Stories in the round

The main method we utilise for story elicitation is the Anecdote or Story Circle. The technique was originally developed by Snowden at the Cynefin Centre (Snowden 1999, 2001) and is based on the natural human ability to tell stories in a group. Sailors call it ‘ditting’ and all cultures have similar experiences, whether from the pub, the water cooler or the campfire (as it happens, in the middle of Spielberg’s famous movie Jaws (1975) is an excellent example of an ‘anecdote circle’ in action).

First, we ask participants to tell their personal stories; nothing is off limits. We ‘kick start’ the group by asking an open question ­ one that doesn’t call for a yes/no answer ­ on a relevant topic. The circles are designed to exploit the natural human need to communicate through story and the fact that we often require prompts to remember pertinent events. Memories are contextual, so hearing another person recount their story triggers recollections of a similar experience that we would have overlooked otherwise.

Story circles usually comprise 8 to 12 people and multiple groups are often run simultaneously. The groups are very lightly facilitated, taped, transcribed and often video recorded. The light touch facilitation required can be difficult if you are an experienced moderator, as it requires a certain amount of flexibility and “unlearning”. For example, permitting long ‘uncomfortable’ pauses, or letting respondents stray quite a way from the topic, are all actions that go against a facilitator’s better instinct.

External observers or scribes note participants’ body language and provide different perspectives on the stories being told. We often combine anecdote circles with an exercise allowing participants to write down the themes they hear in others’ stories (this is also a useful diversionary exercise for when one or two individuals are beginning to dominate).

The circles generate a large quantity of material very quickly and because of their relaxed (and sometime chaotic!) format participants often forget where they are and begin to open up with extremely rich material, generating deep insight.
 

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