paper given by Jim Bright and Robert Pryor at the CDAA international careers conference in Cairns, April 28th 2011

1. Narrative:
the untold story
Robert Pryor
Jim Bright
ACU

2. Once upon a time...
Dominance of constructivism
Narrative as the sin qua non

3. there was a narrative...
Telling stories
Narrative identity, Storied future
Process
Construction, Deconstruction Co-
construction

4. and everybody said the narrative was very
strong...
“natural”
“simple”
active, agentic, creative
metaphors
collaboration
“life themes”
evaluate self-talk
inventing a future – “next chapter”.

5. they were all agreed...
almost no critical voices
need for evaluation

6. because it made sense...
Linearity equates to causality
Control or mastery self-evidently
important
Reinforces rationality - the “reason” for
acting

7. then one day the story went
out into the world...
reality is “messy”
loose ends
the inexplicable
non-linearity – the Butterfly Effect
human action is overdetermined (Peck)
consequences can be multidimensional (e.g. accidents)
unplanned/chance events
omitted
rationalized

8. and people wondered
whether the story was true
validity
lies, delusions, fallacies (Taleb’s
Turkey)
reliability
change, time, context (auditors)

9. was the story all thought and
no action?
privileging epistemology over ontology
“external” reality - opportunity
structure, finance, labour market, legal
constraints, obligations/commitments,
implementation
consciousness plus action

10. so the story went to see a
counsellor who changed it
Counsellor interpretation
Return of the expert

11. what did the story think that
others wanted from it?
Self awareness
“what I do not know I do not know”,
demand for fluency, cf other
techniques eg collage, emphasis on
individuality
culturally bound
authority, social/cooperative

12. and they all agreed that...
Narrative valuable
Do not neglect complementary
techniques
Complexity
Edge of chaos

13. and all the techniques lived
chaotically and uncertaintly
ever after...
THE NEVER END (BUT LIMITED)