Позитивные изменения. Том 3, № 4 (2023). Positive changes. Volume 3, Issue 4(2023)

Кто-то может сказать, что истории никому не нужны. Что нужны только результаты, цифры, эффективность, стратегия, изменения. Но именно работа с историями помогает людям, командам и организациям прояснять смыслы и цели, мотивировать, создавать уникальные программы, вдохновлять и сопровождать изменения, транслировать ценности и передавать опыт.

Самое главное, что истории — это приглашение в жизнь другого человека. Истории помогают выстраивать по-настоящему глубокие, искренние отношения между людьми, потому что позволяют прожить чужой опыт и рассказать о том, кто мы, во что мы верим, что для нас важно и зачем мы делаем то, что делаем. А сейчас, как никогда, важно слышать друг друга и видеть друг в друге людей.

БЛАГОДАРНОСТИ:

Основателю Академии Historia, члену совета директоров в Storytelling in Organizations Артему Мушину-Македонскому и CEO The Storytelling Leader Дэвиду Хатченсу за вдохновение и идеи для написания этой статьи.

Storymining: How Stories Enhance Impact Assessment, and Their Wider Applications in Social Design

Anna Ermyagina

DOI 10.55140/2782–5817–2023–3–4–68–77

While most people tend to view storytelling as a marketing tool primarily aimed at crafting captivating narratives to capture attention, experts with years of experience in working with stories believe that its utility goes far beyond this narrow perception. Storytelling in impact assessment has emerged as a prominent trend in recent years. Notably, the 2023 conference of the American Evaluation Association (AEA) was dedicated to exploring the profound impact of stories. In this article, we delve into transforming stories into valuable data and insights, and the diverse ways in which storytelling can be harnessed social project and program assessment.

Anna Ermyagina

Partner and Consultant, Historia Academy, trainer on storytelling in business

THE POWER OF STORY

When discussing impact assessment, it is hard to ignore the power of change stories — narratives that depict how the lives of beneficiaries, stakeholders, and interested parties have evolved. These are the stories of individuals affected by project intervention, which marked the beginning of something important and novel, serving as a catalyst for significant transformations. While assessing immediate results provides us with only faceless figures — the number of events, people, views, and so forth — what sets impact assessment apart is our endeavor to uncover the stories of change in the lives, health, and well-being of specific individuals, families, communities, sometimes even entire regions or countries.

It is therefore no coincidence that the American Evaluation Society dedicated its conference, held from October 9th to 14th this year, to stories, or more precisely, to the power of stories.[121] “The shortest distance between two people is a story” echoed as one of the conference’s key messages. Other insights from the conference included “Equality is a principle, inclusion is an action, diversity is a fact,“ “History is what’s unfolding right now,” and “Artificial Intelligence serves us, not the other way around.”[122] Nonetheless, the majority of this year‘s sessions revolved around contemplating the contribution of storytelling to the comprehension and process of project assessment, as well as delving deeper into the utilization of storytelling and its advantages.

The aforementioned phrase, which served as the conference’s guiding theme, belongs to the American writer Patti Digh. It encapsulates the notion that by sharing our stories with one another, we can gain a deeper understanding of our fellow individuals and grow closer connections with them.

The stories we exchange serve as direct reflections of the events occurring in our lives, as well as our interpretations and attitudes towards these happenings. What could be a more perfect resource for use in evaluating social projects and programs?

When we refer to stories for impact assessment, we are talking about brief narratives of individuals’ experiences related to a project, event, or specific activity. By “mining” such stories, we are able to look at the project from the beneficiaries’ perspective, highlighting associated effects and social outcomes. It also helps us comprehend the motivations, values, emotions, and other factors that have influenced the outcomes. Why is this essential? Stories aid in discerning why these changes do or do not transpire, as well as understanding the mechanisms behind their achievement.