• Share a moment when you distinctly felt that you and your team were in this together, tackling challenges as one. What was happening? How did your colleagues/teammates behave? What did you feel?

• Tell us about a moment when you suddenly caught yourself thinking: “These are the people I would share a foxhole with!” What was happening? Who were you thinking of?

5. Enhancing work efficiency

• Think of a time when you surprised yourself by achieving more than you had expected. What was happening? What helped you cope? What can you do to surround yourself with more of that?

• Think of an instance when you were genuinely proud of the way your team member acted in a situation where they might well have done otherwise. What was happening? How can you help your team exhibit this exact behavior more often?

• Think about a day in your work when you felt most focused on things and felt like nothing could distract you. What helped you focus on the most important things? How can you help yourself maintain that focus in your work?

• Reflect on a time when you felt at your best, your physical and mental energy fully charged. What contributed to this state, and how can you draw from that experience today?

STORYTELLING: CRAFTING IMPACTFUL NARRATIVES

So, you’ve heard the stories, gathered and processed your “harvest.” Among them, you’ve likely encountered some that carry significant meanings about your program, your work, and your organization. It is now time to share these stories with others. What techniques can help make them more impactful and memorable? Let’s look at the example of Charity: Water,[126] a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing clean drinking water to people in developing countries. Charity: Water has been using storytelling effectively, and here’s how they do it:

1. Inspiring Action

Every story told by the organization offers an opportunity for action — whether sharing on social media, making a donation, or motivating people to participate in a charitable project. Consider why you are sharing your story. What results do you expect? Typically, the reasons boil down to wanting others to learn something, take action, or evoke certain emotions.

2. Focusing on Specific Persons

A typical nonprofit pitch focuses on statistics — in the case of clean drinking water, you might hear the fact that nearly 700 million people do not have access to safe clean water. But facts aren’t remembered as well as stories.

So Charity: Water tells the story of Aissa Marou, a woman who lives in Niger, makes trips to a local well six times a day, where she uses handmade rope to collect water, one bucket at a time. One day, as she perched her foot on the edge of the well to pull the bucket up, her baby — held in a carrier on her back — unexpectedly shifted, and both she and the baby fell into the cement well. Her neighbors saved both lives, but after Marou recovered, she still had to keep using the well. Her story — and photos — make it easier to understand, and remember, what life without a faucet can be like.

3. Providing Clear Context

During a visit to Cambodia, an employee of Charity: Water encountered a woman named Kuen Leap who took out a $1,000 loan to line the well in her backyard. Leap only earns around $480 in a year — and because her husband is ill, she is the sole provider for her family. But clean water was so important to her that she was willing to take out the loan. Now, however, she has been provided a new device that purifies her family’s water, so it doesn’t matter if the well is lined. It cost just $65 — but telling Leap’s story helps illustrate how much more she values it.

4. Highlighting Conflict and Transformation

Every story is essentially a narrative of transformation. It begins with a situation, something goes awry, and a new approach is required, leading to a resolution.

What was happening at the start? What happened next that wasn’t business as usual? What forces have suddenly become active against me/us? What do we do now?

Stories often involve conflicts, which in many NGO narratives may manifest as financial shortages or challenges with authorities. However, digging deeper, you may discover that the real source of conflict often lies within — in the form of our own beliefs and behavioral patterns that need to evolve.

AND FINALLY…

Some may argue that stories are of no importance, that only results, numbers, efficiency, strategy, and change matter. However, it is the engagement that stories bring along that helps individuals, teams, and organizations clarify their meanings and goals, motivate, craft unique programs, inspire, and guide change. They serve as a vehicle to convey values and share experiences.

Most importantly, stories extend an invitation into another person’s life. They facilitate the building of deeper, more authentic relationships among people — simply because they enable us to live through someone else’s experiences and communicate who we are, what we believe, what holds significance for us, and why we do what we do. Now, more than ever, it is crucial to listen to one another and recognize the humanity in each other.

SPECIAL THANKS:

I extend my gratitude to Artem Mushin-Makedonsky, Founder of Historia Academy, Board Member at Storytelling in Organizations, and David Hutchens, CEO of The Storytelling Leader, for inspiration and ideas for writing this article.

Кейс выпуска / The Case of the Issue

Оценка проектов развития территорий: кейс Фонда целевого капитала «Наш Норильск»

Елена Авраменко, Владимир Вайнер, Наталья Гладких, Иван Смекалин

DOI 10.55140/2782–5817–2023–3–4–78–91

В статье описывается модель оценки проектов, финансируемых Фондом целевого капитала «Наш Норильск»[127], которая учитывает вклад проекта в развитие территории и его соответствие актуальной региональной повестке. Модель включает два компонента: оценку соответствия критериям уникального оценочного профиля (УОП),