See a photo of Graham and Dorian, their bios, and Part 1 of this Q&A.
Q&A with Graham Williams and Dorian Haarhoff, Question 2:
Q: What do you love most about stories?
A: We are enchanted by the power of story to move people, the way that
story has the ability to attract, engage, inform and enlighten. How this small container can trigger such huge, and valuable conversations. How stories promote attentive listening. How they stimulate a thinking environment (as advocated by Nancy Kline), and also provide a place of safety to encourage deeper sharing in the workplace. How they activate our imagination. And imagination creates reality for intention can create form. As Einstein reminds us, imagination is more important than knowledge. This touches on how we can create a fictional identity. We can become the stories we tell about ourselves. As Clarissa Pinkola Estes points out: “Most (stories) are not used as simple entertainment……..but used in many different ways; to teach, correct errors, lighten, assist transformation, heal wounds, re-create memory.”
We try to do all this in a subtle, non-intrusive manner.
We get excited when the storyteller emerges in another. The way we find our own voice and our own unique way of telling. We’ve come a long way since corporate story was limited to scenario formation, case studies and “war stories.” The way we tell can lead us into living a passionate life, personally and professionally.
We also like the way story has emerged since its origins and appeared throughout history in all cultures, religions and societies; how cross-pollination has taken place through Rumi, Idris Shah, Buddha, and social media; how myth, folklore, metaphor and images are embedded in the psyche. Of course for each country there is an accent too on difference, and in each country story is penetrating medicine, psychology, and the corporate world at a different pace and in different ways. In each corporation story is attracted to different functions and levels to different degrees!
So we like the challenge of the story-Rubik-cube: deciding and designing what approach and which stories for which purposes.