Leadership & Organizing for Change

Leadership & Organizing for Change

IHI Open School Change Agent Network

Your Organizing Sentence

“I am organizing (WHO — leadership & constituency) to do (WHAT — measurable aim) by (HOW — tactics) because (WHY — motivating vision) by (WHEN—timeline).”

Lesson 3 Exercise: Public Narrative

Step 1: Identify an “ask.”

Public narrative is a leadership exercise in which we motivate others to join us in action. What action will you call others to take? Begin by identifying the context in which you can deliver a call to action (examples: at a team meeting, during an event, in a one-to-one meeting). Clarify your audience and your “ask” of them. Remember: We build calls to action around the “ask” we are making of a particular “us” – because the goal is to motivate themto act now.

Context:

Audience:

Specific Ask: “Will you join me in ?”

Step 2: Draft a two-page narrative call to action.

Build your narrative around your ask. Consider the following prompts, which are intended to serve as a framework, not a formula.

1. Story of Self: (Focus the majority of the assignment here.)

• Why were you called to leadershipin health? In your project?
• What 1-2 stories or experience have shaped the values that call you to leadership?
• In crafting your story, paint a picture of the challenge you faced, the choice you made, and the outcome that resulted.

1. Story of Us:Describe who “we” are.

• What stories highlight the shared values, identities, and experiences of the individuals and teams you are working with in your projects, and/or your fellow learners in the Leadership & Organizing for Change course?

1. Story of Now:Paint a picture of action.

• Paint a picture of the urgent challenge you face in your project or in the course.
• What is your vision of successful action? What does it look like?
• How can others join you to achieve the desired outcome? What specific choice will you call on them to make as a first step, beginning now?

Remember, this is not about writing a perfect script, or a story that will fit all situations – what you write is just a beginning. Try to keep it short by selecting only a few key “choice points”around which you can craft a challenge, choice, and outcome. You should be able to tell your narrative in 2-3 minutes.

Narrative Call to Action:

Step 3: Prepare to share your narrative with fellow learners in the Leadership & Organizing for Change course in the coming weeks – both in the peer review process and in the Public Narrative Skills Session.

Step 4: Review the Coaching Tips below to learn how to offer guidance and feedback to a peer on their narrative.

Coaching Tips: Public Narrative

Listening to and coaching stories is just as important as (if not more important than) telling your own. Public narrative is not a script that comes ready-made to share with the world. It is important to ask targetedquestions to guide astoryteller to consider their narrative on a deeper level. And, as you help in another’s learning process, you develop the skills to fine-tune your own story. Simply put: coaching is a crucial aspect of public narrative.

Read carefully through the coaching tips below to review the type of reflective and probing questions that help bring clarity to someone else’s story.

When giving feedback, remember to strike a balance of positive and constructively criticalcomments. The purpose of coaching is to listen to the way stories are told and suggest how the storytelling might be improved.

The Challenge:What were the specific challenges the storyteller faced? Did the storyteller paint a vivid picture of those challenges? For the story of “now,” is the challenge clear? Is there a sense of urgency around that challenge, not just for the speaker, but also for “us”?

“When you described ______, I got a clear picture of the challenge.”

“I understood the challenge to be ______. Is that what you intended?”

“The challenge wasn’t clear. How would you describe ______?”

The Choice:Was there a clear choice that the storyteller made in response to each challenge? How did the choice make the storyteller feel? (hopeful? angry?) Again, for the story of “now,” is there a clear choice the listener is being asked to make? Does it seem significant and doable?

“To me, the choice you made was ______, and it made me feel ______.”

“It would be helpful if you focused on the moment you made a choice.”

The Outcome:What was the specific outcome that resulted from each choice? What does that outcome teach us?

“I understood the outcome to be ______, and it teaches me ______. But how does it relate to our work now?”

The Values:Could you identify the storyteller’s values, and where they came from? How? How did the story make you feel? Were the values underlying the choices clear? What shared value does the narrative illustrate? How?

“Your story made me feel ______because ______.”

“It’s clear from your story that you value ______; but it could be even clearer if you told a story about where that value comes from.”

Details: Were there sections of the story that featured especially strong details or images (e.g., sights, sounds, smells, or emotions of the moment)? Did you feel like the moment was captured vividly? Or, did the speaker merely explain the circumstances from a certain angle of remove?

“The image of ______really helped me identify with what you were feeling.”

“Try telling more details about ______so we can imagine what you were experiencing.”