How do we collect stories? How do we know which stories to collect, and why? For that matter, what is a story? For practical answers to those questions above, there are many helpful articles throughout the Anecdote Blog. If you need ideas about how to use story for family-history and the like, or to help your community […]

How do we learn in action? How do we improve the effectiveness of what we do – particularly when working together with others? One proven strategy is to set up ‘learning loops’, and in practice, much of it is based around stories. A popular technique here is the After Action Review. It’s simple, quick, and […]

He looks the part; he knows all the right buzzwords; he can quote chapter-and-verse from all the best-known pundits and practitioners. But is it all just empty ‘smart-talk’? Smart-talk is information without understanding, theory without practice – ‘all mouth and no trousers’, as the old aphorism puts it. It’s all too common amongst would-be ‘experts’ […]

Oh no, not again: it’s the souvenir-vendors. I’m here on business, but they’ll mob around anyone here who even looks like a tourist. And every time it’s the same: “You want to buy? Low price, low price” – as if price itself is the only reason anyone would want the item. No attempt at a […]

Yes, I’ll admit it: it’s a trick, of course. But it’s a useful trick – especially for those of us who need to collect stories for organisations, communities, and even for family-history. The place is important here: it needs to be the right kind of place, the right atmosphere – the kind of ‘story-place’ where […]