using SenseMaker to explore social and attitudinal change. The webinar was recorded an …
Mrs Trellis, red-shirts and savings - the limits of text analysis
by Tony Quinlan on Oct 29, 2017 12:21:56 PM
I've just finished Tim Harford's excellent Messy (paperback just out) alongside Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's The Leopard and both have thrown up examples of phrases that brought a smile to my face and, along with an example from a conference earlier this year, highlight one of my co …