Collective Digital Storytelling is a Learning approach that combines Organizational Storytelling with digital capture. It is a highly engaging approach to learning that encourages systems thinking, examination of mental models and facilitates team learning through multi-perspective storytelling.

1. COLLECTIVE DIGITAL STORYTELLING™:
LEARNING IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Terry A. Mroczek
Individual and Organization Development Consulting

2. Copyright Terry A. Mroczek 2014
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Thank-you.
CDS: LEARNING IN THE 21ST CENTURY

3. Collective Digital Storytelling can help grow a Learning Organization
The Learning Organization is a place where:
• People continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire
• New and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured
• Collective aspiration is set free
• People continually learning how to learn together
Peter Senge
The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization
CDS: LEARNING IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Copyright Terry A. Mroczek 2014
As an O.D. Consultant,
this is the type of
learning I’m involved
with.

4. Some critical information and knowledge cannot be put in a
manual or on an intranet.
There is more to learning than just knowing the facts.
Synthesis, not just analysis
Emotion, not just information
Context, not just core
Commitment, not just competence
CDS: LEARNING IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Copyright Terry A. Mroczek 2014

5. CDS: LEARNING IN THE 21ST CENTURY
What is Collective Digital Storytelling?
It is the
convergence
of 3 elementsCDS
Action Research /
Appreciative
Inquiry
(OD)
Digital
Capture
(Video)
Systemic / Collective
Story Creation
(Organizational
Storytelling
Copyright Terry A. Mroczek 2014

6. Copyright Terry A. Mroczek 2014
Every project has a story.
Every initiative has a story.
Every change has a story.
Every person has a story…
…that can be learned from.

7. THE POWER OF ORGANIZATION STORYTELLING TO
• Share information
• Inspire
• Reinforce ideas and values
• Create a common experience
• Give meaning
• Influence
• Be a call to action
• Endure
Well Known
And
Acknowledged
CDS: LEARNING IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Copyright Terry A. Mroczek 2014

8. DRAWBACKS TO TRADITIONAL STORYTELLING
• Single (or few) storytellers – narrows perspectives (typically leadership)
• Risk of storytelling becoming story-selling
• Variability in skill of storytellers (conveyance and relate-ability)
• Practical logistics of using a single storyteller in global environment
• Timing of story relative to real work being done
CDS: LEARNING IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Copyright Terry A. Mroczek 2014

9. CDS: LEARNING IN THE 21ST CENTURY
But…
The reality of organizational life is
 Fragmented
 Nonlinear
 Chaotic
Given that , how do we…
…reap the benefits and minimize the challenges?
…harness the power of storytelling without creating cliché?
Attributes that don’t make storytelling easy
Copyright 2014 Terry A. Mroczek

10. “The Story We’re Sold”
“The Story of Us”
CDS: LEARNING IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Copyright Terry A. Mroczek 2014
Because CDS uses
unscripted and
authentic experiences
as described by
employees, there is
greater identification
with the messages.

11. CDS: LEARNING IN THE 21ST CENTURY
“Collective”
=
Multi-
perspective
Copyright Terry A. Mroczek 2014

12. “Collective” or multi-perspective storytelling
• Increases likelihood of participant relate-ability
• Allows for recipients to see how all the parts work together –
i.e. how a variety of perspectives & experiences can exist
for the same project
• Encourages systems thinking (see Peter Senge)
• Generative – enhances ability to create, there is not just one
right way or one answer
Typically, we are unable to see the results of our actions in
complex systems - multi perspective storytelling can surface
those impacts
CDS: LEARNING IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Copyright Terry A. Mroczek 2014

13. The PROCESS makes a video more than just a video
• Development
• Engagement
• Feedback to Leadership
• Showing
• Follow-up
CDS: LEARNING IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Copyright Terry A. Mroczek 2014
Has a great deal in
common with O.D.
Interventions; outcomes
are important, but
process is key.

14. Participating as storyteller
Holding perspective up to scrutiny
Gains insights
Participating as story recipient
Juxtapositions other perspectives against own
Gains insights
CDS: LEARNING IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Copyright Terry A. Mroczek 2014
Learning
can
happen
for both

15. In OD: The intervention starts at first
contact.
With CDS: Learning begins at “hello”.
CDS: LEARNING IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Copyright Terry A. Mroczek 2014
Based on what I’ve seen in terms of the outcomes of broader perspectives
and the ability of video to show the authenticity of first-person storytelling, I
believe there are many possible applications of CDS. In addition, the stories
are captured and can replayed so that there is increased consistency of
messaging.

16. CDS: LEARNING IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Learning
Event
Learning
Experience
Copyright Terry A. Mroczek 2014

17. COLLECTIVE DIGITAL STORYTELLING™ APPLICATIONS
• Cultural / Value Reinforcement
• Innovation and Creativity
• Onboarding
• Acknowledgment of goal attainment
• Complex knowledge sharing requiring context
• Organization Change
• Baby-boomer knowledge capture
CDS: LEARNING IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Copyright Terry A. Mroczek 2014

18. Why do I do this?
CDS: LEARNING IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Copyright Terry A. Mroczek 2014
I’ve been working pretty much my whole career in Organization Development and have sought out
ways to always improve organizational / team learning. I developed Collective Digital Storytelling™ in
response to a gap I perceived between the potential and the reality of organizational storytelling . I
have witnessed the power of perspective shifting, surfacing assumptions to transfer knowledge and
systems thinking. But, these are often bound by proximity. Certainly, the preferable method is through
face-to-face interaction but when people are geographically separated, CDS could fill that gap.
I also think that learning new skills is easy. When someone has never done something before or never
been exposed to a new activity, that kind of learning is easy. The kind of learning I typically facilitate
involves un-learning before the new learning can begin. That is hard. Especially when it has worked
for a person or organization for many years and it is necessary to let go of something that is useful and
comfortable. So, I think that is the last frontier – ourselves and how we learn and change. And I hope
we figure it out definitively in the 21st Century because it is the basis for almost everything.

19. One more thing…
If anyone who is viewing this slideshow either is or knows of
someone who would like to research the effectiveness of
Collective Digital Storytelling™, please contact me. I would
love to augment the anecdotal evidence with data.
Please contact Terry Mroczek to bring Collective Digital
Storytelling™ to your organization
TerryMroczek@gmail.com or visit me on the web at
www.TerryMroczek.com
CDS: LEARNING IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Copyright Terry A. Mroczek 2014