review · Reflection, Knowledge Sharing, Retrospective · 90–180 min · 6-20 people · low energy

Collective Story Harvest

One or two people tell the story of a real project or change process. Before they start, listeners each pick an 'arc' to listen for, such as the narrative, pivotal points, the process used, questions it raises, or principles. After the story, each harvester reports what they heard on their arc, so the storytellers and the group get many readings of one story.

When to use Collective Story Harvest

Use at a retreat or offsite to learn from a project the group cares about, when you want more than the storyteller's own conclusions.

What it solves

Project reviews are told by the people who ran them, so the lessons stay the ones they already knew.

How to run Collective Story Harvest, step by step

  1. Invite the storytellers and agree with them and the group which arcs to harvest (before the session).
  2. Explain the arcs and ask for at least one volunteer per arc (10 min).
  3. Storytellers tell the story; harvesters listen and capture only their arc (30 min).
  4. Harvesters gather by arc to compare notes, while storytellers reflect on what it was like to tell it (10-15 min).
  5. Each arc reports back to the storytellers and the group. Allow at least as long as the story took (30-45 min).
  6. Storytellers share what struck them and the group notes what it will take into its own work (10-15 min).

Materials needed

  • Flipchart or large paper per arc
  • Markers
  • Arc cards with a short description each

Facilitator tips

  • Keep the storytelling to about thirty minutes; beyond that, listeners overload.
  • Narrative, process, pivotal points and principles are useful default arcs.
  • Invite visual or poetic harvesters if the group has them.

Common pitfalls

  • The story is a polished success story with no hard moments to learn from.
  • The report-back is rushed, which is where most of the value is.

Variations

  • Two storytellers from different sides of the same project, for richer arcs.

Running it online or hybrid

Storyteller speaks on camera; harvesters each keep a shared doc for their arc and report in.

What it produces

Several written or drawn harvests of the same story, one per arc, which go to the storytellers.

Origin

Developed in Art of Hosting trainings in 2010 by Mary Alice Arthur, with Monica Nissen, to combine storytelling and harvesting. — source

Build a session around Collective Story Harvest

METODIC places Collective Story Harvest inside a complete, timed session plan — agenda, worksheets, facilitator guide and slides — matched to your group and goal.

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