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Narrative Inquiry: Online-First Articles

Organizational small storymaking

Creating dialogic change through ‘small story openings’

ORCID logo | Aalborg University
ORCID logo | Aalborg University

In this contribution, we place narrative theory in conversation with narrative practice to offer a small storymaking approach for engendering organizational change. Drawing on insights from counter-narrative studies, small story analysis, and communicative approaches to organizational change, we offer an applied narratology that conceptualizes organizational change as occurring in small storymaking practices. Embracing discourse and communication as constitutive of organizations, we invite narrative scholars to move beyond traditional distanced researcher positions to participate more actively in the co-creation of small stories and thus enable more participatory, collaborative organizational change practices. Rather than merely interpreting organizational stories, as in many traditional narrative studies, our applied narratology encourages researchers to invite organizational participants to co-create stories of their potential futures. Through this tension-filled practice of organizational small storymaking, narrative researchers and leaders can generate the ‘small story openings’ necessary to inspire innovative change.

Keywords: small stories, counter-narrative, organizational communication, dialogue, organizational change, small story openings, communicative constitution of organization, applied narratology
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Dialogic approaches to organizational communication and change
    • Dissensus and organizational change
    • Organizational narrative – small story dynamics
    • Dialogic small storymaking and change
  • Counter-narrative studies: Moving from storytelling to storymaking
    • Multiplicity and messiness: Beyond preset assumptions and strict narrative–counter-narrative dualities
    • Small story analysis
  • Organizational change as a multi-layered counter-narrative process
    • Engaging in multilayered small story analysis
      • Level one: Small story analysis
      • Level two: Small story analysis
      • Level three: Small story analysis
    • Potentials for organizational change
  • An applied narratology for engendering participatory organizational change
    • Organizational small storymaking at a Danish electrician company
    • Small story openings and organizational change
  • Future research avenues and concluding remarks
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 13 June 2024
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ni.22052.bag
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