# Making Sense of Stories: Two Essential Phases in Participatory Narrative Work When we work with stories in organizational or community settings, we’re not just collecting interesting anecdotes. We’re engaging in a deliberate process of sensemaking that happens in two distinct but interconnected phases. Understanding these phases can transform how we facilitate story work and what we get from it. First Sensemaking: The Story Sharer’s Moment The first sensemaking happens when someone tells their story. This is deeply personal and often revelatory, not primarily for the listener, but for the teller themselves. Cynthia Kurtz, through her extensive work with participatory narrative methods, emphasizes that storytelling is itself an act of meaning-making. When we ask someone to share an experience about a time they felt proud at work, or when they saw collaboration succeed or fail, we’re inviting them into a reflective space. In that moment of telling, people often discover things they didn’t fully realize they knew. This first sensemaking is where the story sharer connects events to meaning. They’re not just recounting what happened; they’re actively interpreting their experience as they speak. The act of putting experience into narrative form—choosing what to include, what matters, how things connect—is itself a form of understanding. This is why people often say “I didn’t realize that until I said it out loud.” In StoryConnect’s story cycle framework, this happens during the collection phase, but it’s crucial to recognize it’s not passive collection at all. When story sharers then answer interpretive questions about their own stories—tagging them with dimensions like “this story shows high trust” or “collaboration happened informally here”—they’re extending that first sensemaking. They’re the first and often most important interpreters of their own experience. Second Sensemaking: Multiperspective Pattern-Finding The second phase of sensemaking happens when we bring stories together in a work session. This is where Kurtz’s approach to participatory narrative inquiry really shines—it’s designed specifically to create productive encounters between multiple perspectives.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve collected around 200 stories across different projects. Pretty remarkable, because I keep noticing: getting people to share their stories is harder than you’d think. You send an email, set up a session, ask “tell me about your experience” - and then… . Or you mostly get policy-type responses. Or everyone talks about the exact same incident. What I’ve learned from Cynthia Kurtz (Working with Stories) is that the question is everything. “Tell me about a time when…” works much better than “What do you think about…”. And people need to feel they can share less pleasant things too, otherwise you only get the success stories. But yeah, asking the question is only step one. What I find important in practice: - Timing. Too early in a process and people don’t know what you mean, too late and the energy is gone. - Clear communication about what you’ll do with the stories. Otherwise it stays abstract. - Not everyone likes typing a story into a form. Some people prefer telling you in person. - When the first stories come in and you share something from them, you see others getting enthusiastic too. Ultimately it’s about stories making visible things you can’t capture otherwise. What does something really feel like in practice? What are people running into? What works surprisingly well? You don’t get those insights from numbers or from an evaluation form. Those 200 stories now give us insight into patterns we would never have found otherwise. Are you working with story collection too, or thinking about starting? I’m curious about your experiences.

Participatory Narrative Inquiry (PNI): A Human-Centered Research Method Participatory Narrative Inquiry (PNI) is a qualitative and quantitative research method that centers on the collection and interpretation of personal stories. Developed by Cynthia F. Kurtz, PNI is designed to help communities, organizations, and teams make sense of complex situations by engaging the people directly involved. At its core, PNI is about sharing real experiences and making meaning together. Participants are invited to tell stories about their lived experiences, and then reflect on those stories by answering structured questions—called “signifiers”—that help capture emotional tone, relevance, and perceived impact. These reflections generate quantitative data that can be analyzed across many stories, while the stories themselves provide rich qualitative context. PNI is grounded in several scientific disciplines: - Complexity science, which recognizes that human systems are dynamic and unpredictable. - Sensemaking theory, which explores how people interpret and respond to events. - Social constructivism, which emphasizes that meaning is co-created through dialogue. - Participatory action research, which involves stakeholders as co-researchers in the inquiry process. The method is especially useful in environments where traditional surveys or top-down evaluations fall short—such as healthcare, education, social services, and organizational change. PNI allows for multi-perspective insight, revealing patterns, tensions, and opportunities that might otherwise remain hidden. StoryCycle: StoryConnect’s Applied Framework for PNI StoryConnect, a Netherlands-based organization, has developed the StoryCycle as a structured and scalable way to apply PNI in real-world settings. The StoryCycle transforms the principles of PNI into a repeatable process that supports learning, evaluation, and change. The StoryCycle consists of four key phases: 1. StoryTelling – Participants share personal stories through interviews, story circles, or digital platforms like StoryPoint. Each story is paired with signifier questions that generate data for analysis. 2. StorySharing & StoryInsight – Stories are collected and visualized using the StoryDashboard, which displays trends, themes, and emotional patterns. Stakeholders then engage in facilitated sensemaking sessions to interpret the data and uncover insights. 3. StoryChange – Insights are translated into concrete actions. Organizations co-create initiatives based on what the stories reveal, ensuring that change is grounded in lived experience. 4. Iteration & Learning – The cycle can be repeated to monitor progress, evaluate impact, and continue learning. This short-cycle approach supports adaptive strategy and continuous improvement.

The Enschede Neighborhood Teams are building a culture where learning takes center stage. This also means creating space for the uncomfortable stories — because it is precisely there that people learn to look without judgment and to connect more deeply with another person’s perspective. In this way, professionals and the organization within the Municipality of Enschede grow together. https://storyconnect.nl/2025/11/03/interview-met-willem-loupatty-bestuurder-bij-wijkteams-enschede/

This week, at StoryConnect NL, we are taking a special step in our StoryCycle: the listening phase of our second project with RVIG (the National Office for Identity Data, part of the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations). From numbers to stories. RVIG holds extensive data on Dutch identity documents. But what really happens in people’s daily lives? How do citizens actually experience their passport or ID card? Participatory narrative inquiry in action. We treat people as experts of their own experience. By collecting stories and making sense of them together, insights emerge that traditional evaluations often miss. Stories with emotion and context help RVIG align their services with what truly matters to citizens. The human side of identity documents. In our digital age, it is important to remember that behind every document is a person with a story. By taking these stories seriously, we create understanding of the real impact of government processes. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eyX2BDWC Wil je dat ik er ook een LinkedIn-proof versie van maak (iets korter en net wat wervender)?