1. Narrative coaching and
corporate identities
Bringing narrative ideas into the workplace
How to deal with the « Big 5 »
Dulwich Centre
March 19, 2012
Pierre Blanc-Sahnoun
pierre@cooprh.com
4. The big private companies set a new dominant order based
on performance
This dominant culture spreads over every sector of life,
especially public services, hospitals, social work, prisons, etc.
which are supposed to meet the performance criteria and
the financial models of the private companies
The financial markets have taken the power over most
companies and that this power brings into question the
place of people and of productive investment in the value
creation process
This state of things puts more and more pressure on the
managers' shoulders and that the gap between local
understandings of work and life and global requirements of
performance is increasing
The workers have less and less chance to connect their
hopes, dreams and values to the demands of the companies
5. This state of things increases suffering at work, the suicide
rate, disorientation and demotivation
More and more managers engage in violent or coercive
behaviors to try to respond to what is expected from them
At the end of the day, all this decreases the performance
and the long term development of the companies and
destroys work in most western countries, weakening the
ability of the state to represent the people, and to provide
adapted responses
… and because Narrative Practices allows people to
rebuild work-communities based on local skills and
experiences and making rich connections between
their identities as human beings and their stories as
workers.
6. What you find in an
organization is very
strong dominant
ideas
7. about power and
compliance
about profit
about efficiency
about creation of value for
the shareholder
about growth
10. A work story is a story
Work is a strong narrative theme (values, hopes) supporting
multiple stories
A company itself is a story (K. Weick)
People respond and resist (coffee machine, rumours,
« resistance to change »)
These are always thin traces of alternative work values
underpinned by alternative work stories
A work community is a community defined by its preferred
stories (merger)
There are lots of metaphors and images in the folk culture
that can account for these dominant or alternative
organizational models (Village Gaulois, Star Trek, Gladiator,
Prova d’orchestra, the Godfather, Star Wars…)
12. Our representation of business and companies
as « another world » and narrative consulting in
the organizations as « another skill »
Multiplicity of stories about the same topic,
implicit prevalence of the payer’s version
Localization of the problem and initial meeting
with the management with negociation about
the problem’s property (Gérard Lambert has a
leadership problem)
Normalizing pathologizing coaching
Narrative coaching and problem dissolution vs.
the tradition of problem resolution in
organizations
13. Company dominant management and
relations culture (management by terror,
by greed, « humanist bet »…)
Shareholder culture (measure)
Management willingness and stories
about being a leader
Management resistance and legitimacy
building
14. the narrative coach has to deal endlessly with
the enormous pressure of these dominant
stories
Often he has himself a business!
he might be « recruited » by the organization
as a normalizing device, maintaining the
executives in the corporate conformity
He has to resist the consulting expert practice
this demands from him a very high level of
deconsruction and « exoticising »
15.
16. Work stories
• Chose something that you value in your work
• Tell a real and recent story that happened in your job and
illustrates this something
• What is it in this story that is particularly precious to you ?
• Are there any specific hopes, values, commitments, visions…
relating to this ?
• How did these hopes, values, etc. appear in your life ?
• Does this connect you to some beliefs, ideas of a community
(family, religion, culture…) that you relate to ?
• What was it like for you to speak about these topics in relation
to work ?
18. Lots of applications in organisations
• Individual coaching
• Training
• Team Building
• Change management
• Conflict dissolution
• Response to suicide and burnout
•…
22. • « I am unable to make a decision »
• « Gérard needs to improve his performance as a
leader »
• « My organisation and planning skills are terrible »
• « I lose it during the meetings »
27. • Hello, I am your trainer… which means that you are
going to teach me
• What are your best stories about management
• What is really important in this story that made you
chose it ?
• What kind of management values does this story
design
• What is in common between all your stories ? And
what is the most important ?
29. • Stories
• Common referential
• Personal mapping on the referential
• Outsider witnessing
• (no action plans)
• Where am I living on this common country of management
• What is important for me
• How could I do more of what is important
• Continue… ? Begin… ? Stop… ?
• Who can help me ?
• What could try to prevent me to do that ?
• How will people see that I do this ?
• What difference will it make in my work?
• What is the value of this difference for me ?
30. Building a common referential
• Same theme: What do you value in your work ?
• Tell a story that happened in your work and illustrates this
• What is it in this story that is precious to you ?
• Group discussion about what words, expressions, images,
themes, values, hopes or commitments are common in these
narrations
• Group discussion about « what our group values in work »
• Choose a name for your group
34. • Merry Christmas !
• People connected by stories
• All the work communities are confronted to the same types of
challenges: belonging or not belonging, inclusion and
exclusion, leadership, sharing of the resources, conflicts
resolution and violence management
• From a story about difference to a story about resemblance
(20 % - 100 %)
35. The story of SSL Healthcare
• X Healthcare France : 2 brands in drugstores, one of footcare, one of sexual
protection
• Small and very specialized compared to the industry leaders (hulks)
• Strong competition on the market and major crisis in Europe
• Demands from the shareholder
• « baby blues » and disorientation : who are we ? Where to go now ? What
strategy to cope with the crisis ?
• Used to be the good pupil of the company and winning award team but the
results are collapsing
36. The story of SSL Healthcare
1. Drawing your team
2. Visiting the exhibition
3. Discussing what’s important and building a common
vision
40. The story of SSL Healthcare
But…
• You have a long story of success and being an
award-winning team.
• Can you tell me stories about this period ?
• How did you do this ? On what skills or ideas did
you rely to achieve this ?
41. The story of SSL Healthcare
« We are elves »
This text is a patchwork realized from your own words,
images and sentences that you used during this workshop
to talk about your values, projects and identity.
• We are not warriors, we are elves, we are nimble. We are small but nimble, we like to
move and change, we praise playful challenges. We like to change, to think about
ptoblems and elaborate solutions. We are sensitive people and emotion is something we
value, even if one of us says that we should beware of too much emotion that could
paralyde our capacity to move on.
• We had to accept a loss and we weren’t aware of it, we will never be « big, free and
wealthy » at the same time. We had to give up on it. We want a plauful and inspiring
challenge, to realize our ambitions in the respect of our human values, trust, exemplarity,
courage et equity. Instead of getting big quickly, we decided to be everywhere quickly and
to increase our brands’ presence.
• We invented a name for that, the « Everywhereness ». It is a balance between what
seems acceptable for out shareholders and what’ s ausing and interesting for us.
• Engage with our teams in « Everywhereness » allows us to unite ourselves and to lead
our teams under a common banner.
42. The story of SSL Healthcare
– what difference could it make in the life of
your team, or your company?
– What kind of projects or initiatives could show
that you have developed this new
understanding of your preferred way of
working?
– If you could draw the difference, or the new
possibilities, or your team reconnected with its
preferred values and practices, what would
this drawing look like?
46. In a lot of countries, subsidiaries or local teams form solidary
work-communities, to protect and sustain their own skills,
knowledges and traditions about « work »
They develop a resistance to the hedquarters and the
shareholder
They set up very interesting "passive" resistance strategies
These resistance initiatives are pathologized as « resistance
to change » whereas they are honouring the preferred values
and identities of the work-communities
Coaches are requested to « tackle » or « suppress » this
resistance
There is a corporate belief that « change is good, resistance
is bad »
47. The story of Pages jaunes
What would you decide
if it was
your company
and your money ?
48. The story of Pages jaunes
What is working well in your job in the DSI since the
reorganization and what should be changed?
What sustains you in your work at the present time?
What are the values, practices, ideas that help you the
more when confronted to a problem?
Please, tell recent stories from the real life in
illustration of these points…
Then, please express your common vision under any
form that seem relevant to you
50. … All this rests on the professional
conscience and on the good will. We hope
that this text will be able to make our
managers become aware of our problems
and our efforts and to the direction of Yellow
Pages. We also hope that he/it will be able
to serve to other people of the DSI that will
be able to meet of it. We wish that all our
invisible work is recognized and rewarded.
For some among us, if they continue to
make some efforts, it is for their personal
satisfaction, for the taste of work makes
well, but they don't wait anymore for
recognition of the enterprise. The most
pessimistic think that the ways to get round
« A footing with ski and to work nevertheless that we exposed
above arrange the Direction well because
shoes… » they limit the damages of the
reorganization. But for a lot of other, our
attachment to Yellow Pages made us hope
that the reports and the suggestions that we
expose in this text and that we elaborated
The story of Pages jaunes during the seminary will be able to
contribute to make change the things.
51. In the beginning we had the hope
To make our histories heared
But locked under this lid
Our ideas remain in jail
But retained behind this wall
Our voice is only a whisper
Yet we still have the pride
Of our teams, of our professions
But living too long in the desert
Made us a little bitter
And if we don't drop it
It is that we know how to trick and smuggle
And to open new paths
Even though they are clandestine
To take in hand our future
We need confidence
To pass our distrust
That one recognizes our fracture
And we want a voice
To gather on the same ground
PH, DOP, MOS and SOL.
And we want a voice
To gather on the same ground The story of Pages jaunes
PH, DOP, MOS and SOL.
53. 1. Acceptation of the coaching
2. Individual interview
3. Documentation
4. Common interview about the documentation with
outsider witness
5. Initiatives
6. Follow up
• what are the effects of the conflict?
• what did the conflict not manage to destroy?
• how is this possible?
• what important things does this conflict destroy or
prevent to exist?
• how to recover and amplify this?
54. Narrative response to suicide and
burnout
http://www.dulwichcentre.co
m.au/explorations-2009-1-
pierre-blanc-sahnoun.pdf
55. Individual conversations
• When were you informed of Jean‐Louis Marquis’ suicide? Could you tell me
exactly what happened, what you thought and felt, the opinions you had on this
subject?
• How has this suicide affected you? Your relations with your colleagues? Maybe
your morale or self‐image? What you think about this company? Your view of
work or life in general?
• Do you think the impact is mostly negative or is there something positive? Or a
bit of both?
• What experiences or ideas have allowed you to put things into perspective, to
reduce the effects of this suicide on the various areas you spoke about?
• Did anyone in particular help you by his/her presence, teachings, words, or
ideas to deal with the impact of this suicide on your life?
• Would you mind telling me a bit more about these experiences and your ideas
on suicide and death – in particular, how you acquired them or whether they
correspond to the culture of your family or a community (religious, ethnic ...) to
which you belong?
56. Definitional ceremony
• Employees would be free to speak, if they so desired, or remain silent; the
very fact of their attendance already constituting a tribute to the memory of
their colleague,
• The objective of the meeting was to talk about Jean‐Louis Marquis, not their
own ‘trauma’, or the company specifically.
Drawing on the outsider‐ witness/definitional ceremony map (White,
2007), I proposed the following points to employees for their
thoughts:
• What image of him remained with them?
• Tell a story to illustrate this image and share it.
• Describe where the speaker was today, what ideas he/she had in relation to
this colleague’s suicide, and how these ideas potentially affected his/her
professional activities and personal life.
• What he/she learned as a lesson or adopted as a resolution for the future.
58. … and what about you?
• Ideas for your own context…
• New possibilities…
• Take-outs…
•…
59. Narrative in the
workplace is still
a work in progress
We began 6 years ago in
France
Welcome on
board!
Editor's Notes
Eric and the « brotherhood spirit »
The tree of life in the setting of this seminary was very useful to invite to a better knowledge of the other elements of the professional sphere that participates in the construction of a trajectory, as it is for example the previous professional origins ("the professional lives"), resources, the cleverness, expertises, the talents, the qualities, the professional dreams, the goals, the hopes, the people who count or counted professionally, the present to the sense of gifts received, etc. I invited the participants to use their creativeness and their imagination about: "their professional roots, their professional history, that of which they have need to advance in their professional life (soil), their resources, what feeds them in their work, their faculties, expertises, qualities, talents, their values (the trunk), their goals, their dreams, their professional hopes (the branches), the people who counted or that count on the professional plan (the leaves), the gifts, the supports, the present received (the fruits). " Concerning the process, each draws its tree, put his/her/its words. Then, one exposes the trees together all: it is the forest of the trees of the writing. Those that wish it present their tree to the other and one proposes a person to resound. I also invited the participants to put, with the help of post-it, of the words of support on the trees in relation with what touched them. This day has been lived very well by the participants. She/it answered the objective that was to recover the creativeness and the desire to make together. I would even say that she/it was farther, while giving back the sense and the value to the course of the participants while putting in light the team's different expertises. Some actions have been put to remain in this dynamics. Every participant leaves with his/her/its tree that is going to accompany it and to remind him the flowers on his/her/its professional path. A certificate in to remember this day to been sent by the continuation to each among them. Composition of the life tree The roots: the personal values that incited me to become an elected and that I wanted to honor and to express while becoming elected. Soil: the territory or we live, our territory, that can enrich us that if we enrich it. It is an ecosystem. The trunk: the social body of the Mutual Credit, the" human resources" in their whole, leaders, salaried and elected. I write down to the level of the trunk the expertises that I bring to the Mutual Credit, in to know, in know-how and in relations. The branches: the projects, the hopes that I feed as elected the Mutual Credit. The leaves: the other elected, salaried employees, leaders, with which to undertake; the values to put in .uvre between us, elected, and with them, for common audacities of quality. The fruits: the results to the present, the good examples, the inspiring examples. The flowers: the promises and the audacities that I have in me for the Mutual Credit. The seeds: the acts that I want to sow so that tomorrow either fertile for the Mutual Credit and our territories.
The green edges are the DSI: Sèvres, Rennes and Bordeaux. All small bonshommes is salaried employees and all those that have some crowns (of which a papal tiara and a crown of France Miss) are chiefs. One wanted to show the different paths to have the information of communication: of the entangled hoses, of the roads, of the paths of irons, one tries several means but one doesn't arrive there. There are also asses of bags, of the problems that fall in a hole and one doesn't know where they succeed. But when one wears a crown on the other hand on the head, information arrives without any problem, it is represented by telephone lines. One made a truck of the Brinks with dollars and the crowned heads that keep money for them. There are some kids under that remain for the small salaried employees. One represented a stork, a new newcomer parachuted within the DSI, that doesn't know has that to address. Inside of the DSI houses, one represented the doors that open up and that don't lead toward nowhere or of the doors that are closed frankly. All this rests on the professional conscience and on the good will. We hope that this text will be able to serve to make our managers become aware of our problems and our efforts and to the direction of Yellow Pages. We also hope that he/it will be able to serve to other people of the DSI that will be able to meet of it. We wish that all our invisible work is recognized and rewarded. For some among us, if they continue to make some efforts, it is for their personal satisfaction, for the taste of work makes well, but they don't wait anymore for recognition of the enterprise. The most pessimistic think that the ways to get round and to work nevertheless that we exposed above arrange the Direction well because they limit the damages of the reorganization. But for a lot of other, our attachment to Yellow Pages made us hope that the reports and the suggestions that we expose in this text and that we elaborated during the seminary will be able to contribute to make change the things. In the beginning we had the hope To make hear our histories But crushed by this lid Our ideas remain in the circle But shut in behind this wall Our voice is only a whisper Yet we have the pride Of our teams, of our professions But too long in the desert returned Us a little bitter And if we don't drop It is that we know how to get round And to open new paths Even though they are a little clandestine To take in hand our future We need confidence To pass our distrust That one recognizes our fracture And that one gives us the speech To gather on the same soil PH, DOP, MOS and SOL. And that one gives us the speech To gather on the same soil PH, DOP, MOS and SOL. Les carres verts sont les DSI : Sèvres, Rennes et Bordeaux. Tous les petits bonshommes sont des salariés et tous ceux qui ont des couronnes (dont une tiare papale et une couronne de miss France) sont des chefs. On a voulu montrer les différents chemins pour avoir les informations de communication : des tuyaux emmêlés , des routes, des chemins de fers, on essaie plusieurs moyens mais on n'y arrive pas. Il y a aussi des culs de sacs, des problèmes qui tombent dans un trou et on ne sait pas où ils aboutissent. Mais quand on porte une couronne sur la tête par contre, l'information arrive sans aucun problème, elle est représentée par des lignes téléphoniques. On a fait un camion de la Brinks avec des dollars et les têtes couronnées qui gardent l'argent pour eux. Il y a quelques petits sous qui restent pour les petits salariés. On a représenté une cigogne, un nouvel arrivant parachuté au sein de la DSI, qui ne sait pas a qui s'adresser. A l'intérieur des maisons DSI, on a représenté des portes qui s'ouvrent et qui ne mènent vers nulle part ou des portes qui sont carrément fermées. Tout ceci repose sur la conscience professionnelle et sur la bonne volonté. Nous espérons que ce texte pourra servir à faire prendre conscience de nos problèmes et de nos efforts à nos managers et à la direction de Pages Jaunes. Nous espérons aussi qu’il pourra servir à d’autres personnes de la DSI qui pourront s’y retrouver. Nous souhaitons que tout notre travail invisible soit reconnu et récompensé. Pour certains d’entre nous, s’ils continuent à faire des efforts, c'est pour leur satisfaction personnelle, pour le gout du travail bien fait, mais ils n’attendent plus de reconnaissance de l'entreprise. Les plus pessimistes pensent que les façons de contourner et de travailler quand même que nous avons exposées ci-dessus arrangent bien la Direction car elles limitent les dégâts de la réorganisation. Mais pour beaucoup d’autres, notre attachement à Pages Jaunes nous fait espérer que les constats et les suggestions que nous exposons dans ce texte et que nous avons élaborés au cours du séminaire pourront contribuer à faire changer les choses.
The green edges are the DSI: Sèvres, Rennes and Bordeaux. All small bonshommes is salaried employees and all those that have some crowns (of which a papal tiara and a crown of France Miss) are chiefs. One wanted to show the different paths to have the information of communication: of the entangled hoses, of the roads, of the paths of irons, one tries several means but one doesn't arrive there. There are also asses of bags, of the problems that fall in a hole and one doesn't know where they succeed. But when one wears a crown on the other hand on the head, information arrives without any problem, it is represented by telephone lines. One made a truck of the Brinks with dollars and the crowned heads that keep money for them. There are some kids under that remain for the small salaried employees. One represented a stork, a new newcomer parachuted within the DSI, that doesn't know has that to address. Inside of the DSI houses, one represented the doors that open up and that don't lead toward nowhere or of the doors that are closed frankly. All this rests on the professional conscience and on the good will. We hope that this text will be able to serve to make our managers become aware of our problems and our efforts and to the direction of Yellow Pages. We also hope that he/it will be able to serve to other people of the DSI that will be able to meet of it. We wish that all our invisible work is recognized and rewarded. For some among us, if they continue to make some efforts, it is for their personal satisfaction, for the taste of work makes well, but they don't wait anymore for recognition of the enterprise. The most pessimistic think that the ways to get round and to work nevertheless that we exposed above arrange the Direction well because they limit the damages of the reorganization. But for a lot of other, our attachment to Yellow Pages made us hope that the reports and the suggestions that we expose in this text and that we elaborated during the seminary will be able to contribute to make change the things. In the beginning we had the hope To make hear our histories But crushed by this lid Our ideas remain in the circle But shut in behind this wall Our voice is only a whisper Yet we have the pride Of our teams, of our professions But too long in the desert returned Us a little bitter And if we don't drop It is that we know how to get round And to open new paths Even though they are a little clandestine To take in hand our future We need confidence To pass our distrust That one recognizes our fracture And that one gives us the speech To gather on the same soil PH, DOP, MOS and SOL. And that one gives us the speech To gather on the same soil PH, DOP, MOS and SOL. Les carres verts sont les DSI : Sèvres, Rennes et Bordeaux. Tous les petits bonshommes sont des salariés et tous ceux qui ont des couronnes (dont une tiare papale et une couronne de miss France) sont des chefs. On a voulu montrer les différents chemins pour avoir les informations de communication : des tuyaux emmêlés , des routes, des chemins de fers, on essaie plusieurs moyens mais on n'y arrive pas. Il y a aussi des culs de sacs, des problèmes qui tombent dans un trou et on ne sait pas où ils aboutissent. Mais quand on porte une couronne sur la tête par contre, l'information arrive sans aucun problème, elle est représentée par des lignes téléphoniques. On a fait un camion de la Brinks avec des dollars et les têtes couronnées qui gardent l'argent pour eux. Il y a quelques petits sous qui restent pour les petits salariés. On a représenté une cigogne, un nouvel arrivant parachuté au sein de la DSI, qui ne sait pas a qui s'adresser. A l'intérieur des maisons DSI, on a représenté des portes qui s'ouvrent et qui ne mènent vers nulle part ou des portes qui sont carrément fermées. Tout ceci repose sur la conscience professionnelle et sur la bonne volonté. Nous espérons que ce texte pourra servir à faire prendre conscience de nos problèmes et de nos efforts à nos managers et à la direction de Pages Jaunes. Nous espérons aussi qu’il pourra servir à d’autres personnes de la DSI qui pourront s’y retrouver. Nous souhaitons que tout notre travail invisible soit reconnu et récompensé. Pour certains d’entre nous, s’ils continuent à faire des efforts, c'est pour leur satisfaction personnelle, pour le gout du travail bien fait, mais ils n’attendent plus de reconnaissance de l'entreprise. Les plus pessimistes pensent que les façons de contourner et de travailler quand même que nous avons exposées ci-dessus arrangent bien la Direction car elles limitent les dégâts de la réorganisation. Mais pour beaucoup d’autres, notre attachement à Pages Jaunes nous fait espérer que les constats et les suggestions que nous exposons dans ce texte et que nous avons élaborés au cours du séminaire pourront contribuer à faire changer les choses.
The green edges are the DSI: Sèvres, Rennes and Bordeaux. All small bonshommes is salaried employees and all those that have some crowns (of which a papal tiara and a crown of France Miss) are chiefs. One wanted to show the different paths to have the information of communication: of the entangled hoses, of the roads, of the paths of irons, one tries several means but one doesn't arrive there. There are also asses of bags, of the problems that fall in a hole and one doesn't know where they succeed. But when one wears a crown on the other hand on the head, information arrives without any problem, it is represented by telephone lines. One made a truck of the Brinks with dollars and the crowned heads that keep money for them. There are some kids under that remain for the small salaried employees. One represented a stork, a new newcomer parachuted within the DSI, that doesn't know has that to address. Inside of the DSI houses, one represented the doors that open up and that don't lead toward nowhere or of the doors that are closed frankly. All this rests on the professional conscience and on the good will. We hope that this text will be able to serve to make our managers become aware of our problems and our efforts and to the direction of Yellow Pages. We also hope that he/it will be able to serve to other people of the DSI that will be able to meet of it. We wish that all our invisible work is recognized and rewarded. For some among us, if they continue to make some efforts, it is for their personal satisfaction, for the taste of work makes well, but they don't wait anymore for recognition of the enterprise. The most pessimistic think that the ways to get round and to work nevertheless that we exposed above arrange the Direction well because they limit the damages of the reorganization. But for a lot of other, our attachment to Yellow Pages made us hope that the reports and the suggestions that we expose in this text and that we elaborated during the seminary will be able to contribute to make change the things. In the beginning we had the hope To make hear our histories But crushed by this lid Our ideas remain in the circle But shut in behind this wall Our voice is only a whisper Yet we have the pride Of our teams, of our professions But too long in the desert returned Us a little bitter And if we don't drop It is that we know how to get round And to open new paths Even though they are a little clandestine To take in hand our future We need confidence To pass our distrust That one recognizes our fracture And that one gives us the speech To gather on the same soil PH, DOP, MOS and SOL. And that one gives us the speech To gather on the same soil PH, DOP, MOS and SOL. Les carres verts sont les DSI : Sèvres, Rennes et Bordeaux. Tous les petits bonshommes sont des salariés et tous ceux qui ont des couronnes (dont une tiare papale et une couronne de miss France) sont des chefs. On a voulu montrer les différents chemins pour avoir les informations de communication : des tuyaux emmêlés , des routes, des chemins de fers, on essaie plusieurs moyens mais on n'y arrive pas. Il y a aussi des culs de sacs, des problèmes qui tombent dans un trou et on ne sait pas où ils aboutissent. Mais quand on porte une couronne sur la tête par contre, l'information arrive sans aucun problème, elle est représentée par des lignes téléphoniques. On a fait un camion de la Brinks avec des dollars et les têtes couronnées qui gardent l'argent pour eux. Il y a quelques petits sous qui restent pour les petits salariés. On a représenté une cigogne, un nouvel arrivant parachuté au sein de la DSI, qui ne sait pas a qui s'adresser. A l'intérieur des maisons DSI, on a représenté des portes qui s'ouvrent et qui ne mènent vers nulle part ou des portes qui sont carrément fermées. Tout ceci repose sur la conscience professionnelle et sur la bonne volonté. Nous espérons que ce texte pourra servir à faire prendre conscience de nos problèmes et de nos efforts à nos managers et à la direction de Pages Jaunes. Nous espérons aussi qu’il pourra servir à d’autres personnes de la DSI qui pourront s’y retrouver. Nous souhaitons que tout notre travail invisible soit reconnu et récompensé. Pour certains d’entre nous, s’ils continuent à faire des efforts, c'est pour leur satisfaction personnelle, pour le gout du travail bien fait, mais ils n’attendent plus de reconnaissance de l'entreprise. Les plus pessimistes pensent que les façons de contourner et de travailler quand même que nous avons exposées ci-dessus arrangent bien la Direction car elles limitent les dégâts de la réorganisation. Mais pour beaucoup d’autres, notre attachement à Pages Jaunes nous fait espérer que les constats et les suggestions que nous exposons dans ce texte et que nous avons élaborés au cours du séminaire pourront contribuer à faire changer les choses.
Introduced myself and my firm, Indicated that I was not a clinical psychologist, but a corporate consultant with anarrative orientation,Told them that the term ‘psychological support’ was not appropriate to describe my work, Suggested that, when faced with the suicide of one of its members, their community had probably been subject to multiple feelings and ideas, some of them perhaps contradictory, Proposed individual conversations for those who would agree to one. This conversation would be entirely confidential, which I guaranteed in front of their Director. Its topic would be the meaning they gave to their colleague’s act and how they personally responded to it, Said that these meetings would be followed by a general meeting of the community based on the topic of Jean‐Louis Marquis’ suicide and what it meant to them, Ended by repeating that none of the above was mandatory for anyone. When were you informed of Jean‐Louis Marquis’ suicide? Could you tell me exactly what happened, what you thought and felt, the opinions you had on this subject? How has this suicide affected you? Your relations with your colleagues? Maybe your morale or self‐image? What you think about this company? Your view of work or life in general? Do you think the impact is mostly negative or is there something positive? Or a bit of both? What experiences or ideas have allowed you to put things into perspective, to reduce the effects of this suicide on the various areas you spoke about? Did anyone in particular help you by his/her presence, teachings, words, or ideas to deal with the impact of this suicide on your life? Would you mind telling me a bit more about these experiences and your ideas on suicide and death – in particular, how you acquired them or whether they correspond to the culture of your family or a community (religious, ethnic ...) to which you belong? Employees would be free to speak, if they so desired, or remain silent; the very fact of their attendance already constituting a tribute to the memory of their colleague, The objective of the meeting was to talk about Jean‐Louis Marquis, not their own ‘trauma’, or the company specifically. Drawing on the outsider‐witness/definitional ceremony map (White, 2007), I proposed the following points to employees for their thoughts: What image of him remained with them? Tell a story to illustrate this image and share it. Describe where the speaker was today, what ideas he/she had in relation to this colleague’s suicide, and how these ideas potentially affected his/her professional activities and personal life. What he/she learned as a lesson or adopted as a resolution for the future.