A knowledge manager's musings

A generous listener

Yesterday I helped create a monster. Literally. While I didn’t actually pick any of its features (eyes tangy like pickled onions, hands spindly like spaghetti, a body like a condom filled with walnuts and beautiful feet), I helped vote for its name. The Pedicurous.

I was in a room full of story tellers. Artists, designers, bloggers, authors, sculptors, photographers, role players. I had worried that I’d feel like an interloper, but I think I felt more at home at The Story than I have done at most KM events.

During the day I asked a friend to sum up his very recent trip to the US in three words. So the same challenge to me for my day at The Story:

1. Unexpected – but I’d had an inkling it might be
2. Emotional – Victoria’s use of ‘visceral’ is probably more accurate
3. Real – sounds trite but I can’t imagine anybody was there solely because they’d been sent by their boss. The anticipation and urge to listen and learn filled the room. And there was zero use of words like: stakeholders, quick win, leverage, traction, cost effectiveness… hurrah!

 
Twenty-minute speaking slots and 15 speakers – it was destined to spill over but it also meant I had the childlike joy of immersing myself in a new story I knew nothing about and waiting to see where it would take me over and over again.
 
Karl James caught me off guard. Had I had any, I’d have been reaching for tissues. He’s a dialogue specialist. He collects stories and is a listener. But more than that, he’s a generous listener, which is probably the phrase I took away with me from the day.
 
I’m not going to try to explain his presentation when artist Eva Lottchen’s a genius (Karl’s session is along the side and onto her next notepad page) and Karl recorded his rehearsal.

I love looking back at my notes – what a treasure trove of nuggets for story collectors. Don’t become your story. Ask good questions. The need for rich listening is so often overlooked. Be with your questions. Shut up. The story isn’t where we expect it to be. Not everybody is used to being listened to.
 
With so many speakers, the organisers decided against Q&A, which, unexpectedly, I liked. I had questions but I held them in my head and they have helped with these reflections. And as it takes immense deliberation and a giant force to get my hand up in a room full of people, I could just sit and enjoy.
 
There’s so much more to say, but this will do for now.