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Originally adapted from the works of Marshall Ganz, Harvard University; modified by Kate B. Hilton

ReThink Health: Transforming Quality Improvement

Materials for Webinar 3

Introduction to Public Narrative

Kate B. Hilton

Founding Director, ReThink Health

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I N T R O D U C T I O N : P U B L I C N A R R A T I V E

Goals:

• To learn how the leadership practice of public narrative works: values, emotion, structure.

• To learn how to use the public narrative framework in developing your own story of self.

• To prepare for use of the public narrative framework in developing your story of us and

now.

PUBLIC NARRATIVE IS A LEADERSHIP PRACTICE

Leadership requires accepting the responsibility to enable others to achieve purpose in the face

of uncertainty. Leadership is not a matter of position, but of practice. Enabling others to act

effectively in response to uncertainty requires strategic and motivational skill – the skillful use of the

“hands”, in other words, depends on effective engagement of “head” and “heart.” Strategically, we ask

HOW to turn our resources into the power we need to achieve our goals. Motivationally, we ask WHY

these goals matter enough to find the courage to act despite uncertainty and inspire others to act

with us.

Because stories speak the language of emotion, the language of the heart, they teach us not only how

we “ought to” act, but inspire us with the “courage to” act. And because the sources of emotion on

which they draw are in our values, our stories not only help us translate our values into action.

Through their telling we construct our identity.

Learning the craft of public narrative is not learning a script, developing a message, or creating a

brand. It is about learning how to process information in a particular way. It is not a formula, but a

framework. As such the specifics of our public narrative changes as our lives, our communities, and

our challenges change. As former student of Marshall Ganz, Jijanti Ravi, put it, “It is not about creating

a gloss from the outside; it is about bringing out the glow from the inside.”

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THE KEY TO MOTIVATION IS UNDERSTANDING THAT VALUES INSPIRE ACTION THROUGH

EMOTION

Emotions inform us of what we value in ourselves, in others, and in the world; are the way in which we

experience our values, and enable us to express our values to others. Stories access the power of emotion

to express our values in action, helping us feel what matters, rather than just thinking about or telling others

what matters. Because stories allow us to express our values not as abstract principles, but as lived

experience, they have the power to move others.

SOME EMOTIONS INHIBIT MINDFUL ACTION, BUT OTHER EMOTIONS FACILITATE

MINDFUL ACTION

The root word of emotion – motor – is that which moves us. Action is inhibited by inertia, apathy, fear,

isolation and self-doubt. Action is facilitated by urgency, anger hope, empathy and YCMAD (you can

make a difference). Stories can help us mobilize action by accessing emotions that support the

courage to act, as opposed to those that inhibit action.

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THE THREE KEY ELEMENTS OF PUBLIC NARRATIVE STRUCTURE: CHALLENGE – CHOICE -

OUTCOME

A plot begins when a protagonist moving toward a desired goal runs into an unexpected event, creating a

crisis that engages our curiosity, choices he or she makes in response, and an outcome. Our empathy with

the protagonist allows us to enter the story, feel what s/he feels, see things through his or her eyes. The

moral, revealed through the resolution, brings understanding to the head and to the heart. Stories thus

teach us how to access moral resources to face difficult choices, unfamiliar situations, and uncertain

outcomes. Because we can identify empathically with the protagonist of a story, we can experience his

uncertainty, draw inspiration from his hope, and gain insight from his learning.

We learn to make choices through stories. Stories teach us to access the moral and intellectual resources

we need to face the uncertain, the unknown, and the unexpected. Structured as a protagonist facing a

challenge, requiring a choice, yielding an outcome, a plot enables us to empathize with the protagonist. We

experience the uncertainty, draw inspiration from the hope, gain insight from the outcome, the moral.

Each of us is the protagonist in our own life story; we face everyday challenges, we author our own choices,

and we learn from the outcomes – the narrative of which constitutes who we are, our identity. The story of

the character and their effort to make choices encourages listeners to think about their own values, and

challenges, and inspires them with new ways of thinking about how to make choices in their own lives.

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PUBLIC NARRATIVE COMBINES A STORY OF SELF, A STORY OF US, AND A STORY OF

NOW

Public narrative links my story of why I have been called, a story of self, with stories of the values my

constituency shares, a story of us, with a story of the challenge we face now, our source of hope, and

the action we are called upon to do, a story of now.

A “STORY OF SELF” TELLS WHY YOU HAVE BEEN CALLED TO SERVE

Every one of us has a compelling story to tell. We have all made choices that shaped our life’s path—how to

respond to challenges we faced as children, whether or not to take leadership in our places of worship, our

schools, where we found the hope to take risks.

The key focus is on choice points, moments in our lives when our values become real when we have to

choose in the face of uncertainty. When did you first care about being heard, about concern with others,

about abuses of power, about poverty? Why? When did you feel you had to do something? Why did you

feel you could? What were the circumstances? The power in your story of self is to reveal something of

yourself and your values—not your deepest secrets, but the key shaping moments in your life. We all have

stories of pain, or we wouldn’t think the world needs changing. We all have stories of hope, or we wouldn’t

think we could change it. This is a bird’s-eye view of story of “self.” We will cover elements of this story in

more depth below in preparation for the assignment.

A “STORY OF US” COMMUNICATES SHARED EXPERIENCES THAT DEMONSTRATE OUR

VALUES AND IDENTITIES

We shape who we are, who our community is, and who we aspire to be through the choices that we make,

and the values that inform those choices. The story of us focuses on shared choices or experiences that

demonstrate how we construct our identities – as individuals, as communities, as nations. It is how we know

we are the kind of actors with the moral resources to take action together.

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A “STORY OF NOW” COMMUNICATES THE URGENT CHALLENGE WE ARE CALLED UPON

TO FACE NOW

The story of now focuses on the choice we are calling upon others to make. It is crafted by articulating the

urgent challenge that requires action, contrasted against the hopeful vision that the action will result in. A

story of now focuses on the choice we are calling others to make by contrasting it with other choices – what

will happen if we do not take action, or if we take another course of action.

At the end of a story of now we call on others to join us in action: “Will you join me?” Our action should be

specific enough to know immediately whether others will join us – now – or not.

This leadership skill builds on the importance of commitment in our work with others. It is not a recitation

of a story for the sake of story alone – it is a story that motivates others to commit to taking action.

INCORPORATING CHALLENGE, CHOICE AND OUTCOME IN YOUR STORY

Once you identify a specific choice point, perhaps your first true experience of challenge, or your choice to

do something about it, dig deeper.

Challenge: Why did you feel it was a challenge? What was so challenging about it? Why was it your

challenge?

Choice: Why did you make the choice you did? Where did you get the courage (or not)? Where did you get

the hope (or not)? Did your parents or grandparents’ life stories teach you in any way how to act in that

moment? How did it feel?

Outcome: How did the outcome feel? Why did it feel that way? What did it teach you? What do you want to

teach us? How do you want us to feel?

A word about challenge: Sometimes people see the word challenge and think that they need to describe

the misfortunes of their lives. Keep in mind that a struggle might be one of your own choosing – a high

mountain you decided to climb as much as a valley you managed to climb out of. Any number of things

may have been a challenge to you and be the source of a good story to inspire others.

A STORY IS LIVED AND BREATHED IN THE DETAILS

Stories are specific – and visual - they evoke a very particular time, place, setting, mood, color, sound,

texture, taste. The more you can communicate this visual specificity, the more power your story will have to

engage others. This may seem like a paradox, but like a poem or a painting or a piece of music, it is the

specificity of the experience that can give us access to the universal sentiment or insight they contain.

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ONCE AGAIN: WHY STORIES?

You may think that your story doesn’t matter, that people aren’t interested, that you shouldn’t be talking

about yourself. But when you do public work, you have a responsibility to offer a public account of who

you are, why you do what you do, and where you hope to lead. If you don’t author your public story, others

will, and they may not tell it in the way that you like.

A good story public story is drawn from the series of choice points that have structured the “plot” of your

life – the challenges you faced, choices you made, and outcomes you experienced. The story you tell of

why you have chosen the path you have allows others emotional and intellectual insight into your values,

why you have chosen to act on them in this way, what they can expect from you, and what they can learn

from you.

By telling personal stories of challenges we have faced, choices we have made, and what we learned from

the outcomes, we also become more mindful of our own moral resources and, at the same time, share our

wisdom so as to inspire others. Because stories enable us to communicate our values not as abstract

principles, but as lived experience, they have the power to move others.

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C O A C H I N G S T O R I E S

Listening and “coaching” the stories you hear is just as important (if not more) as telling your own. Public

narrative is not a script that comes ready made to take into the world. This practice is about frameworks,

not formulas. Thus, it is important to ask sharpening questions that help guide the storyteller who delivers

his/her public narrative to help him/her consider his/her own narrative on deeper levels. And, as you help in

another’s learning process, you in turn fine-tune your own story. Simply put: coaching is a crucial aspect of

public narrative.

Below you will find coaching tips. Read carefully through the kind of reflective and probing questions that

help bring clarity to someone else’s story.

When giving feedback remember to balance your comments between positive and constructively critical.

The purpose of coaching is to listen to the way stories are told and think of ways that the storytelling could

be improved.

DON’T simply offer vague “feel good” comments. (“That was a really great story!”)

DO coach each other on the following points:

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,” (which we will cover in

December) is it clear what challenge we all face? Is there a sense of urgency around that

challenge, not just for the speaker, but also for the “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 was made in response to each challenge? How did

the choice make you feel? (Hopeful? Angry?). Again, for the story of “now” is the choice the “us”

is being asked to make clear? 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 your

work now?”

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THE VALUES: Could you identify what this person’s values are and where they came from? How?

How did the story make you feel? (In regards to the “now” and “us”) Is the value claim about the

choice we need to make clear? What shared value does the narrative animate? 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 had especially good 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.”

LOOK FOR THE BASICS – THE KEY ELEMENTS OF STORY

SELF US NOW

What are the experiences

and values that call you to

assume leadership?

What are the experiences

and values of the ‘us’ – or

people in the room that will

call them to join you in

action?

Why is it urgent to respond

to the challenge? Where is

the hope? What do you want

to call on the people here to

join you in doing? What is

the outcome?

EMOTIONS THAT INHIBIT ACTION EMOTIONS THAT CAUSE ACTION

Fear Hope

Apathy Anger

Inertia Urgency

Self-doubt You Can Make a Difference

Isolation Solidarity

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ASKING QUESTIONS TO ELICIT FEEDBACK GIVING DIRECT COACHING

• What in that story resonated for you?

• What were the particularly vivid images or

details that you remember?

• What were you still curious about? Was

there a gap?

• Did you hear a challenge? What was the

choice? What was the outcome?

• What kind of emotions did you feel when

you heard the story – motivate to action or

inhibit action?

• What would you have liked more of?

• What were the choice points?

• Ask the teller to identify the challenge,

choice and outcome.

• Identify particularly strong choice points.

• Ask questions about the intended audience

and the desired action or response.

• Ask questions to connect the dots.

• Identify themes and ask for confirmation.

• Identify particularly strong images or

visuals that worked.

• Indicate where you saw evidence of the

kinds of emotions that motivate people to

take action or fall into inaction.

IF YOUR TELLER… TRY THIS…

“I don’t have a story”

(usually means “a story

I think is good

enough”)

Remind them that everyone has a story! Work to find one by gently asking

questions – what matters to this person, why? When did that happen? Who

was a role model? Why? Get them into their story using questions. The

challenge doesn’t have to be tragic – just an important choice in their life.

Avoids telling his/her

OWN story (focuses on

issues, like a speech)

Shift focus back to personal away from “general problems” by gently asking

questions – why do these problems matter so much to you?

Avoids telling his/her

OWN story

Ask for more direct experience of self, rather than a story of another person.

Is lost in the abstract Try to minimise abstract theory, encourage person to dive in and focus on

specifics of self, us and the now.

Settles into rant mode The challenges are great and anger and emotions can spill over – ask for

teller to limit the description of the challenge and work to include hope.

Trust one specific moment to paint a vivid picture!

Unwinds a long

biography or gives a

resumé

Try to pick one choice point only. Reminder that the Now is the lens or focus

point he/she should use to help identify good elements of Self and Us story.


B A R A C K O B A B M A ’ S 2 0 0 4 D N C S P E E C H

VIDEO REVIEW: HTTP://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=EWYNT87PAJ0

Watch the first eight minutes (0:00 to 8:00) of Barack Obama's 2004 Democratic National Convention

speech. Think about the elements of SELF – US – NOW that you hear in his story. Please use the

space below to take notes.

SELF US NOW

What are his experiences

and values that call him to

the national stage?

Who is the “us” that he

identifies? What are the

common values he appeals

to? How?

What challenge to those

values does he identify?

What is his strategy to

overcome this challenge?

What is the first step that

each person can take to be

part of the solution?

1. What was Barack Obama’s purpose in telling these stories? What was he asking people to do?

2. What values did his story convey?

3. What details or images in particular reflected those values?

4. What were the challenges, choices and outcomes in each part of his story? What moral do the

outcomes teach?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWynt87PaJ0


S T O R Y O F S E L F H O M E W O R K

WHAT ARE THE SOURCES OF YOUR OWN CALLING?

WHAT CRITICAL CHOICES POINTS CAN YOU RECALL?

WHAT STORIES CAN YOU TELL ABOUT THESE CHOICE POINTS?

Reflect on the sources of your motivation, your call to leadership in healthcare, specifically in the effort to

improve the health outcomes of Medicare patients, and the values that move you to act. Grab a notebook

or a friend and describe the milestones and experiences that have brought you to this moment. Go back as

far as you can remember.

You might start with your parents. What made them the people they became? How did their choices

influence your own? Do you remember “family stories,” told so often you may have gotten tired of hearing

them? Why did they tell these stories and not others? What was the moral of these stories? What did they

teach? How did they make you feel?

In your own life, consider the purpose for which you are telling your story, focus on challenges you had to

face, the choices you made about how to deal with them, and the satisfactions – or frustrations – you

experienced. What did you learn from the outcomes and how you feel about them today? What did they

teach you about yourself, about your family, about your peers, about your community, about your nation,

about the world around you, about people – about what really matters to you? What about these stories

was so intriguing? Which elements offered real perspective into your own life?

If you’re having trouble, here are some questions to help you begin. This is NOT a questionnaire and they

are NOT to be answered individually. After all, we are working to tell a complete narrative, not bullet points.

These questions are to help you get your memory gears rolling so that you can reflect on your public story

and tell it with brevity and intentionality. Don’t expect to include the answers to all these questions each

time you tell your story. They are the building blocks of many potential stories, and the object right now is

to lay them out in a row and see what inspires you.

What memories do you have as a child that link to the people, places, events that you value?

What are your favorite memories? What images, sounds or smells in particular come up for

you when you recall these memories?

List jobs or experiences that you have been involved with that are connected with these values.

Be expansive; include things like camping in the wild, serving in a youth group, going to a

political rally, organizing a cultural club, experiencing a moment of transcendence. List classes

you have taken, projects you have led, and work that you have done that connects with your

values. Name the last five books or articles that you’ve read (by choice) or movies or plays that


you have seen. What do you see as a connection or theme that you can see in all of the

selections? What did you enjoy about these articles? What does your reading say about you?

Some of the moments you recall may be painful as well as hopeful. Most people who want to

make the world a better place have stories of pain, which taught them that the world needs

changing, and stories of hope, which persuaded them of the possibility. You may have felt

excluded, put down or powerless, as well as courageous, recognized, and inspired. Be sure to

attend to the moments of “challenge” as well as to the moments of “hope” – and to learn to be

able to articulate these moments in ways that can enable others to understand who you are. It is

the combination of “criticality” and “hopefulness” that creates the energy for change.

What was the last time you spent a day doing what you love doing? What in particular made

you want to use that day in that way? What was memorable about the day? Is there a specific

sight, sound or smell that you think of when you recall this day?

What factors were behind your decision to pursue a career in public work? Was there pressure

to make different choices? How did you deal with conflicting influences?

Who in your life was the person who introduced you to your “calling” or who encouraged you to

become active? Why do you think that they did this? What did your parents model? What was

the role, if any, of a community of faith? Whom did you admire?

Whom do you credit the most with your involvement now in work for your cause? What about

their involvement in your life made a difference? Why do you think it was important to them to

do so?


S T O R Y O F S E L F A S S I G N M E N T

ASSIGNMENT: Write and email a two-page “story of self” to your coach before the webinar on

Friday, October 19th. The document should be double spaced in a 12-point font.

Remember that public narrative is not primarily a form of self-expression, as you know based on the

introductory comments at the start of this guide. It is an exercise of leadership by motivating others to join

you in action on behalf of a shared purpose. Although you should focus on your “story of self,” the goal is

to identify sources of your own calling to the purpose in which you will call upon others (story of us) to join

you in action (story of now).

We have offered background on the overall framework of public narrative as a way of “pointing” or

“honing” your story of self. Remember, public narrative requires learning a process, and it is iterative. This

is not about writing a script that will form fit all situations. It can be learned only by telling, listening,

reflecting, and telling again – over, over and over. This is to get you started. Our work will be a beginning.

The hope is to equip you with the tools to take it beyond our workshop.

1. A story of self: Why you were called to motivate others to join you in this action? What stories

can you share that will enable others to “get you.” How can you enable others to experience

the sources and the values that move you not only to act, but to lead? Identify key choice

points that set you on your path. The majority of the assignment will focus here.

2. A story of now: What urgent challenge do you hope to inspire others to take action on? What is

your vision of successful action? What choice will you call on members of your community to make

if they are to meet this challenge successfully? How can they act together to achieve this outcome?

And how can they begin now, at this moment? Describe this “now” in two or three sentences.

3. A story of us: To what values, experiences, or aspirations of your community will you appeal when

you call on them to join you in action? What stories do you share that can express these values?

Describe this “us” in two or three sentences. Like the story of now, the story of us will help as you

continue working through the framework with the “us” and the “now” in developing and linking

your full public narrative.


I N T R O D U C T I O N S T O R Y O F N O W

WHAT URGENT “CHALLENGE” MIGHT YOU CALL ON US TO FACE?

WHAT VISION COULD WE ACHIEVE IF WE ACT?

WHAT “ACTION” MIGHT YOU CALL UPON US TO JOIN YOU IN TAKING?

A “story of now” is urgent; an urgency based on threat, or, equally, on opportunity; it is

meant to inspire others to drop other things and pay attention; it is rooted in the values

you celebrate in your story of self and will animate in your story of us, but poses a

challenge to those values. It contrasts a vision of the world as it will be if we fail to act,

the world as it could be if we do act, and calls on us to act.

• Do you value a financially sustainable high-quality health care system?

Does the U.S. health care system meet this standard? If not, what are

you going to do about it?

• Do you value a society in which individuals are only responsible for

themselves? Is “public health” being undermined by public policies or

interest groups? What are you going to do about it?

• Do you value the principal that powerful institutions, especially If they

benefit from public support, have moral responsibilities to the public in

how they use their power? Which ones? How? What are you going to do

about it?

• Do you value equal treatment under the law for all racial, religious, and

cultural groups? What about equal access to quality health care? What

are you going to do about it?

Leaders who only describe a problem, but fail to inspire us to act together to try to solve

the problem, aren’t good leaders. Likewise, running through a list of “100 things you can

do to make the world better” is a cop-out because it trivializes each action. Suggesting

that everyone work at it in their own way ignores the significance of strategic focus in

overcoming resistance to change. If you are called to face a real challenge, a challenge

so urgent that we are motivated to face it as well, you have a responsibility to invite us to

join you in plausible action. A “story of now” is not simply a call to be for or against

something – that’s “exhortation” – it is a call to take hopeful action. This means clarity as

to what will happen if we don’t act, what could happen if we do, and action each of us

could commit to take that could start us in a clear direction right here, now, in this place.

If you ask me to “use the surgical checklist,” for example, to deal with patient safety in

the OR, do you really think it will happen? Especially if it’s among 100 other things I

might – or might not – do? But if you ask me to join you in persuading the hospital to

use the surgical checklist in every OR for every procedure by signing a staff petition,

joining you in a delegation to the CEO, and, adding my name to a public list of students

who have committed to using the surgical checklist in the OR, what do you think the

odds are of success?

A “story of now” works if people join you in action – specific action.


A CHALLENGING VISION OF WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF YOU DO NOT ACT, A HOPEFUL VISION

OF WHAT COULD BE IF YOU DO ACT & THE URGENT CHOICE TO ACT NOW

We know why you’ve been called to a particular mission, we know something of who it is you want to call

upon to join you in that mission, so what action does that mission require of you right here, right now, in

this place? When you tell a powerful story of now, and ask others to make a specific choice to join you in

action, you are beginning to build new power together from the community around you to address the

challenges in your lives. A “story of now” is urgent, it requires dropping other things and paying attention, it

is rooted in the values you celebrated in your story of self and us, and requires action.

The “character” in a story of now is you, the

people in the room with you, and the broader

community whom you hope to engage in action.

THE ELEMENTS OF A STORY NOW

Challenge (or “nightmare”) – A vivid

image of what the future could be if we

fail to act now (made real through stories

not just statistics)

Outcome (or “dream”) – A vivid image of

what the future could be if we do act

Choice – A strategic “hopeful” choice that

each person in your audience can make

right now

WHY IT MATTERS

The choice we’re called on to make is a choice to take strategic action now. Leaders who only describe

problems, but fail to identify a way to act and bring others together to address the problem, aren’t very

good leaders. If you are called to address a real challenge, a challenge so urgent you have motivated us to

face it as well, then you also have a responsibility to invite us to join you in action that has some chance of

success. A “story of now” is not simply a call to make a choice to act – it is a call to “hopeful” action.


G A N D H I

VIDEO REVIEW:

HTTP://VIDEO.GOOGLE.COM/VIDEOPLAY?DOCID=3677437859600027297#

Please watch this five-minute clip (from 26:00 to 31:15) of Gandhi rousing his “troops.” Think about the

following elements of NOW that you hear in his story. Please use the space below to take notes.

CHALLENGE THE ASK OUTCOME

What is the specific challenge

facing the crowd? Is it urgent

not only to Gandhi but to the

throng he addresses?

What does he ask of the crowd?

Are there other strategic ideas

offered by the group? How does he

explain why he is asking them to

do what he wants them to do?

What is the outcome if they do not

do what Gandhi asks? What is the

outcome if they do it? Does he

promise a “victory?” How does he

manage reality?

1. What are the values that underscore Gandhi’s “now”? Are these values shared?

2. How does he make the “threat” real? Do you remember specific images?

3. Think about what Gandhi asks of the crowd. Is it something doable? Also, does this “ask”

seem significant? Will it make a difference?

4. Think about how Gandhi weaves together his own story of self. Does he own his authority?

How does he put himself on the same level as the group? How does his story connect to the

cause he is calling for action around?

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3677437859600027297


S T O R Y O F N O W A S S I G N M E N T

ASSIGNMENT: Complete and email the “story of now” worksheet below to your coach before the

webinar session on Thursday, November 8th.

Take a moment to reflect on a challenge in health, health care or quality improvements, especially as they

pertain to your campaign. What makes it urgent to you, other leaders, and your constituency? On what

must you take collection action now? Once you have identified that, we will work on the campaign strategy

– i.e. what you think you can do together to confront the challenge. What outcome could you achieve,

what part could each of us play, what do we have to do now?

Use these questions, the introduction to story of now, and the Gandhi clip to help you put together your

campaign’s story of now. You should draw on the work from the story of “self” to help you fill in the

answers to the questions below.

Why is it urgent to support one another now? What stories can you tell to make the challenge real

for your listeners?

What’s the vision of a hopeful future? What would the world look like if you were to succeed?

Make it as concrete as you can; use images.

What choice are you asking people to make? Be specific. When? Where?


I N T R O D U C T I O N : S T O R Y O F U S & P U T T I N G I T A L L T O G E T H E R

WHO IS THE “US” YOU WILL CALL UPON TO JOIN YOU?

WHAT MOTIVATING VALUES DO THEY SHARE?

WHAT EXPERIENCES HAVE YOU SHARED?

Think ahead to the work we will share in when we all gather in Baltimore in December. What are some

of the common experiences we share? What are values that “link” us all?

We are all part of multiple “us’s” – families, faiths, cultures, communities, organizations, and nations in

which we participate with others. What community, organization, movement, culture, nation, or other

constituency do you consider yourself to be part of, connected with? With whom do you share a

common past? With whom do you share a common future? Do you participate in this community as

a result of “fate,” “choice,” or both? How like or unlike the experience of others do you believe your

own experience to be? One way we establish an “us” – a shared identity – is through telling of shared

stories, stories through which we can articulate the values we share, as well as the particularities that

make us an “us.”

Your challenge in this work is to inspire an “us” from among your peers whom you will call upon

to join you in action motivated by shared values, which you bring alive through story telling. There

are many “us’s” among your team, as there are in any community. You may think of yourselves as an

“us” based on being a QIO, dealing with the challenge of lowering hospital readmissions, experiencing

hope from other QIOs, sharing aspirations, backgrounds (work experience, religion, generation,

ethnicity, culture, nationality, family status, etc.), experiences being a part of these webinars, value

commitments, career aspirations, career dilemmas, etc. Your challenge is to think through the “us”

whom you can move to join you in action on behalf of a shared purpose.

Some of the “us’s” may be larger “us’s” in which you may already participate. You may be active in

quality improvement, for example, and may find others who are as well. Or you may be active in a

faith community, a human rights organization, a support organization, a citizen group, an alumni

group, etc. Some “us’s” have been around for literally thousands of years such as faith traditions –

some only for a few days. Most “us’s” that have been around tell stories about their founding, the

challenges founders faced, how they overcame them, who joined with them, and what this teaches us

about the values of the organization.

A story of us works if people identify with each other on behalf of values that inspire them to act.


LINKING STORY OF SELF AND STORY OF US

A story of self tells people who you are and why you are called to do the work that you are doing. On

its own, the story of self is insufficient to engage others in action. Now the question is: what calling do

you share with others, a calling that will require a specific action?

OUR STORY OF SELF IS INTERWOVEN WITH STORIES WE SHARE WITH OTHERS

One way a group of people establishes an “us” – a shared identity – is through telling of shared

stories, stories through which they can articulate the values they have in common, as well as the

particularities that make them an “us.” These include stories of our family, community, faith tradition,

school, profession, movements, organizations, nations and, perhaps world. It is through shared stories

that we establish the identities and express the values of the communities in which we participate

(family, faith, nation) and of emergent communities we are forming (new movements, new

organizations, new constituencies). These stories of how people came together, the challenges they

faced, the obstacles they overcame and the successes they had are the way we experience the values

that make us who we are.

THE CHARACTER IN THE STORY OF US IS THOSE OF US IN THE ROOM WITH YOU

Telling a "story of us" requires learning how to put into narrative form the specific experiences that the

“us” in the room share with each other. Telling a “story of us” is a way to engage a community – this

community, here and now – in acting together, based on values that we share. When we tell stories

that reflect in images the challenges we face and the possibilities we may achieve together in detail,

we begin to build new community and new organization around values rather than just issues or

interests alone.


TYING TOGETHER ALL OF THE STORIES INTO A SUCCESSFUL PUBLIC NARRATIVE

This is the last puzzle piece, having worked through the “self,” “now” and “us.” We will work on

constructing the full public narrative; here are some preliminary thoughts.

STORYTELLING IS A DYNAMIC, NON-LINEAR PROCESS

Each time you tell your story you will adapt it – to make yourself clearer, to adjust to a different

audience, to locate yourself in a different context. As you develop a story of us, you may find you want

to alter your story of self, especially as you begin to see the relationship between the two more clearly.

Similarly, as you develop a story of now, you may find it affects what went before. And, as you go

back to reconsider what went before, you may find it alters your story of now. It is an iterative

practice.

STORYTELLING TAKES PRACTICE

Our goal is not to leave with a final “script” of your public narrative that you will use over and over

again. The goal is to help you learn a process by which you can generate your narrative over and over

and over again, when, where, and how you need to in order to motivate yourself and others to

specific, strategic action.

If I am not for myself, who will be for me?

When I am only for myself, what am I?

If not now, when?

As Rabbi Hillel’s powerful words suggest, to stand for yourself is the first but insufficient step. You

must also find or create a community to stand with, and that community must begin acting now. To

combine the stories of self, us and now, you have to find the link between why you are called to this

mission, why we as a community are called to this mission, and what our mission calls on us to do

now. That linking may require you to rethink the stories of self, us, and now.


S U S A N C H R I S T O P H E R

VIDEO REVIEW: HTTP://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=Z-WEM-TAOG8

While watching the two-minute clip of Susan Christopher at Camp Obama, consider the following

questions. Please use the space below to take notes.

CHALLENGE(S) THE VALUES THE US

What is the specific challenge facing

the “us”? How does this connect to

the little we know about Susan’s story

of self?

What are the values of the

group that she highlights?

How does she make the

values come alive?

How does she make the “us”

“big”? How does it become

about more than just the

individuals in that room?

What does she promise? And where does she place the power of the group?

What were the images or words you remember?

Was this a hopeful story of “us”? How? Do you think the group felt inspired? Why?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-WEM-taoG8


S T O R Y O F N O W A S S I G N M E N T

ASSIGNMENT: Complete and email the “story of us” worksheet to your coach.

The purpose of the story of us is to create a sense of community among individuals who may or may not

yet see themselves as a community and to give them hope that they can make a difference. It builds on

shared experiences and outcomes of previous actions to establish the context in which to take future action.

Your goal is to tell a story that evokes our shared values as your audience, and shows why we in particular

are called to take responsibility for action now.

Your story of us may be a story of what we’ve already done together, yet separately, challenges we’ve

already faced and outcomes we’ve achieved. Or it may be a story of some of our shared heroes, challenges

they faced and outcomes they’ve achieved. Hearing how we’ve met challenges in the past gives us hope

that we can face new challenges together. Think of Susan Christopher and Obama. Remember how they

constructed “us’s” in the room and then expanded it to wider arching “us’s.”

Brainstorm all the stories you assume about your audience and your collective stories and experience. Your

story of us may change each time you are talking to a different group of people as you create new community

with them.

What values do we—our community of “us”—share? (Think of “us” as those involved in the

ReThink Health: Transforming Quality Improvement webinars and coaching program.)

What specific experiences have you had with this community that reflect those values?

What stories from this audience have emerged during the webinars or your work as a QIO team to

give you a sense of the shared values and challenges of the people in this room?

What are some stories of your previous work or of the work of this community that give you the

belief that together others could work to join you in creating real tangible change in the world?


L I N K I N G S E L F / U S / N O W

SELF US NOW

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What us’s can you identify? What

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1: What action are you asking us to

join you in? What hopeful vision will

motivate us? Why is there urgency

of need and of opportunity?

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