Working with Stories is a textbook for people who want to use participatory narrative inquiry (PNI) in their communities and organizations. PNI methods help people discover insights, catch emerging trends, make decisions, generate ideas, resolve conflicts, and connect people.

Participatory narrative inquiry draws on theory and practice in narrative inquiry, participatory action research, oral history, mixed-methods research, participatory theatre, narrative therapy, sensemaking, complexity theory, and decision support. Its focus is on the exploration of values, beliefs, feelings, and perspectives through collaborative sensemaking with stories of lived experience.

Contents

Introduction
Fundamentals of Story Work

What Is a Story?
What Are Stories For?
How Do Stories Work?
Stories in Communities and Organizations

A Guide to Participatory Narrative Inquiry

Introducing Participatory Narrative Inquiry
Project Planning
Story Collection
Group Exercises for Story Collection
Narrative Catalysis
Narrative Sensemaking
Group Exercises for Narrative Sensemaking
Narrative Intervention
Narrative Return

Appendices

Example Models and Templates for Group Exercises
Further Reading: Your PNI Bookshelf
Bibliography
Acknowledgements and Biography

Glossary
Index

Reader praise

"I wanted to say thanks for making Working with Stories available. It's an amazing piece of work, so simple (not the ideas, but the presentation) and unintimidating."

"[Working With Stories] is very thorough and helpful to me in exploring ways that I might capture the narrative of a project I am involved in."

"Your detailed description of [the sensemaking] process is so useful and helpful. It makes seasoned facilitators like me yearn to try out the ideas."

"Over the past few months I have been reading, reflecting, and feasting on your experiences working with stories. I am really excited to have found Working With Stories because it seems like a rich set of options for our needs."

"Your terminology and explanation of participatory narrative inquiry have helped me greatly in understanding what I want from my practice and what I might be capable of achieving in social change."

"I have been returning to Working With Stories time and again over the past six months to help support a community project, and my printed copy is underlined, noted and dog-eared."