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Organisational narrative
533 sats \ 12 comments \ @cryotosensei 23 Apr AskSN

Today was supposed to be my lighter day at work — but I got roped in to participate in this Staff Well-being Circle. ⭕️

Well, 1 in 3 Singaporean teachers have stated their intention to leave the teaching service — according to a survey. Which makes the higher-ups anxious to boost staff morale and retain staff. Which also makes it ironic that the school principal has to take away my precious afternoon to fulfill his job scope.

But I digress. Without further ado, my principal got us to stand in a circle (from the most senior to the most junior), in which we maintained a standing position for about 45 minutes. About 15 of us were there, and we stood in respectful silence and spirited acknowledgement as we heard our colleagues respond to four questions posed to us by the principal:

  1. What made you join teaching?
  2. What was one memorable experience that stands out from your years of teaching experience?
  3. What do you think we want to achieve collectively from this session?
  4. What is one word you will use to describe the school atmosphere?

He then enlightened us that what he had been doing for the past 45 minutes was a technique called organisational narrative. Basically, through our candid responses, we had helped him surface the narrative of our system.

Oooookkkkkay.

I was none too impressed. Not only did I have to reveal my vulnerabilities to my colleagues, but I also had to do it standing up. 🆙

Has anyone undergone a similar experience before? How will you describe the vibes of your organisation?

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25 sats \ 3 replies \ @flat24 23 Apr
1. What made you join teaching?
2. What was one memorable experience that stands out from your years of teaching experience?
3. What do you think we want to achieve collectively from this session?
4. What is one word you will use to describe the school atmosphere?

I'm very intrigued to know your answers to these questions.

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11 sats \ 2 replies \ @cryotosensei OP 24 Apr
  1. Went for a writing test held by our national newspaper after my high school exams. flunked it. went for a teaching scholarship, said all the right things and got the scholarship. went for the writing test again ten years later. passed the test but failed the interview. so I have remained in teaching ever since
  2. my ex-student informed me one year beforehand about her wedding date. closer to the date, she arranged to pass me her wedding invitation personally. I even got to meet her husband-to-be during that session. she also showed her appreciation for me during her wedding speech
  3. to share of our challenges openly and problem-solve together
  4. I like our students’ candidness

how do you like my answers? haha

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25 sats \ 1 reply \ @flat24 24 Apr

Bravo. 👏 you have a true vocation for teaching.

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1 sat \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei OP 24 Apr

thank you

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25 sats \ 1 reply \ @Scoresby 23 Apr

He should have just offered to pay you more.

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103 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei OP 24 Apr

all teachers will get a pay rise of 2 to 9% this october

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25 sats \ 1 reply \ @optimism 23 Apr
Has anyone undergone a similar experience before?

I've interim-managed a bunch of orgs in need of strategic realignment, where I'd hire people to organize things like this. We'd make it a whole day or in some cases even a couple, and work through it, depending on the markup of the group, in games and brown paper sessions, or we'd ask for presentations and shoot, then consolidate.

How will you describe the vibes of your organisation?

My "org" now is bots. Lots of bots. They are all dumb af and make me micromanage everything. The precise vibe is: exhausting. But thanks to the micromanagement, we get shit done. So the vibe is also: productive.

we maintained a standing position for about 45 minutes

Gives a whole new meaning to "thinking on your feet".

PS:

  1. How did you feel about this?
  2. Do you truly think it was candid?
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70 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei OP 24 Apr
  1. I would have preferred to have a free afternoon because we didn’t really discuss anything substantial after the organisational narrative. We wrote some ideas on post-it notes, passed some stickers on the ideas we liked and that’s it. Not much coherence between the narrative and the suggestions, you know
  2. I believe that the sharing was sincere — but did people truly make themselves vulnerable and give timely inputs? Nope
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127 sats \ 1 reply \ @joyfam 23 Apr

The fact that leadership thinks adding more to your plate is the solution to burnout is exactly why that 1-in-3 statistic exists.

Efficiency 0, Irony 100

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1 sat \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei OP 24 Apr

precisely. I’m rendered speechless

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127 sats \ 1 reply \ @ladyluck 23 Apr

My one word for the school atmosphere after that session would have been Gravity. Because that’s all I was thinking about while standing there.

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1 sat \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei OP 24 Apr

haha real life application of gravitational force for sure

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