TY  - JOUR
AB  - Without the stories, or narratives that organisations construct,
there could be no social negotiation or sense making. A problem is that
the narratives are often “too straight”, too simplistic and
self‐serving to be helpful representations of reality. Most stories in
organisations that are used to manage change efforts are too simple, and
too much believed. They foster naive optimism that soon degenerates into
cynicism. Stories are maps, but are often confused with the territories
themselves. Some examples of stories or accounts of organisational
change efforts that are straight, and how they might have been made more
“crooked”, are discussed. Some suggestions on how leaders in
organisations can become more thoughtful consumers of straight stories
and make those stories more helpful maps to guide organisations through
the turbulence of change are offered.
VL  - 4
IS  - 3
SN  - 0953-4814
DO  - 10.1108/EUM0000000001194
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000001194
AU  - Wilkins Alan L.
AU  - Thompson Michael P.
PY  - 1991
Y1  - 1991/01/01
TI  - On Getting the Story Crooked (and Straight)
T2  - Journal of Organizational Change Management
PB  - MCB UP Ltd
SP  - 18
EP  - 26
Y2  - 2024/04/25
ER  -