Storytelling has been something I have been teaching for many years, executives who are in transition or in position with huge successes for those looking for a job and those who wish to become stonger leaders.

What amazes me, on another level, is when I tell stories, while in session with a client, and how lateral thinking or even unconscious lightbulbs are lit, as they occur for my clients.

I found this dynamic most intriguing when I would tell a story ( I am a former journalist and photojournalist) and my clients would say something like, “While you were talking I suddenly realized…” or “I just thought of something whilst you were talking…”

Inevitibly it’s a rich new idea, a healthy awareness, a resource that had been clouded by intellectualization or an intuitive leap to an important place.

I would be glad to be interviewed and contribute to this most important research!

Judy Rosemarin
http://www.sense-ablestrategies.com

Emergence theory (physics) says that systems contain emergent properties that, contrary to conventional thinking, cannot be explained by knowing its constituents.

Ludwig Wittgenstein said the meaning of words is not contained in the words but in their use — in our negotiation of meaning, in our endeavor to” go on” together.

There may be something useful in this for you … or not.

Rodney

Have you talked with David Drake at all? He is sort of a guru in the narrative approach to coaching. I will send you contact info in a private email. Maybe your project would coincide with something he is doing and you could both benefit.

Rodney

I’m having difficulty separating narrative as collaborative meaning-making and narrative as creativity. They’re two sides of the same coin for me as the creativity opens up a broader canvas of meaning-making. But I agree on the need for focus. I’m still at a formative stage but am narrowing down quite quickly.

As one who has completed a couple of Master’s theses and am now working on a doctoral dissertation, I would only suggest that you keep very focused. All the neuroscience etc may take you too far afield for your present purposes.

I like what you say here:

In my view, the narrative perspective can foster reflexivity in coaching, providing a language to enable coach and client to see their own conversation as collaborative story-making. This can help clients see beyond the perception of reality as a given, and see themselves much more as the author of their own meaning. I want to test these assumptions in my research project.

OR this:

I’m also interested in exploring a narrative-based approach as creativity.

You might look how emergence theory might tie into narrative coaching as a stimulus to creativity or creative problem-solving.

But, I would pick ONE of those and run with it. A really tight Master’s thesis can be 75-80 pages.

Rodney

Glad to hear of your interests in the use of narratives of coaching. When I first started writing about narrative coaching I was particularly interested in the narrative content. As the years have gone by, I’ve found myself increasingly interesting in the narration process itself in coaching and in my honing my abilities to “think narratively.” I am interested in where you want to head with this work in looking at creativity. Happy to be of support to you.

David

Good luck with your research and the Masters degree.

Best regards.