Who Are We?
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psychologists of the twentieth century, has long argued that
our minds have evolved to frame and grasp reality in two
different ways. One is propositional and depends on clarity,
logic, and formal structure. The other is narrative—in other
words, story-based. Bruner, along with scholars in a wide
range of fields, such as law, anthropology, and cognitive sci-
ence, believes that much of what we view as objective real-
ity consists of narratives or stories that are widely accepted
within groups or entire cultures.
26
Adrienne Rich, a contemporary poet, wrote, “The story
of our lives becomes our lives.”
27
This observation applies
to organizations as well. In many organizations today, the
real values and norms are expressed in stories. Sometimes
they describe what the founders did, how they thought,
what they sacrificed, and what they fought for. Other sto-
ries describe difficult moments, crises, or critical decisions
in which an organization’s leaders, past or present, had to
make choices that revealed what they most cared about.
Above all, these stories say what the organization is really
committed to and the larger purpose it aims to serve. In
short, the answer to the fourth humanist question—Who
are we?—often consists of stories that describe what
“we” have done in critical moments and why “we” did it.
These are typically stories of commitment, struggle, and
purpose.
This remains true today. Human nature hasn’t changed
during the recent centuries of stunning technological
advances. We remain the creatures we have always been.
This is why every organization has stories—even small
organizations, like departments and work teams, and new
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