See a photo of Karen, a link to her bio, and Part 1 of this Q&A, Part 2, and Part 3.
Q&A with Karen Gilliam, PhD (Question 4):
Q: Joan Southgate turned you onto Sankofa Symbolism, which your Web site talks a bit about. Can you elaborate a little on how you use this Sankofa Symbolism in your story work?
A: If you stop to think about, for example, a coaching practice, performance consulting, leadership development, or a post-project review, certain steps, like first becoming self-aware, gathering the facts, or reflecting on what was learned, are recommended. Each on its own accord stresses the importance of examining the past and present in anticipation of a desired future. This is Sankofa.
We don’t always know what we don’t know. We don’t often think about
our own thinking or how we come to know what we know. Consider the Ladder of Inference. In lightning speed we select from all the available data what we will focus on. We add meaning, that is create a story, through a lens of the world that reflects our beliefs, experiences and personal histories. The theme of Sankofa centers on the importance of going back — retracing our path — to the past in order to understand the present. As stated by Anais Nin “we don’t see the world as it is. We see it as we are.”