People

• 2026-06-10

  Here I am talking to some people

  A post with links to two recent videos of me talking to people about story work and about complexity. Read more

• 2024-02-23

  New paper, new network name

  Hey everybody. I wanted to tell you about a new paper on Participatory Narrative Inquiry that has just come out. Written mostly by my colleague Rachel Colla (though I helped a little), the paper makes a strong case for the use of PNI in Wellbeing Research. I was so impressed by how Rachel pulled together… Read more

• 2023-04-10

  Here I am talking to Madelyn Blair about stories

  Hey everybody. Recently I had a wonderful conversation with Madelyn Blair, one of my role models in getting out there and doing things in the world. It was about stories and working with them, and it was part of an episode of her Unlocked TV show. (Watch out, the music starts suddenly. Made me jump.)… Read more

• 2021-01-18

  Introducing the Participatory Narrative Practitioner Network

  Today I want to talk to you about the PNI Institute, its history, its ending, and its successor. (Book update: I am still working on the last chapter. It is shaping up well, though more slowly than expected. I hope to be ready to send the book to my early readers in the next 3-4… Read more

• 2018-10-25

  Guest post – Before anything, storytelling is a conversation

  Readers: I don’t think I’ve ever done this before, but I’d like to do it more often. This post was written by Juan Manuel Rodríguez Bocanegra of the Haki Storytelling blog. I am sure that you will find Juan Manuel’s insights valuable. Last year, I contacted Cynthia Kurtz and asked her to be a guest… Read more

• 2018-10-10

  Writing here and there

  Lately I’ve been writing less here because I’ve been writing more there. On the PNI Institute blog, that is. So right now, if you want to read the new stuff I’m writing, go there. Why am I writing more there? This year, in our monthly Zoom calls, we’ve been going through the purposes of participatory… Read more

• 2018-08-27

  Story the Future summit Sept 10-30

  So a while ago I got an invitation from David Hutchens, who wrote Circle of the 9 Muses, to take part in an online summit he and some others were putting together on the future of story work. It seemed like a good thing, so I said yes. Then he asked me to tell you… Read more

• 2017-11-14

  Here I am talking about stories and complexity

  Hello everybody. You might be wondering what I’ve been up to lately. To begin with, I’ve been busy visiting relatives, getting sick (then better), and having relatives visit. In October I attended my second NYSDRA (NY State Dispute Resolution Association) conference, where I showed another friendly group of people what it’s like to make sense… Read more

• 2017-05-19

  Presentations, podcasts, plans

  I’m cleaning my office again, so it’s time to catch you up on some presentations and podcasts I’ve been doing lately (outside of conferences). Last June I spoke at my very own local historical society on “Stories in your Family or Community.” In November I was interviewed by Bob Cudmore in his The Historians series… Read more

• 2017-03-15

  Conference report, part six: Stories and NVC

   This is the sixth in a series of blog posts about two conferences I attended this fall (NCDD and NYSDRA). I started by describing the Red-Blue Dictionary and the exercise I designed for it (which I call “Ground Truthing with Stories“). Then I described a new conferences-and-meetings variant of the “Twice told stories” exercise, called “Bubble up stories,” I designed for… Read more

• 2017-03-06

  Conference report, part five: NYSDRA and childhood trauma

  This is the fifth in a series of blog posts about two conferences I attended this fall (NCDD and NYSDRA). Now I’ll finish the series with an account of some other meetings and conferences I attended and talk about what’s coming next. (Actually, this post was supposed to complete the series, but it turns out I will… Read more

• 2017-02-01

  Conference report, part four: Cross method mapping

  This is the fourth in a series of blog posts about two conferences I attended this fall (NCDD and NYSDRA). Now I’ll talk about Cross method mapping with the Group Works cards. As some will remember, I first started thinking about a way to connect the hundreds of methods and approaches that surround the practice… Read more

• 2017-01-26

  Conference report, part three: Sticker stories

  This is the third in a series of blog posts about two conferences I attended this fall (NCDD and NYSDRA). I started by describing the Red-Blue Dictionary and the exercise I designed for it (which I call “Ground Truthing with Stories“). Then I described a new conferences-and-meetings variant of the “Twice told stories” exercise, called… Read more

• 2017-01-24

  Conference report, part two: Bubble up stories

  This is the second in a series of blog posts about two conferences I attended this fall (NCDD and NYSDRA). I started by describing the Red-Blue Dictionary and the exercise I designed for it (which I call “Ground Truthing with Stories“). Now I’ll talk about the exercise I designed for the first plenary session of… Read more

• 2016-12-20

  Conference report, part one: Red Blue Dictionary

  When I started this blog post, it read: “This past weekend I went to the 2016 conference of the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation (NCDD).” That was in October. Many things have happened since then that prevented me from writing down my experiences about the conference: another conference just after it, the start of… Read more

• 2016-09-14

  Liminal Thinking

  So about a year and a half ago, Harold Jarche introduced me to Dave Gray, whom he met at a conference. Dave was writing a book about agility; Harold told him about my work; Dave wanted to talk. He was interviewing lots of people for his book. I said yes, and thus began a fascinating… Read more

• 2016-03-10

  A Connection Language: Dialogue, Methods, Collaboration

  A few of you might remember that when I posted my observations from the NCDD conference in October 2014, I mentioned the idea of a “connection language” to interpolate between different dialogue methods. I’ve been playing with that idea ever since. I’ve told about a dozen people about it and gathered feedback. Based on that,… Read more

• 2015-12-30

  It’s a great big box of chocolates (Circle of the 9 Muses)

  I just now posted this review on Amazon.com. It’s about David Hutchens’ new book about stories in organizations, Circle of the 9 Muses: A Storytelling Field Guide for Innovators and Meaning Makers. I first heard about David’s book project two years ago, and I’ve been an enthusiastic supporter ever since. I’m excited to see how… Read more

• 2015-06-02

  Let’s talk

  Over at the PNI Institute, we are holding our very first “Hangout” this Friday, July 5, at: Our hangouts will be: To avoid the inevitable problems using Skype with more than a few people, we will be using our new Mumble server. For details on how to connect, and to read more about what we… Read more

• 2014-10-28

  What I learned at the NCDD 2014 Conference

  So I’m back from my first real conference in ten years, and I learned a lot. This is the conference I mentioned a few blog posts back, of the National (US) Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation. The first thing I learned was: I’m ten years older than I was ten years ago. Conferences have always… Read more