See Terrence’s bio, photo, and Part 1 of this Q&A and see Part 2 of the Q&A.
Q&A with Terrence Gargiulo (Question 3):
Q: What future trends or directions do you foresee for story/storytelling/narrative? What’s next for the discipline? What future aspirations do you personally have for your own story work? What would you like to do in the story world that you haven’t yet done?
All the incredible research in neuroscience, cognitive science, and learning are unearthing some wonderful possibilities for our nascent field. People are hungry how to be present in the here in a way that simultaneously enables them to feel part of an interconnected fabric and while realizing their boundaries and limitations of self that animate in our lives.
I believe we need to build a strong interdisciplinary bridge between practitioners and researchers. I would like to see a research agenda collaboratively defined and pursued by academics and professionals. I’d love to see a world-class international event with a dynamic format to jump-start these inter-disciplinary conversations and which culminate in the articulation of a research agenda.
I will continue my research on the relationship between stories and thinking. I believe stories are an effective lens for understanding the complexity of the mind and its evolution as we head towards what I believe will be a shift in consciousness.
From my earlier research I have developed a model of nine story-based communication skills. These are skills we all possess. We have the equipment. I have written a validated instrument that measures what percentage of the time we are aware of using these skills and how others perceive our abilities. I use the tool with all of my clients and I have been collecting quite a bit of data. I want to look at how my instrument relates to other popular ones currently used in organizations.